>>335879
correction since the site won't let me delete my posts, despite having typed my own damn password,

"Doing this left my body under the control of my and the weasels' more... short-sighted desires."

>>335879
i like this apology, but there are holes in it. Armas need to be ready to respond to them

if Einrik can tell we've been watching "Being able to see is not the same thing as being able to intervene" which is technically true

if the we're asked if we could have intervened sooner "My ID took control because the terms of the contract deemed I had to be extremely spiritually drunk. I was not aware enough of any possible threat to want to until' I brought up watching my body for laughs. I'm not as capable as i was while controlled, so I didn't think there was any reason to believe I could get away from Tartalo and big, whom I'd asked keep me bound just in case"

on the subject of the weasel not doing anything lethal because it's a prankster "Destroying it's body is different, but similar from taking it's eye after it took mine. I'd have expected it to have went eye for an eye for that, which I would not have survived."

Armas should be truly sorry, but also aware that he did the best he believes he could have with his state and knowledge, and should express such as sincerely as possible. joking or not, the weasel was a grave threat, and he had to protect himself and big.

Suggestion 2011/08/03(Wed)05:30 No. 335955 ID: e147cc
File 131237463938.jpg - (52.29KB , 600x873 , What-Have-We-Done-1.jpg )

"TELEVISON

Suggestion 2011/08/03(Wed)05:32 No. 335956 ID: e147cc
File 131237472921.jpg - (145.02KB , 955x600 , What-Have-We-Done-2.jpg )

RUNS THE NATION"

Suggestion 2011/08/03(Wed)07:44 No. 335969 ID: c3aeb1
File 131238268144.jpg - (97.33KB , 650x1033 , Shotgun-marriage.jpg )

Because some people think we have slept with Markku's daughter(s) and that the only thing we can do to fix it is to marry.

So here is Armas marrying Hellevi!

>Big Crazy
Wait, his name is big crazy? I was sure his name was Big Red... someone else called him that before and it stuck... that or my subconscious is racist as hell :P

Ok, #1 thing is to figure out how we are teleporting. We assumed that they would restrain armas (and that if he breaks free he will EMBARRASS himself as a drunkard not cause total ruin), only reason they couldn't is because his drunken ID invented teleporting that works and works well... this is a ridiculously powerful ability and we must keep it. We could also cut our losses with it and use teleporting + sneaking to take our property and leave.

>>335879
>>335909
I like the apology idea, and I mostly like the phrasing, but lets not admit to things we don't even know we did. We don't know what we did with which daughter... Why would ID use condoms? for all we know he made KY filled condom balloons to throw at people to troll them... Maybe it ALSO seduced the girls without a condom (and maybe not just the girls) but we don't know that so lets not claim we did (also lets not shift focus to it).

Rather then taking immediate control, first figure out the teleporting trick, then ease back into control and try to get Einrik alone first... apologize to him and explain, get him on your side (should be easier then his dad) and then go from there.

>>335752
>>335740
>>335670

HAHAHAHA
Don't you guys feel stupid right now?

"Shut up stupid thoughts"
More like "Shut up sober thoughts"

I knew that being drunk for too long wouldn't be a good idea.


Also, I just realized something that I didn't notice at first.
>Under a noon sun, with no shadow near me, my naked body just... disappears.
>Under a noon sun

Seeing how we fought the Weasel at 5pm the day before that means that our body has been rampaging for about... 17 hours!Holy Shit!
I am just going to assume we fought/held off against everyone on the grounds: Tartalo, Big, both of the brothers, Hillevi, Helvi and any animal was dumb enough to get in our way.
And after all of that the body is still unscratched and is only half-serious in this fight.

This is pretty awesome. I am sure we will lose all of that when we sober up but the fact that we have the potential to get to this heights is great.
I guess that letting the body to its own devices has removed "locks" on it and unleashed full power we had. I wonder if this has anything to do with our Chakras...

Try to focus as much as possible on Einriks words. We need to know what he says.
Summon up some speakers, surround home Dolby theater system, so that you can hear what the hell is going on.

Anyway, this situation is so fucked up, I don't even know what to suggest.

>>335875
Oh, while it looks like they have great difficulties dealing with us and are going all out, I severely doubt that at this moment our body is stronger than 2 dragons. I am sure that they are going easy on us and trying to restrain or put us down without killing us. (Although if their attack hit us, we might have been pulverized so I don't know)

>>335867
If we can manage to rewind and study what we have done and perhaps find out how is our Body so strong right now, then do it.

>>335859
Yeah, most likely.
The air powers are still magical powers, not just, but Divine magical powers so by using magical energy around us, we might have shielded ourself and managed to teleport through the shadow realm with no problem.
And man, air barriers ... remember how Sake caught the bullet the first time we fought him? We could be able to do this kind of stuff now, which is insanely awesome.

>>335879
Yeah well, lets not mention his daughters... at all.

when you wake up you could act confuzed and be all like:
"What? Where am I? Where is Tartalo?
WHY am I naked!?"

So, our ID can teleport- I remember that it's only living things that i couldn't teleport, and that there was something about soul damage.

Maybe my being in my shadow, as well as Sake Bro and Shadow Bro, somehow shield us from that danger? This will go looking into.

Ok, about the current situation: we don't know what happened. Lots of things could, and i doubt our ID would have gone defiling the various people in the Valkonen estate but somehow be careful enough to use condoms. This looks more complicated than it first appears, and the presence of the barbie doll may mean we tried to give gift to the two kids or something.

Don't panic, try to materialize Hi-Fi for sound in order to try to listen to them, and maybe add a rewind option to see what happened previously via a controller or something.

InsufferableMystic 2011/08/03(Wed)10:42 No. 336001 ID: 856690
File 131239336050.png - (74.70KB , 640x400 , Onthevalueofsoberity.png )

Actually this probably isn't as bad as all that, I mean for one thing, Armas is now shown to be really powerful and if we can patch things up, enrik can possibly teach us what on earth we were doing.

Well anyway, jumping into this will not end well so three things.

Rewind, but keep a screen of current events up.
Gain control of hearing.
Set The Valks as out of bounds for trolling.

We need to buy time to see what happened, also the valks catching and restraining our body with us not returned could be a good outcome.

The problem is, we may not have time, we need to hear Einrik, he must be speaking for a reasonn.

Get advice from weasel bro (he should be good at weaseling out of things) and shadowbro.

!
It is possible we can teleport cause we are not in the body, You are in shadowbro's mindscape right?

So then we possibly have a highly difficult to use limitbreaker, cause we could so replicate this effect. Though I reckon we could control it somehow, stubly pushing the id.

So on how to regain control of ears, simple, Add speakers to the TV, a kicking hifi system and digital recorder that was there all the time. Problem solved, then we can rewind and hear what Einrik was saying. No need to panic.

Armas should be aware Einrik can detect attention, so we can't wait.

To sober up fast, remember the sensation of the parasite in your eye growing, and realise that you may have just permanently alienated the very people on who you were relying to save you from what Ogrimmir described as pretty much certain death.

You don't know how much they know, so don't go straight to the details of the apology. Just start of with a noticable whole body shudder to demonstrate that something's changed and then start talking. Begin with, "Ouch. I'm myself again. Where's Tartalo and Big - are they OK? I was with them, and then..."

Then as you take in the scene arou d you, say, "Oh. This doesn't look good. I'm glad you guys are here. Last I knew what was going on out here my shadow had trapped the kamaitachi and I'd dived in afterwards to help deal with him. I think we've got everything under control, which Einrik can hopefully confirm, but from the way you're looking at me, I'm well out of the loop..."

Then, if required, we can launch into TMI's apology. Don't mention getting drunk, and do nothing to draw attention to tbe bra. Don't admit to direct knowledge of what occured - you could be trolling yourself with what's in the bag.

Somethong doesn't add up here. Why would there have been a barbie doll accessory in this house, or even a toy aeroplane. It's noon, you've been out for nearly 17 hours - is it possible that we've actually gone on a tour of the nearby towns?

Things may be bad, but we shouldn't despair, this should be manageable.

can shadowbro manipulate the time in our shadow?

>>336002

Huh, those are some good points. Upvoting

>>336046
Seconding that upvote, very logical post indeed.

>>336002

>>335856
>>335857
>>338859
"Okay, okay, okay-we can work this, this shit out. We can do it-so how did we just do that?"
>"Fuck if I know. ...Fuck, we're covered'n jelly."
"Wha-oh... the KY. ..We are. Why are we covered in KY?"
>[Sake]"What is 'Kay-Why Jelly?"
"Not it."
>"No-fuck. ...Sho, you, you've fucked before, right?"
>[Sake]"Most correrect."
>"Right, so, ever, ever sometimes think 'fuck, this is gonna rip off some fucking skin? I don't got that fucking shit anymore, but I fucking remember-skin sucks."
>[Sake]"I don... I don't think I've heard it, heard it QUITE like, like that before. But yeah, I know that humans get, what was it-'dryness issues', heh."
>"Okay, well fucking KY, is for solving that."
I palm my face, wondering how much is my shadow being an ass in his explanation, his memories from prior to the soul split being distorted, or some strange selective ignorance on his part-but I'm too busy watching my body wave my dick in the air, whipping it through the-

Our combined ids send out a horizontal slash, a massive cleaver of wind based on the snap of my own cockflesh.

...I wish I was drunk enough I can forget how weird it is to watch myself do this without... doing it.

Despite the witless and vulgar humor our ids used, the blade makes the air shimmer as it passes, dozens of trees falling like leaves in it's wake-breaking through the defensive structures each Valkonen wrought-

Proving each to be nothing but distractions, Einrik and Markku nowhere to be seen.

>"..I fucking feel THAT! Fuck, fuck that'sh gotta be Riihioppi."
"SHIIIT, that's their stealth one, right?"
>[Sake]"Einrik's.... more skilled than this shit. He'sh-"
>"-Fuck, I feel him now.... yeah, he ish leaving himself a bit... I don't know..."
>[Sake]"He has not fully committed hish..... his soul to the act. So its... it's not as strong. An' he's got that, that other style... [i]hate his other style.[/i]"
"You've see-"
>[Sake]"He couldn't kill me with... with this, trying, right? Sho, so, he used this... different style. ...Died.""
"Sho where ish he?"
>"Tree looks like a fucking couple fucking."
"...Wha-oh, heh, yeah, I see it. ...My eyes'r having trouble staying on him."
>[Sake]"Th' Riihipuori, you called it. Traditititional Familily style. ...Aggressive stealth, I'd call it."

Markku appears out of thin air at my flank his hands on either side of my bode inches away from contact, so fast I barely register he's there-

Before I'm not.

>"...Shtill no fucking clue. Maybe if I watch some fucking more..."

Instead I'm directly above the rematerialized Head of the Valkonens, viciously slicing my legs, in a scissoring motion as my body begins to whirl at blurring speeds-building a cyclone centered about my body to drive downward.

Markku is gone again-and I've lost Einrik once more, but I find the Head again soon enough, as rapidly building winds wrench snow and earth from the ground-revealing a blank area of roughly Markku's size.

The twister touches down not on the Head's head, but a massive icy shield, a doorless igloo that deflects the wind as it freezes to ever more soil.

The cyclone stops-because I'm not in it to sustain it any more. My bodies directly behind Markku again-as my hands fly out to pull down his pants.

Rather unsurprisingly, the churlish attempt to pants the Head never makes it-as my body ports back out to the sky just in time to watch the dome explode as Markku strides forth, shouting and gesturing as he opens a hand-that simply disappears.

To be replaced with a hand of ice that flows like water with the sound of bells in place of breaking ice, cracks constantly forming and sealing as it moves.

The hand of ice glows ever brighter-

As Einrik wraps his arms around me from behind, paper seals on each hand that he sticks to my shoulders in a subtle flick while moving on to attempt a grapple-

That of course fails, my body now atop a tree some twenty feet away, still sniggering... and arms most distinctly dangling limp at my sides.

My body bares my teeth as it finally notices, the air blurring about my mouth so fiercely it becomes chaos incarnate-

>>335860
>>335879
-And I get a really fucking good idea.
"Sake, I order you by our pact to, um, to design... to mark the Valkonens as non-troll targets."
>[Sake]"I musht comply, but why-"

My body regains all my weight and loses it's command of the winds, beginning to plummet to the ground as the treetop snaps, unable to bear my weight. I flinch as I watch myself flopping through the treebranches-still laughing like a madman, then-

My body is on the ground, giggling to itself.
"I can teleport without Sake's help?"
>[Sake]"Thought you said it killed living things."
>"Fuck why is this fucking happening...."

Markku and Einrik both appear at mid range, each one sporting a pair of ice hands-though now I can plainly see that Einrik's are notably shabbier, less concrete-and he doesn't seem to be trying as hard.

The hands come up, reaching-

And I'm elsewhere again-the game continuing as I simply evade at ground level-by sheer dint of my body never being there when they strike.

>>335866
>>335867
>>335879
>>335909
"Can you rewind thish?"
>"Fuck? Oh... no, only fucking real-time."
"Damn."

>>335955
[FANART BONUS 1]
>>335985
"So... how are we teleporting, then? I mean, it'sh just our soul, yeah?"
>[Sake]"Not.... entirely true."
>"The fuck you say?"
>[Sake]"My jug is draining."
>"Mind English do you fucking speak it?"
>[Sake]"The Weasel Wine-it drains some, each time that, that you teleport."
"...Why?"
>>335956
[FANART BONUS 2]
>[Sake]"Perhaps you [[i]are dying each time, and the wine, the wine is saving you.[/i]"
>"That's not a fucking bottomless jug, right? Its not extra fucking big on the fucking inside?"
>[Sake]"No, normal sized."
>"Is it really so fucking potent we could be, be dying for at least a day, an' you'd still be at half?"
>[Sake]"...No."
"Still involved, somehow. But we aren't dying each time-why not?"
>>335969
[FANART BONUS 3]
>>335998
"Is it... our chakras, maybe?"
>"....Well fuck me, yeah. ..Fuck, sort of."
"What you jibba-jabbering about?"
>"Fuck, shit's fucking gumming up our fucking chakras-all of them. Blocking off our soul."
"Our soul's blocked off? From what?"
>"Our fucking body, obviously."

>>336001
[FANART BONUS 4]
>[RRRR Trait activated]
"...You said it'd kill enSOULed living things."
>"Fucking shadowporting? Fuck yeah."
"...Our body isn't souled now, though. Right?"
>"...Fucking son of a bitch. ...Wait, that still doesn't explain it. ...Not fully."
"A fucking start though, right?"
>"...Yeah, it is."

We watch my body continuing to evade those icy hands as Sake's wine dwindles for another minute in drunken silence.

>>335884
I manifest coffee to get me properly knurd. I'm going to need it, if I'm to pull free of this bender.

A cup of earthy quicksand, steaming and dark, appears in my hand-and I down it all in one go, focusing on NOT focusing on how hot the coffee should be-FUCKAH!

The grand daddy of all coffees, a physical impossibility roaring through my system as my mouth, tongue, throat and gut all burn-I sober the fuck up.
>[Sake]"Best of luck, Brother. I have precious little left Wine left, I'd ask you be expeditious."
>"I can't fucking sober up until I fucking heal-waking fucking calling, so hey-go fuck our id up."

Mind gaining clarity by the second, I feel Shadowbro beginning to release his grasp of my mind-and I go drifting-

[DISCONTINUITY]

I'm not watching me-once more, I AM me.

Which means my soul is in place.

Which means no teleporting.

Which means the moment I jump back those ice hands reach me-

And immediately enshroud me with ice that is swiftly hand-etched with rough runes and sigils.

Einrik, standing on my right, speaks first, a poorly suppressed grin on his face.

"....Can you hear me Armas?"









What's my next move?
What do I make of how they fought me, and what that means about what I might have done?
What EXACTLY am I going to say-I probably only get one shot at this!

Yes, and the only reason you caught me is because I am myself again.
And THIS is the reason I've not been drinking much of that mead of yours. Bad things tend to happen.

>>336257

"I hear you Einrik. I'm back in control of my body. I only saw a little bit of what was gong on, while I was getting control back. What little I saw was my body behaving really inappropriately. I pray no one's hurt. Tartalo and Big Crazy, are they alright? And the rest of the household?"

Yes you can hear him.

Fighting to restrain is much harder than fighting to kill.

Seems to me that if they wanted to kill you they could.
Einrik has caught you and sealed you, not caught you and scattered your shattered, frozen, remains all over the grounds.
That and he is trying to use words to get through to you.

Ok, you tried to pants Markku, I expect you have tried similar with the others you came in contact with, which explains the Bra.

For the motley items, I have no explanation I like other than you ported it there with drunken, trolltastic power for use in your schemes.
Maybe drunk, troll, no higher thoughts you thought it would be pretty damn funny to litter the sleeping body of one of the daughters in condoms filled with KY Jelly, take off her clothes and cover her in KY jelly and freak everyone out.

Obviously you were caught in the act which is why you have some unused stuff and stole the bra as a momento of your badassry.

Birdseed could be used in that too, depending on how trolltastic you are (which is very) but I have no idea why someone would think of that.


SO YEA.
Thank them for not killing you and try and fish out details, hopefully before Markku walks up.

Hey, maybe they will be happy for the practice and laugh it off because noone got hurt. (not for lack of trying)...(You are so boned)

They fought you trying to grab you. They didn't fight to kill, and we KNOW that Einrik can kill you. You have not done anything worth dying over. So all you did, I think, is annoy the fuck out of them. Which is really rather appropriate.

I doubt you fucked anyone- that would be incredibly difficult while being pursued by Tartalo. You probably just sexually harassed Hillevi and stole all that shit you have. That bag is PROBABLY 'secret possessions' of various family members. Embarrassing secrets, all of them, in some manner.

The first thing out of your mouth should be "Why am I covered in KY jelly?"

I think we should approach this with honesty as far as what we did to bind the weasel and the precautions we took, and not leap to any conclusions about what happened afterwards with our body. Or even hypothesize as to what our body did afterwards.

Okay, time to put on our mask of shame and repentence again. Einrik's going to know we're faking, but he's obviously in an okay mood, still laughing at us and all. So we were probably more of an annoying twit and than genuinely malicious (or malicious tricks are a-okay with him).

"Yeah, uh, it's me again. Was in a mental contest with the weasel (drinking contest counts, right?) for... gods, is it the next day already? It took a while to designate the family as non-targets (because it took awhile for us to think of it), but I think I've got them (meaning our stupid ids) under control again now. Thanks for not smearing me all over the landscape while I was... out."

Then, well, I think we may have to offer to leave the grounds, because we've just proven ourselves as barely superior to the weasel, and possessable to boot.

Your Chakras are used to block off your soul so it doesn't get magic radiation overdose, but if you go through the portal your body still gets magic cancer. We know the Weasel Wine is getting used. Our bloodlines are linked to both the soul and blood. Perhaps our can soul drink from a source of power and channel it through the blood.

So, I'm thinking shadowporting, while it does some damage to the body, causes death because it pumps the soul with magic radiation. As long as our soul isn't ported, we can channel our bloodline to heal the damage to our body. Our healing isn't too great though, so it needs a strong source of magic to do this, which I'm thinking Weasel Wine counts as.

Now, they were clearly trying to catch you... So I'm thinking. "Yes, I can hear you. And you caught me, so I'm really hoping this isn't as bad as it looks. Please tell me it isn't."

If it is as bad as it looks...

"Now, I'm not claiming this to be an excuse, because whether it is reasonable is for you to decide, but it is an explanation.

Tartalo was unable to best the Weasel. It's bones disturbed, from my understanding, upon dying it could simply seek out the nearest weasel and be back at full force. While laughed off, it's more of a threat on your lands then we gave it credit for being, and I had already thought of it as a grave threat. Regardless of Tartalo's presence, it could have killed me and Big had I not ended it's threat. To do this, I had to seal it in my soul, but it's powerful enough that it could very well have torn through my soul before your family's expertise could deal with it.

As such, I had to make a contract with it. Doing this left my body under the control of my and the weasels more... short-sighted desires. I've felt very... happy and at home here, more so than anywhere else I've ever been. The idea of working towards joining your family is definitely something that's crossed my mind during this time. It's likely these things that led to what I've done, as I actually don't have any memory of it.

I'm... honestly not sure what else to say here. I do truly respect and care for your family. And while I really, truly want for their to be a way to repair the damage I've done, I fear nothing short of my life would be acceptable to you, but given that this seems to be a situation I had no other recourse against, offering that up is-well, beyond what I'd be willing to do."

Ask if everyone is ok. You need to know how much you've fucked up, and knowing if you hurt anyone in this weird weasel-wine fueled fugue is the first step to knowing what the right apology is going to be.

"Yes. Please speak quieter, I am going to have the high oh god of all hangovers squating over my head. Heh. Hard to catch a greased weasel, wasn't I? Ow, what the hell happened to me?"

Do NOT imply anything or speculate about what you might have gotten up to. Express your concern about what your body may have gotten up to, and about whether everyone is all right; it sounds like they know it wasn't you in control, which they should, given that you requested that you be restrained in the first place. A bit of mortification might not hurt either.

You don't know how much they know, so don't go straight to the details of the apology. Just start of with a noticable whole body shudder to demonstrate that something's changed and then start talking. Begin with, "Ouch. I'm myself again. Where's Tartalo and Big - are they OK? I was with them, and then..."

Then as you take in the scene arou d you, say, "Oh. This doesn't look good. I'm glad you guys are here. Last I knew what was going on out here my shadow had trapped the kamaitachi and I'd dived in afterwards to help deal with him. I think we've got everything under control, which Einrik can hopefully confirm, but from the way you're looking at me, I'm well out of the loop..."

Then, if required, we can launch into TMI's apology. Don't mention getting drunk, and do nothing to draw attention to tbe bra. Don't admit to direct knowledge of what occured - you could be trolling yourself with what's in the bag.

Somethong doesn't add up here. Why would there have been a barbie doll accessory in this house, or even a toy aeroplane. It's noon, you've been out for nearly 17 hours - is it possible that we've actually gone on a tour of the nearby towns?

Things may be bad, but we shouldn't despair, this should be manageable.

Suggestion 2011/08/04(Thu)16:12 No. 336522 ID: 019e32
File 131249956723.jpg - (80.01KB , 602x830 , I just don\'t give a fuck anymore.jpg )

Hmm, someone had idea that we are burning through Sakes excess power which our soul couldn't hold in. Perhaps that is what our ID has been doing?
But still, it doesn't really explain how it can teleport so easily. Sure, our souls were seperate and they couldn't get magic soul cancer... but I am fairly sure that flesh should have been harmed too. But even if it was like that, it doesn't explain how ID can teleport freely IN BROAD DAYLIGHT .... perhaps having shadowbro also away from our ID has removed the restriction where he must touch another shadow to manipulate them?...
I was noted that the DARK is the closest NeverNever aspect to the mortal realm. And seeing how NeverNever realm touches mortal realm whenever it is dark or not maybe the ID managed to circumvent the restriction by tapping NeverNever directly? We know that time goes much differently in there, it is sequential (I think this was how Bob called it), meaning that ALL time is the same (past, present, future). So by manipulating this aspect, perhaps ID managed to fool the "system" by making it believe that it dark right now, meaning that he can freely teleport even in daylight.
Still doesn't explain how he can do it with no harm, unless he managed to make safe bubbles in NeverNever and use them (we spent ~25 years training in NeverNever and didn't have any severe health problems, so I assume it is possible to do that)

>>336266
>[DDDD Trait activated]
"...Okay be honest how else do you think you caught meand this is going to be a monstrous hangover oh god."
The scarred man turns to his father.
>[EV][In Finnish]"I told you he made a pact of brotherhood with the spirit trio. I told you."
>[MV][In Finnish]"...Meaning he was under instinctual command, as a result of making a pact of Brotherhood with an animal spirit rather than Dominating it. ...Still, nearly two days of rampage-you did not paint the Japanese weasel as such a foe, Einrik."
>[EV][In Finnish]"Because, as I was away from the house grounds and away from any potential countermanding orders, I exercised my due right to practice any style I chose-and chose my own. The weasel is not the threat you make it out to be."
Markku faintly smiles... sadly?
>[MV][In Finnish]"So are you-"
>[EV][In Finnish]"No. I know your strength, perhaps as well as you do: I still cannot overcome it, and were I to challenge now you would still bring me low."
The texture of his sorrow shifts, the smile quirking in reaction and display.
>[MV][In Finnish]"So-you say he was not responsible?"
>[EV][In Finnish]"I make no such claim-I simply comment that, until he asserted control, he was likely completely isolated from reality whilst sealing the pact. And that this time encompassed his return to the compound... and subsequent romp through northern Finland."

...Wait, what-two day-I went off the grou-FUCK.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 24nd, 2010
FUNDS: $79,012.91
CASH: $0.00
SHADOW PATIENCE: 100%

>>336272
>[MMMMM Trait activated]
"...Respectfully, I do hear you Einrik. Yes, I'm back in control of my body. I only saw a little bit of what was going on, right before I got control back. What little I saw was my body behaving being rather.... n[i]aaaaaughty, to put it as politely as one can. I pray no one's hurt.[/i]"
>[EV][In Finnish]"A few dozen civilians have a broken limb, a few hundred might be mentally scarred-but no fatalities, and no... physical injuries to any Valkonen-"
>[MV][In Finnish]"Though my youngest Hillevi is not at all pleased you disrobed her."
Oh god he said that so flatly why does it feel like a knife to my balls, like every threat I've ever perceived slotted together?
"-Is she alright? The rest of the Valkonens, Tartalo and Big Crazy, are they all alright?"
>[EV][In Finnish]"They are-Tartalo is a bit perturbed that you escaped him, but his ego will recover."

>>336280
"So-how did I get this bag full of-"
>[EV][In Finnish]"I'll skip to the end-seemed you wanted to throw condoms filled with KY and birdseed at people while naked and screaming at them 'take my flying seed' in Finnish. That, I think, is the only really important bit of information involving that bag you need."

...I think there's a chance I agree with him.

>>336281
"So why am I also covered in KY?"
>[EV][In Finnish]"I believe you said something about 'needing to be slippery' and giggling like a buffoon."
"...Wonderful. Property damage?"
>[EV][In Finnish]"That, I fear, was rather extensive among the mundane-but you struck mostly at night.... mostly."
"...The Valkonen estate?"
>[MV][In Finnish]"It's withstood far stronger fools than you in the past-and will continue to do so without issue, your meager attempt notwithstanding."
>>336297
I find I had a thorough apology ready to go... but it seems Einrik's been talking to his father on my behalf while they tried to catch me and/or beforehand. It's a completely unexpected and... somehow alien feeling. Things just... went my way? Because?

..If I just don't bring any attention to it....

>>336308
I wince.
"I truly would appreciate it if you lowered your voice."
Markku looks ready to speak rather volubly back-
>>336522
[FANART BONUS]
And instead breaks into a laugh.
>[MV][In Finnish]"You truly do remind me too much of Iiro, bringing trouble and a smile. ...Well, since you are under your own command again-"

He taps me with a flesh hand, and the ice sublimates and immediately reforms to ice crystals from the resultant steam, somehow doing so without any perceived thermal transfer.

I.... am free again.

Naked or not, I stand, noticing for the first time how sore and tired I am-and how hungry. My gut's nearly tearing itself apart, and I only resist the crippling sensation because quite frankly-I've had worse.

I again look in that mysterious bag I have-and seriously consider just dumping it and leaving things be-I don't think I want to look too deep into the specifics of what I did after Einrik's brief assessment. Still....








So what's the plan-what do I say or do from here?

What happens in Finland
....
probably won't stay there

Welcome to the world, Drunk Troll of Finland.

Get some clothes, apologize to Hillevi, file this away never to be mentioned again.
Eat. Rest.

oh god, its probably all over youtube. this could well reach around the world. unless it was obviously supernatural enough that someone will cover it up we might want to look into plastic surgery or something.

... this is the only story we aren't selling to SM.

Check in on everything first, I guess. Keihas and Big most of all.

Well, get pants first, maybe.

Anyway, I recommend going back in with your head held high. Two day reign of naked terror throughout northern finland, just another day at the office.

Gotta remember to do that flying seed thing to your enemies later

Also, if you get a chance, try eating some of your own severed body parts to see if it'll affect your regeneration

>>336653
>So what's the plan-what do I say or do from here?
"Thanks. Well, I am exhausted and hungry and feeling incredibly idiotic. I appreciate your not damaging my body while it was doing... that. Is there any chance I could shower, dress, make apologies to certain wronged parties, and then mentally bury this whole episode and never speak of it again?"

Proceed to do that if possible. No telling what foolishness we committed, so a general "Yeah, that was me going insane, sorry about that!" to everyone at large is about the best we can do. Hillevi will probably need a more personalized apology explaining that there was the insane subconscious of three weasels and two of us running our body, and we deeply regret that it decided to mess with her in that fashion. Unfortunately, it probably chose that for her specifically because our conscious mind's thoughts made her a more likely target for... that kind of thing. A strong implication that our body likely singled her out because we find her attractive could turn her from feeling angry to feeling bizarrely flattered if we choose our words carefully and keep a close eye on her emotions for a light touch.

Overall, it sounds like this could have been a lot worse. Even utterly mad, our subconscious minds didn't murder, rape, torture, or otherwise seriously harm people. We caused a lot of damage and injury, but it sounds like we overall caused more chaos than harm, and to our friends we mostly only inflicted awkwardness- which they will be able to pay back in spades by bringing the matter up at every occasion they want to poke fun at us.

Follow apologies with lots of eating. We might need to have another couple regenerating hearts to build our strength back up, but make sure to save at least one.

There is not a lot of time left for the Santa plan if that's still on the table. Even the best overnight shipments will probably close in a few hours, although supernatural stuff will obviously still be available afterward. If we go to sleep, it's likely that we will end up sleeping far too late to give a Christmas present to anyone, so that will need to happen before we rest.

You must check with the weasel to see what rules applies to it possessing things.

If it won't affect future possessions, find a weasel or another animal for it to take over.

Ask einrik to make a comprehensive anylizis of your soul, shadowbro's, and weaselbro's, as well as your body for any changes he can notice.

ask Weaselbro for any knoweldge on weasel wine, or establishing new bloodlines, or anything else you have been looking for- he seems to be fairly knowledgeable, and intelligent to boot.

Try to remember the 'aggressive stealth' style. This may very well be very, very useful later on. You should not forget anything about it.

Two days have passed where you trolled everyone- visit everyone, and make both public and private apologies for what happened. Do not look too ashamed however- you were awesome, and you know it.

if you go hunting for a body to possess for Weaselbro, try to establish what works and what doesn't work in your stealth when it comes to hunting.

Once weaselbro has a new body, try to nullify your smell/noise with the wind power (floating, etc). This could be a very good opportunity to practice your stealth as well as hunt.

Check if you haven't traumatized the kids, and cook them one of your nice meals if you have the right meat.

have a study session with einrik and your bros about what powers you displayed, and how to control them better.

Makkuro seems to respect you more now. Try to talk to him man to man.

Next priority is to learn what happened to the Keihas-monster.

Then you need to get dressed, and cleaned.

The best way to do that would pronably take a detour via the sauna on the way back. Say, "In the interests in avoiding further traumatisation of the other members of the houshold, it's probably best if I don't return in quite this state. I don't suppose eithervof you gentleman would choose to join me in the sauna after our... workout." then look even more sheepish, "I would also be ecceedingly grateful if you could recover some pants for me..."

As you walk back, you should ask Einrik what he sees when he looks at your soul structure. How much damage did it suffer when ShadowBro imprisoned the weasel and when you both donated some soul to him, and how does the join work.

It may also be worth asking if they know the fate of the spoils from BC and your hunting trip. Your soul is probably damaged, so it would be good if you could eat the othet two hearts that make up your share over the next two days until the erinyes hearts arrive.

Until you've had chance to recover any soul damage, vigorous sparring is out, but you should spend plenty of time in meditation. The weasel is probably immensely knowledgable about several supernatural subjects, so you should start talking to him about them. Initial focus dhould be on winter bloodline powers he is award of. The weasel has also incorporated part of your soul, so, like ShadowBro, he should have his own chakra system. He shoukd have plenty of downtime to work on mastering it, and seeung what he can do with it.

We should also try to communicate with WeaselBro and ShadowBro as we walk, and tell them it looks all clear.

We also need to work out what to say to Hillevi. I think a sincere apology, plus some speculation that our baser self, whilst incapable of most meaningful communication, wanted her to join him on his rampage, that's why he stripped her, to get her in the same state as him.

If you do speak to Hillevi, you should also profusely thank her for saving your life. The spear she gave us was essential for defeating the weasel, a foe that could drive even Tartalo back. Without her kindness we would never have been able to slay its host and take it captive, so no accommodation could have been made with it to render it safe.

>>336732
>>336716
>>336715
These are good, but at some point we should talk to Big. For one, thank him and Dirt Snake for sending over the information. Also, ask him why the hell he hasn't asked or tried to make a deal with the Valkonens to allow him at some point to nab a Gryphon as a spirit animal. Probably beats the hell out of a Cougar as a predator spirit. Now that our nemesis turned brother has been taken care of, we'd be glad to watch his back as he did so.

at some point we should talk to Einrik about what he saw when we were telporting. it sounds like we sent our soul out of our body by messing with our chakras, we then used the weasel wine to either bring it back in or keep our body alive. we might also have been letting shadow bro inhabit our body during the process to keep it in working order. but where were we sending our soul during this?

>>336705
Armas is pretty tough, but I don't think he's that special brand of crazy that allows him to eat his own severed toes, yet.

>>336849
Second. We should also try to convey as much as information we managed to find out.
I think the reason why our ID was so powerful was because it wasn't restrained by the Soul. The Soul size determines the maximum amount of power one can have, having no soul means that there are no limits and and the body could exercise the highest possible powers (full power of Kaimachi for example, apparently now that we are back in our body we cannot use the wind powers at all)


Also need to find out what is up with Rihiivuoli children. And I mean talking with Einrik or Markko to find out what will happen to them in the future... I mean, they can't just stay all their life here, right? They still have family and relatives left back in .... wherever they are from.


We have only little time left before we need to go back home so I suggest we try to spend our time as effeciently as possible. Meaning 4 hour sleep cycle again. Einrik said that he has little use for sleep so we can use the extra hours training/teaching/getting more knowledge.

>>336670
SUST

>>336669
>>336684
>>336697
Two things occur to me. First-that I think that not only will I not delve too deeply into the specifics of what I did-and Second, that the only way I can play this off is to act like I don't give a fuck.

"Not that the cold's bothering me-but pants wou-"
>[EV][In English]"Something we did not think ahead to grab before chasing you."
"Guess I'll make due until we get back then."
>[MV][In Finnish]"It is well to see you've taken this... in stride... but we must be off."

>>336715
I decide that I might as well be direct about how I want to handle this.
"Of course. Well, I am exhausted, hungry and feeling incredibly idiotic. I appreciate your not damaging my body while it was doing... that."
>[MV][In Finnish]"Thank Einrik for so adamantly arguing you could not be doing it.
"Is there any chance I could bathe, dress, make apologies to certain wronged parties, and then mentally bury this whole episode and never speak of it again?"
>[MV][In Finnish]"Yes-you will need to before you speak with Hillevi."
...And he's not saying any more... great. Well, at least Einrik smiled at that-I can't be COMPLETELY boned, right?
>[Sake]"Yeah.... if one of the Valkonens is genuinely pissed at you, you may have some problems-trust me on that one."

So it is we walk.

..And on the way, I am told by Einrik he heard more than one Finnish citizen I... assaulted calling me the 'Kyrpä Peikko'.... the penis troll.

Great I'm probably going to become part of local folklore.

For ten hours, night having long since fallen by the time we reach the house grounds. What strikes me as truly strange, though-is that surely we must be off the house grounds-yet they whole way back, I heard not a peep from Amen-not even when I cautiously tried querying him.
>[Sake]"So who is this Amen individua-ah. You need not answer, I have been made aware. ...A rather terrifying thing to have free access to your mind."

As we reach the grounds, I lament the fact night has fallen-precious few overnight services would still be open, I'd need to get me cell phone and trekk back out to an area of reception... and no matter how I try and run it in my head, I think there's no way I can try to 'breeze through' apologizing to Hillevi.

...I hate to say it, but my dream of an Armas Christmas... will have to wait until a different year. Perhaps if I actually plan for it ahead of time with ample margin for unexpected occurrences... and don't go on a multi-day drunken frolic through the snow...

Another time.

>>336716
As I get dressed in my room-having noted no observable damage to the grounds when I returned-I start to wonder-just how do the rules work for Sake and possession?
>[Sake]"It's... nice to have something that can hear the words of my soul again-entertaining as snickering at shenanigans may be, one develops a love of verbiage as centuries pass. Now, Possession: It is simply the only means by which I can express any of the power in my soul, now that I am long since dead. Our combined ids used my power directly through your body by abusing the fact that at the time, it didn't really have a soul in it-so long as your soul is even partly in your flesh though, I could not provide you any personal power-any attempt to do so would pit your half-soul against my tri-soul... and I think you can guess how that would end, brother. Which is why I suggest you find me a new corporeal form to possess."
...Huh. Okay, are there any particular forms that work better than others?
>[Sake]"Unsurprisingly, the more like my old flesh, the better-and the more magical, the better. So a weasel would function better than say a wolf, but a Mongolian Death Worm would function better than most mundane rodents due to its magical saturation. I don't think it will be relevant, but if you subdue-and you MUST subdue, I cannot possess a corpse without it slowly rotting around me-a creature whose magical and spiritual weight exceeds my own, I would not be able to attempt a possession. There are some more specific rules that are highly contextual that apply to possession-but that's really all the important stuff-well, save for this: Once I DO have a body to possess, the farther the body gets from you and/or your shadow, the less power I can command through the possessed body-I have become more tightly wrapped in brotherhood than most, and cannot fully... exist, not without being within twenty feet of one or both of your."
...I can't help but recall, in one of my initial wikipedia delves early in my career as a mercenary, a weasel-a magic weasel-from somewhere in Europe. ...What was it-
>"The Spanish-specifically, Cantabrian-long weasel, the Ramidreju."
>[Sake]"...I believe that we-my original brothers, when we all lived-met a Spanish Missionary a few centuries ago that had such a companion-yes, such a body would likely be a near-ideal host candidate-but I was given to understand they are quite rare, even on those north-western mountains the breed is supposed to hail from."
I try to scowl through the buzz in my head, still feeling quite blasted-you non-chemically derived minds, you and your not being hungover.
>[Sake]"Yes, feel free to hate us for being superior to you, meatbag brother. Now find me a sack of flesh to hide in-at your leisure."
Yeah, I'm guessing Shadowbro loves you.
>[Sake]"Perhaps-though it is interesting the brother closest to you is the one that has the hardest time conversing with you."

...That is weird.

But ultimately something to consider later-as I am now fully dressed, have confirmed my cash is gone, my phone looks rather suspiciously like it was beaten with a phallic object until broken, and it's cracked screen still has a picture of my junk, proudly displayed as my phone's final wallpaper.

Cute.
>[Sake]"You call that cute?"
Shut it.

Well, Buntline, check, mateba one-and two, check....

>>336732
Where the fuck is Keihäs?

...Oh, considering how I last saw Keihas, that is NOT GOOD.

Thankfully, as I march back out into the hall, finally wearing glorious pants-I am met by not just the Head and the Eldest-but Tuomo and Veiko-who hand to me a massive lump of fused bone that easily weighs more than a hundred pounds.

>[VV][In Finnish]"So... while you seem immune to shrinkage in the cold-I think we are all very clear on that now-"
>[TV][In Finnish]"Heh."
>[VV][In Finnish]"But it seems your rifle isn't. About a minute after you went unconscious it just... shriveled up. Not the rifle-the bone around it."
>[TV][In Finnish]"This is according to Tartalo-who would tell you himself but, let's see: He's pissed he could not contain you, doesn't like you for how you use the Dark or something, and dislikes the weasel you bonded with-but MOST IMPORTANTLY, he's busy keeping Hillevi contained."
Contained, what the-

The whole house, the walls, ceiling, the pelt covered floor-all of it shake with a tremendous impact, like a freight train plowing into a bunker at full speed-

And the air temperature drops a few degrees.

"..Ah. Where.... is she being... 'contained'?"
>[MV][In Finnish]"Auxiliary training grounds-other side of the house."
I don't even want to try running the math on just how badly she had to abuse thermodynamic laws to make ambient temperature drop in an instantly observable manner from several hundred feet away with many walls in between, I really don't.

..WELP, time to go apologize.

My stomach, trying to be helpful, reminds me I could procrastinate and eat first-not only would I not be hungry-but I'd have some stored healing energy then-which I'm starting to think might be helpful to have.

I carefully put down the bone cocoon my rifle now resides within-

And march out the door, head held high even as I hear the younger Valkonen's chuckling as they follow me.

>>336872
On the way down progressively cooler hallways, I run into Helmi, smiling as she escorts Hilja and Eirikki-both of whom have armfuls of modern toys and gadgets. As they spy me their eyes light up.
>[Hilja][In Finnish]"Thank for the toys, Mr. Laine!"
...Okay, play it cool-
"Hey, no problem, hope you both like them."
>[Hilja][In Finnish]"We do-they're great!"
"Good to hear."
>[Helmi][In English]"For the children's sakes I hope you can assuage her concerns about your earlier antics, literally mindless or not."
She can speak English?
Big steps up beside her.
>[Big]"And I hope you don't die because I would really prefer to not have Camella trying to kill me when I get back to Istanbul."
"Yeah, thanks for the vote of confidence."

I push open the doors to a room filled with ice, the air glittering with frost as Tartalo drags himself upright yet again.
>[Tartalo][In Finnish]"...Miss, your father asked you to let Guest Armas explain, I cannot let you..."
Tartalo turns his lone eye my way.
>[Tartalo][In Finnish]"Ah."
He bows and leaves the room as frozen tissue thaws without another word, pulling the door shut behind him-

As I see Hillevi taking a step my way, hands clenched into frost covered fists.

>>336746
..Right, distraction time.
I bow my head towards her, doing what I can to emulate her own movements when she introduced herself to me.
"I have to thank you for saving my life yet again-that spear you gave me was the only reason I survived the encounter."

Hah, take that hormonal teenage anger, I just confused you with unexpected and flattering compliments-HAH!

She's not CURRENTLY about to beat my face in for disrobing her-but if I leave it as is she'll bounce back-and probably start bouncing me off the walls.

I should probably think of how I could make an apology work... given I honestly don't even know specifically what I did to deprive her of her chest wrap.







So what's my next move?

>>337252
"... Although, according to some evidence from both your family members and what I had when I came to, perhaps it would have been better that way." half-joking, of course. "Appaerently, when I made a brotherhood pact with the kamaitachi, our very souls got drunk. This left my body to the whims of itself and the nastier bits of the kamaitachi. As a result, well... All that happened. While I don't think I was responsible for any single thing that happened, I think it's reasonable to say that the event as a whole was at least partially my fault and my responsibility. I'm very sorry. If there's anything I can do to make up for it, please, tell me - otherwise, I'd like to just bury it all and say it never happened."

>>337263
>Better that I died, rather

>>337263

You've never apologized to a woman you've legitimately wronged, have you? That's pretty much the worst way to apologize.


>>337252

"I respect you. I like you. I think everything about you is great. You're a fantastic hunter, beautiful, clever, kind; even your naivete is charming. So you can't believe how shocked I was to learn that I had done what I did to you. When I made a brotherhood pact with the kamaitachi, our very souls got drunk. This left my body to the whims of its base drives, and those of the kamaitachi. As a result, well... All that happened. It doesn't excuse my behavior, it is just an explanation. There's nothing that can excuse what I did.

"I want to make it right. I want to fix things, I want to continue to be your friend. So, I offer myself up. Do whatever you want to do to me, or have me do whatever you want. Even if you just use me as a punching bag, I'll be satisfied if at the end of it you'll call me your friend again."

>>337252
On Hillevi, you may well have managed to persuade her to give you the chest wrap, and then... not followed through. Whether this is true or not makes little difference. You should continue on the theme you have developed. "I am in your debt, if I can do you a favour, you need but ask."

You do need to address the real issue, so you might as well broach the subject straight after doing this, when she's still off balance. You should try for the best truth you can find, perhaps something like this, "I do not know what my body did whilst I was dealing with the weasel, or what its thought process was, but I suspect that, in its own way, it was trying to invite you to come along with it on its whirlwind tour of Finland. Alas, it wasn't the best at communication or forethought, so neither knew how to ask nor that you were duty bound not to leave without permission. I am deeply sorry if it did anything to insult you, though I truly believe it would have done so through ignorance of what it did and what that means rather than malice."

Then, judge her reaction, if it's positive, continue in this vein. "Einrik will hopefully be joining me on my journey back to Istanbul. If you wish, I can enquire with your father if he would be willing for him to act as your chaperone so you can travel with us, and experience some of what there is to see and fight in Europe at large."

On Sake, you should track down an Oschaert in the grounds and subdue it. It's a shapeshifter, so if you can subdue it he can possess it and make it assume weasel form. This is win-win, strong magical saturation and a weasel shape.

It may also be worth asking if they know the fate of the spoils from BC and your hunting trip. Your soul is probably damaged, so it would be good if you could eat the othet two hearts that make up your share over the next two days until the erinyes hearts arrive.

Until you've had chance to recover any soul damage, vigorous sparring is out, but you should spend plenty of time in meditation. The weasel is probably immensely knowledgable about several supernatural subjects, so you should start talking to him about them. Initial focus should be on winter bloodline powers he is aware of. The weasel has also incorporated part of your soul, so, like ShadowBro, he should have his own chakra system. He should have plenty of downtime to work on mastering it, and seeing what he can do with it.

Now that you have learned a bit about Spirit Animals, it's probably worth tracking down BC and trying to find out as much as you can, with the justification that you're trying to understand what you now are.

Even with what you know already, given your experience with ShadowBro trapping Sake, and the option you recognised to try to assimilate and dominate the spirit, you should try getting yourselves a spirit animal each when you have regenerated your soul. A Sceadugenga would be great for ShadowBro, and an Oschaert would be ideal for you. You should get ShadowBro to pull them in when they are on the edge of death, and then pounce as the shock of incipient death overtakes them.

>>337263
>>337267
Downvote saying you were drunk, that just seems like an excuse, and given how much the Valkonens drink, seems pathetic. I would phrase the apologise carefully, we don't know what our hybrid Id did, it's quite possible that what has so pissed Hillevi off was what it didn't do, rather than what it did.

do we have the TIME for a long speech?
Might want to start with the important bit and leave out the irrelevant ones.
I would start with "My soul was stuck outside my body for 17 hours and it went on a mindless rampage" should be the next words out of your mouth. After that come the apologies, flattering, detailed explanations, etc.

>>337267
upvote

Getting her to think about how she wants things to go rather than how they went is good.

Hey, we should tell her we don't remember exactly what happened. Therefore if we make a gross miscalculation of what the circumstances were (perhaps we were seducing her at the time when we took her top, and left her hanging?) she won't beat our head in for saying that we wouldn't do it again if it were appropriate.

"My body was acting on its own and you're the most beautiful woman I know, what did you think would happen?"

>[MV][In Finnish]"Thank Einrik for so adamantly arguing you could not be doing it.

Oh man, does that mean that now we are in Einriks debt?
We should offer to balance things up like he did before. we totally owe him our life.

>Great I'm probably going to become part of local folklore.
Hey. That might not be really that bad if you think about it. You know how things are influenced by Belief, right? If they believe you to be some insane supernatural creature, it can work in good ways for you.

Some question to Sake:
>s your soul is even partly in your flesh though, I could not provide you any personal power-any attempt to do so would pit your half-soul against my tri-soul...
Does that mean if we even grow our soul powerful enough, we could finally directly use Sake power?
At this very moment, if Sake's tri-soul is at power level 100, what is Armas' soul power in relation to it? ie, how much would we need time to grow our soul sufficient enough to use Sakes power.

Is there any problem for Sake to posses a creature and
then, when we find a better creature, to posses another? If no, we should posses a weasel as soon as possible.... or perhaps some magical creature on Valkonen grounds.
I ... do not think Valkonenw will be happy if we posses a Scaenduca, but if they are okay with it, I suggest you posses one as it can shapeshift and take the form of a weasel.

Can Sake freely communicate with Shadowbro with not energy consumption?

What does Sake think of spirit animals? Could we get one at this moment with no danger to the Brotherhood pact?
Speaking of which, could Shadowbro get a spirit animal (shadow) and could Sake do that too?
Also, query Shadowbro if we could "cheat" our way to spirit animals. Instead of drugging ourself to oblivion, could we use the Dark-trap trick we used on Sake to catch spirit animals to bind?
Eitherway, ask Valkonens first the permission before doingsomething like that.


>What strikes me as truly strange, though-is that surely we must be off the house grounds-yet they whole way back, I heard not a peep from Amen-not even when I cautiously tried querying him.

This is .... not good. I think Keihas' last upgrade must have to do something with it. I sincerely hope that it is just because of the bone-cocoon and not that Amen is now bound to serve Keihas and not us.
Speaking of Keihas, if the rifle functional with that Cocoon?
Shit, we should strip that bone as fast as possible.


>, have confirmed my cash is gone
WHAT THE FUCK DID WE SPEND ALMOST TEN GRAND ON!?


How is your Eye doing? There has been no mention of it at all.


On the Hillevi front.
Be ready to evade attacks and shit. Don't want us to die right now... that would definately suck.

Maybe Armus' body went through with our Christmas plan. We got the kids toys after all.

the reason Armas cannot speak with Amen, it's probably because he become more powerful than the blood that was in his body

>>337267
Okay-let's start strong-hit her hard and fast with a barrage of compliments-I can do this!
>[DDDD Trait activated]
"I respect you."
That rebuilding anger dips into confusion once more, plainly, proudly displayed on her visage.
" I like you. I think everything about you is great."
There goes the blue blush-yeah, either compliments embarass her or she definitely has a crush on me-distracting focus on my words-
"You're a fantastic hunter, beautiful, clever, kind; even your naivete is charming. So you can't believe how shocked I was to learn that I had done what I did to you."
She was starting to smile when I hit my apologies start-she's clearly trying to get angry at me again, and can't pull it off fast enough-I keep speaking while she's still searching for what to say.
"When I made a brotherhood pact with the Kamaitachi your brother slew, I ended up stuck inside my own soul. This left my body to the whims of its base drives, and those of the kamaitachi. As a result, well... All that happened. It doesn't excuse my behavior, it is just an explanation. There's nothing that can excuse what I did."
Oh, I can see she was trying to get mad again-but the humble, apologetic words that just casually give reasons why I shouldn't be blamed without highlighting or emphasizing them is clearly a tactic she is not familiar with and not really equipped to resist-I see her fists unclenching as the blush merely dims rather than fading outright.
>>337280
But that's not enough-I've just got her visibly looking much less pissed-that in and of itself is no guarantee of my personal safety, physical or social, in the youngest Valkonen's eyes. So I step my game up a bit, and lay the groundwork for my finish. I just need her inclined to think it's her own idea, have to be gentle here...
>[MMMMM Trait activated]
"I... do not know what my body did whilst I was dealing with the weasel, or what its thought process was, but I suspect that, in its own way, it was trying to invite you to come along with it on its whirlwind tour of Finland-inviting you to chase me, I suppose. Alas, it wasn't the best at communication or forethought, so it neither knew how to ask nor that you were duty bound not to leave without permission. I am deeply sorry if it did anything to insult you, though I truly believe it acted out of ignorance and misguided enthusiasm, rather than malice."
The more in-depth apology isn't my focus-it's just dressing about my real thrust-I want her thinking about leaving the Valkonen grounds, and associating that thought with me-and from the slightly more distant cast to her eyes, I think I've succeeded. Now, before she stops turning the thought over in her head-

"I... am uncertain how to make up what I did. To be certain, Einrik will hopefully be joining me on my journey back to Istanbul when I leave. If you wish, I can enquire with your father if he would be willing for him to act as your chaperone so you can travel with us, and experience some of what there is to see and fight in Europe at large."

I say it like an idea I came up with on the spot, an impulsive offer that I would follow up on, but certainly wasn't planned-from there, I go on to what I portray as my 'real' offer to make it up to her, fighting my urge to smile as I see the gears turning in her mind.

"I want to make it right. I want to fix things, I want to continue to be your friend. So, I offer myself up. Do whatever you want to do to me, or have me do whatever you want. Even if you just use me as a punching bag, I'll be satisfied if at the end of it you'll call me your friend again."

She stares at me, cheeks still tinged blue as she clenches and unclenches her hands, differing desires warring within her-

Before she seems to come to a conclusion. I barely resist the urge to tense as she takes a step forward-

And offers me a frost covered hand.

>[Hillevi][In Finnish]"...Then I will accept your offer to do as I command-and know what I desire."
Here we go-now, did she take the bait...
"Whatever your desire is, I will labor to make it real."
>[Hillevi][In Finnish]"Then... I ask that you convince my father to let me off the grounds-with YOU as my chaperone."

YES, success! The 'not Einrik but you' part isn't exactly unexpected but is going to be hard to sell to Markku, of that I'm pretty damn certain. Does nothing to change the fact I immensely prefer it to being beaten to death for something I don't even remember doing.

I take her hand-and take a gamble, not knowing the formal procedure of the situation-and bend over to lightly kiss the back of her hand. I don't let ANYTHING but purely gentlemanly demeanor exude from any part of this action-knowing that if she thought it even the slightest bit lecherous, my plan could fall to pieces.

"Your wish is my command.
I straighten as I release her hand, pretend I don't notice how much she looks like a blueberry right now, and take a step back and out of arm's reach JUST IN CASE I misread her. Finally, she smiles before theatrically sighing.

>[Hillevi][In Finnish]"...Was it really necessary to strip me to get my attention?"
>>337305
I offer a few parting words as I move for the door.
"My body was acting on its own and you're the most beautiful woman I know, what did you think would happen?"

I don't get to see how she takes that-I can FEEL her attention practically burning a hole in the back of my head as I leave-to find Markku and the rest, sans Tartalo and the children, awaiting me return.

>[EV][In Finnish]"Oh, talked her down did you? Tuomo-"
>[TV][In Finnish]"Yeah, I know-your chores for a month. I wish I could say I'm angry-"
>[Helmi][In Finnish]"But we're way more interested in WHY she did not freeze your bones. She... gets rather aggressive when she thinks she's been wronged, in case you hadn't noticed, and-"
>[MV][In Finnish]"Enough."
The jocularity fades with military precision... and Markku's gaze softens by a degree or three.
>[MV][In Finnish]"...I do admit to sharing my children's curiosity-how did you talk her down so easily?"
...Is he asking out of suspicion, concern as a parent-or desperation as a parent that is looking for better ways? I can't even begin to tell.

>>337312
The eye is, as far as Armas can tell, fine. He can't really perceive what's going on inside it much at all, so he really doesn't have much to go off of.








How do I respond to Markku?
Do I bring up the 'taking Hillevi to Istanbul' thing here and now, and if so what phrasing do I use?
Speaking of leaving... when should I be shooting to be leaving the Valkonen grounds?
And when I do leave, what path back towards Turkey should I take?
Beyond prepping to leave, what else should I do with my time until we depart?
And when did I need to kill the Doonongaes by?

>>337252
>my phone looks rather suspiciously like it was beaten with a phallic object until broken, and it's cracked screen still has a picture of my junk, proudly displayed as my phone's final wallpaper.
We need to pull the sim card and get a new phone that can read it. That should keep all our numbers and such, and also have our call log on it which would let us find out if we made any really stupid phone calls while we were busy being insane. This should be done... soon enough to play damage control if necessary, but it can probably wait a day or three.

>>337312
>We should offer to balance things up like he did before. we totally owe him our life.
Agreed.

>This is .... not good. I think Keihas' last upgrade must have to do something with it.
It's also possible that, while we were crazy, we ordered Amen to not speak to/contact us through our blood. Given that Amen's ability to contact us was not based upon the fact that we were the holder of the blood but rather that his blood was inside us, that seems like a more likely case here. Or we might have somehow otherwise purged him from our body, which would imply that we were using heavy magics on ourself while crazy.

>Shit, we should strip that bone as fast as possible.
Agreed regardless of the above.

>>337331
>How do I respond to Markku?
"I emphasized my respect for her and explained the nature of my insanity, then offered to do whatever she wished to make it up to her. It didn't take her long to decide that she had something she wanted more than to beat me to a pulp."

They'll probably want to know what she asked, but as it's something which will not harm any of them in any way, that's between us and Hillevi until the service is complete. Hopefully we can pull that logic off with an air of respect and mysteriousness in spite of our recent episode.

>Do I bring up the 'taking Hillevi to Istanbul' thing here and now, and if so what phrasing do I use?
No, we'll be here a bit more. That's a topic to approach after a little bit of quiet research and some sleep; we promised Hillevi that we would convince her father, not merely ask him. That means we don't ask until we have reasonable certainty of success, and that means prep work.

>Speaking of leaving... when should I be shooting to be leaving the Valkonen grounds?
Shadowbro needs 10 more days of training. When that is done.

>Beyond prepping to leave, what else should I do with my time until we depart?
Find out what the kids' long-term plans are. We might want to give input on that. Bond with them a bit more, and quietly discover just how much of our available cash we spent on buying them presents.

Shadowbro trains with Einrik.

We have a favor to offer Einrik and perhaps complete for him.

Find out who the Iiro that Markku mentioned is/was, what Markku's relation with them was, and what happened to them. If we remind Markku of them then finding out more about them would be to our benefit.

Before we leave, we must crack open the eye. Leaving that too long would be bad. When we do, we should have Einrik and Helmi both on hand- hell, Big can come too. And anyone else who feels like seeing what will go horribly wrong in our life next, I guess. Get advice on how to deal with it when we break it open before acting, of course, but based upon what Ogrimir said we must not delay too long.

>And when I do leave, what path back towards Turkey should I take?
Einrik said that Einherjar are fairly common in Scandinavia. Based upon that, if we could swing through three or four major Scandinavian cities it's likely that we could find at least one, who we could subsequently hunt and kill for the bloodline powers and reward from Ogrimir. Seems like a worthwhile detour.

Seeing our family on the Finnish side... could have been a worthwhile detour, except that we might have our face on television as the penis troll. Fuck. Check the internet when we get a chance to see if we're at all identifiable.

Make sure we bring the still-beating heart of a monster to Istanbul with us to give Camella. That's important!

>And when did I need to kill the Doonongaes by?
February something. There's quite some time left.

BEFORE RETURNING TO ISTANBUL:

Camella, your organized-crime contacts, Amen, Ito, and anyone anyone else can think of are troll-proof for Sake. However, be sure to tell him about the Doon, as well as your relationship with Mammon, as prime targets for huge pranks.

> How did you calm her down.
"A healthy mixture of grovelling, apologizing and compliments." I'm undecided on if we should bring up the favor in front of the other Valkonens (so we can have their support, minor as it is- you know they all enjoy going off house grounds) or private for any face-saving Markku or us might have to do.

I say that when we do bring it up, to make sure to emphasize:
1) that it a favor to her that she asked us to speak on her behalf. If we're speaking to Markku alone, maybe point out that she's feeling restless, and at the age where she wants a little freedom and new experiences.
2) that it is leaving the grounds under controlled circumstances. Istanbul is a significant distance, but she would have both Einrik and ourselves looking out for her. Physically, she has nothing to worry about, but both of us are better at seeing problems from different angles and solving them that way.
3) And of course, that we would safeguard her life with our own.

> What do?
Keihas. Maybe try chiselling off the bone in long, then strips. I bet concentrated Ika-Turso bone would be good for armor or something.

Is Big's leg okay? He talked to us briefly, but nothing else. Maybe make a joke out of it- 'So, did you save the hearts, and the meat- oh yeah, and your leg?'

> When go?
I favor leaving pretty soon. Perhaps driving through sweden and norway to Oslo rather than heading back through russia, taking the bridge into Denmark. That'll give us a little time to run into an Einherjar where they're likely to be most plentiful.

From there, if we could charter a small private plane back to Istanbul that doesn't ask too many questions about cargo, I'd suggest that, just to speed things along.

>Do I bring up the 'taking Hillevi to Istanbul' thing here and now, and if so what phrasing do I use?
Hmmm
mmm
Since I am not a great wordomancer, I will not be able to word it right but from my perspective, there seems to be pros and cons to tell this right now.

On one hand, it might be a better idea to shelve the idea for now so that we can prepare better or perhaps ask Einrik for input. Also, asking in more private area is more respectful.

On the other hand, we could somehow use the family pressure on Markko by making it so that his children which are right here jump into the idea and support us with it.

>Speaking of leaving... when should I be shooting to be leaving the Valkonen grounds?

We still need at least 10 days for Shadowbro to learn anything useful from Einrik.
So, lets stay for another 2 weeks (unless we are wearing out our welcome)

>And when I do leave, what path back towards Turkey should I take?
The same as we took here?
On second thought, we should avoid Russia. No planes though.

>Beyond prepping to leave, what else should I do with my time until we depart?
Training, training and more training.
Also finding suitable body for Sake to posses and perhaps hunting every second day.

>And when did I need to kill the Doonongaes by?
I think the deadline was 11th February or something. We should be back at least two weeks prior to the deadline though.


Also, everything from >>337312, Especially the questions to Sake (yes, I am going to repost this till it gets used)

>>337338
>as well as your relationship with Mammon, as prime targets for huge pranks.

Prince of hell as a prime target for trolling?
Are you fucking insane?

Hell, all entities which are much more powerful than us and are not hostile should be troll-proof by default.

>>337345
>After you buy that encrypted cell phone, call Lombard. After you talk business with him, ask if there's anything he'd like from Finland while you're there.
No.
Labombard told us not to call him untill we get back to Turkey. It was a mistake to call him the first time, we are not making the same mistake again.

Suggestion 2011/08/06(Sat)17:17 No. 337353 ID: 0d095c
File 131267622327.jpg - (13.74KB , 297x201 , Pssshhaaaawww.jpg )

>>337350
>NOT trolling the lords of Hell

Naaaaaah. We'll be FINE. We troll Doony all the time.

>>337343
>Keihas. Maybe try chiselling off the bone in long, then strips.
Before this we should try to communicate with the rifle inside it by all reasonable means at our disposal (verbal, mental, spiritual). It will hopefully still know us as its master and listen to our words if we can just manage to talk to it. I would prefer not to damage the bone that it seized control of if we can avoid it.

>>337345
>Call up Valmet Arms and order a heavier marksmanship barrel for Keihas as well as a scope mount, if they will sell it.
I would prefer not to mess with our super-magical rifle. It's not a solid gamble that the magic is still confined to the bayonet and stock.

Also, we don't know that we still have money in our accounts.

>call Lombard
No. He was explicit that we should wait until we're back in Istanbul. Getting an encrypted phone before we go is good, though.



>>337353
>We troll Doony all the time.
The Doonongaes has no brain to speak of. The same cannot be said of anyone worthy of actual respect as a player in the supernatural world.

>>337331

"It wasn't easy. At least, it wasn't easy for me. This has been a very humbling experience. It took me admitting how highly I think of her, and how mortified I was to learn about my bad behavior. I told her to truth about why I was not in control of myself.

"I offered to make things right between us because I like our friendship and I wanted it to endure past this horrible incident. I offered her a favor of her choosing. We shook on it, and she named it.

"Not incidentally, I would like to speak to you after I've had a little time to prepare. Baring one's soul, even to a friend, is its own sort of ordeal. I need to compose myself."

>Do I bring up the 'taking Hillevi to Istanbul' thing here and now, and if so what phrasing do I use?

He would not respond well to being put on the spot in front of his kids. Better for Armas to talk to him in private. By mentioning that he wants to talk later, and that what they're going to talk about is linked to Hillevi forgiving Armas, we're setting him up to think of worst-case scenarios ("Oh god she asked him to marry her") which will make the travel request seem very reasonable by way of comparison.

>Speaking of leaving... when should I be shooting to be leaving the Valkonen grounds?

We should budget two weeks for travel time, given how much trouble we seem to attract. Leave no later than the new year, that gives a good buffer for mishaps while still allowing enough time to wrap things up.

>And when I do leave, what path back towards Turkey should I take?

Take the longer land route, avoid Russia entirely. Be sure to pick up some mundane hunting trophies before you go, to complete your cover story with any curious officials.

>Beyond prepping to leave, what else should I do with my time until we depart?

Give your cousins a call, and visit with them.

Ask Einrik if the wards around the estate would allow for a cellular repeater to punch through. If he thinks so, then when you go buy a new encrypted phone you should talk to the salesman about possible repeater solutions. You'll want to know the ranges from the nearest tower to the estate, and if there is a line of sight or not.

Speaking of phones, the idea to find out if we made any really stupid phone calls while we were busy being insane is a good one. Who knows who we pissed off?

Buy a bottle of Teerenpeli Single Malt for Arkvad. It's a Finnish whiskey, and there's a recent bottling run that he probably has not gotten a chance to sample yet.

Call up Valmet Arms and order a heavier marksmanship barrel for Keihas as well as a scope mount, if they will sell it.

Free Keihas from the bone. Try to keep the dense magic bone as intact as possible. A plate of it could be better than a SAPI plate for your armor.

Learn what the long-term plan for the kids is and strive to maintain communication with them. Regular letters, phone calls, birthday presents, ect.

Finally, call your mom and dad from your new encrypted telephone. Catch up with them, wish them merry Christmas and talk about the Finland trip and meeting with the cousins and all that fun stuff.

>And when did I need to kill the Doonongaes by?

Before the end of the lunar cycle, mid February. I believe the date was February 11th.

>>337351
>Labombard told us not to call him untill we get back to Turkey.

Excellent point.

>>337331
>How do I respond to Markku?
She simply needed the reassurance that she was respected as she was, and that what had happened was due to that, and not a sign of disdain or disrespect.
>Do I bring up the 'taking Hillevi to Istanbul' thing here and now, and if so what phrasing do I use?
Don't bring it up in front of the rest of the siblings, discuss it with Einrik in confidence first, and then approach Markku with him in tow.

When you do approach him, tell him that so far he's done a great job with his youngest daughter, and that any father would be proud, particularly of her left hook. She's now, in your judgement, reached the stage where she needs to prove her art against a wider variety of challenges, from friendly bouts with other martial artists, through challenges that have to be thought past rather than hit, all th eway up to seeing why it is that we are right to fight.
>Speaking of leaving... when should I be shooting to be leaving the Valkonen grounds?
When your soul is recovered by eating hearts, you've cemented your mastery of Keihas, and if possible, you've gained ShadowBro a Spirit Animal.
>And when I do leave, what path back towards Turkey should I take?
Through Sweden and Denmark trolling for Einherjar, and then ambushing them when they come hunting a fire jotunn and you shoot them, then across the Øresund Bridge to Denmark, and then through Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and finally arriving at Turkey. All with only one passport check.
>Beyond prepping to leave, what else should I do with my time until we depart?
Sleep 4 hours a night.
Eat hearts to recover any soul dmagae from the binding. Start with one heart today and one tomorrow from your hunting, and then move onto Erinyes. Of the seven hearts, one is for Camella, 3 for big, and 3 for you, and you've eaten one.
Track down and beat down a Oschaert, so that Sake can possess it and make it assume weasel form. If you can't, find him a normal weasel.
If you can, hunt down a Sceadugenga to bind as your spirit animal and use ShadowBro's technique of trapping the animals spirit in our Shadow before using our three parts to kick the crap out of it to dominate them.
Alternately, rather than getting ourselves a spirit animal, you should see if you can us the same process on Keihas to make it your spirit animal. It seems, from what happened to the Iku-Tursa, that it currently has a basic, animalistic intelligence, so it may be a valid target. That way, if Keihas continues to evolve, it will be from the foundation of being utterly loyal to you. Better to nip a problem in the bud now and let it develop from there, rather than have to take extreme measures later. Note that Keihas awakening may be the reason Amen isn't responding, as Smets living blood within Keihas is the actual control mechanism.
RRR attempt: Consider the deal that Mammon offered. Becoming a disciple of a god may be the equivalent for a mortal of becoming a god's spirit animal. Given this, and your plans to become immortal, binding Keihas in this way may link you in a similar way when she grows into sentience, and may be the first step on the path to a more exalted status, as usually only higher powers can have bound mortal souls.
Train ShadowBro with Einrik as much as is possible.
Learn as much of what Sake knows as possible, particularly about winter bloodlines.
Sake infected your eye with his essence - now he's allied to you, so he can tell you what he knows, and help you resolve the issue, along with Einrik, Helmi, and ShadowBro. Best option is to talk the entities inside the eye into coming to terms, then the second option is to have ShadowBro suck the entire eye through a shadow portal into himself after bringing you and Sake there first and having Einrik and Helmi weaken them first. Once there, you pounce and, between the three of you, devour/assimilate them.
Talk to BC about spirit binding, and share what you've learned about bloodlines with him.
Have Sake investigate whether the piece of your soul he accepted has given him a chakra system and Summer/Winter Bloodlines.
Ring up SM and offer him the right to decide your questions to Ogrimmir, and the exclusive access to the answer, in return for a retainer, and specific payment per question asked.
Ask Einrik if there are any Einjerhar he knows of who particularly deserve death.
>And when did I need to kill the Doonongaes by?
Feb 11th.

>Alternately, rather than getting ourselves a spirit animal, you should see if you can us the same process on Keihas to make it your spirit animal. It seems, from what happened to the Iku-Tursa, that it currently has a basic, animalistic intelligence, so it may be a valid target. That way, if Keihas continues to evolve, it will be from the foundation of being utterly loyal to you. Better to nip a problem in the bud now and let it develop from there, rather than have to take extreme measures later. Note that Keihas awakening may be the reason Amen isn't responding, as Smets living blood within Keihas is the actual control mechanism.

Upvoting.
Seems to be the best thing to bind as a spirit.

>when to leave
Aim for a week. Consult with Big.

>path
Through Germany seems interesting. Ask Hillevi if there is anywhere she would like to go. She may just have an interesting idea.
I figure that she has heard stories.

>do with your time
-Find another weasel, subdue, Sake possess, feed it mystical flesh and such to up magic.

-Help the Valkonens with anything they need. Try and make yourself useful. Maybe spend a day with the head and see what he does with his days. Have a 'Valkonen' days, rather than 'Armas' days. In fact, learn from everyone, Big too. Let em steer for awhile and see what you can pick up.

-Get Rifle out of bone.

-Ask Sake about the other half of weasel, if it was just the Id he was talking about, or the segment sealed in your eye, or something else completely. I am inclined to believe it is the eye, especially because it acted up when he was around (though it should be sealed so that was a powerful reaction). But if he has nothing to do with the eye, then you have to figure out why it reacted to him. May just be important.




I wonder how your growing harem will get along.

Be aware that you having to train the goblins will probably put a damper on things. Unless you can get Camella to take her around while busy. Good for her to have someone to girltalk anyway. things that only women are familiar with anyway.

How are going to get your motley of weapons(including giant ice spear and wad of bone) back to base?
Not sure you can pass those off as hunting gear again.
Maybe you can get a transport deal from SM.

Ask Sake he knows what robots are and if he can posses them.
Robot weasel body (or just one of those robot dog things) could be interesting until you get back or find a more suitable host.

Find out more about shadow magic, you need to know what's in your (as in you brothers) arsenal.

>>337395
I just don't see this happening, unless this was something I missed on IRC or Disc thread. Barely animal intelligence, maybe, but it's NOT an animal. It's a bit of soul left over in a rifle stock from when a human soul suffused a tree. It's not really living or spirit, so I doubt techniques that would normally work for those things will work on it.

>>337343
"A healthy mixture of groveling, apologizing and compliments."
>[Helmi][In English]"Cute-but what did you really say, I wonder?"
>[EV][In English]"Dear sister you make nuisance enough of yourself to our other guest."
>[MV][In Finnish]"Enough-so you speak English wonderful. Do either of you speak German? Russian?"
>[EV][In Finnish]"No but knowing Mandarin, Spanish and English hasn't hurt me yet-nor has knowing enough Hindi-Urdu and Arabic dialects to make my way through-"
Markku rolls his eyes, clearly long used to his son's 'officially' polite retorts.
>[MV][In Finnish]"Well... enough with the spectacle. You two still have cleaning to do-and Helmi, I believe now would be a good time to speak with your sister."

The other Valkonens depart-and soon enough Markku has left as well, only Einrik and Big remaining with me in the hallway.

>[EV][In Finnish]"...Really though, how did you do it? I do hope you know any promise you made she will rather thoroughly ensure you carry through on. Rather a big one for oaths, promises and all that."

>>337337 [DOUBLE TRIPLE BONUS]
"I emphasized my respect for her and explained the nature of my insanity, then offered to do whatever she wished to make it up to her. It didn't take her long to decide that she had something she wanted more than to beat me to a pulp-which I need to talk to you about."
>[EV][In Finnish]"Ah, let me guess-you placated her by making her focus on her want to see the world over her aggravation at you."
"You really take a lot of fun out of this, you know that?"
>[EV][In Finnish]"Just as I can accommodate your own social quirks, I believe you will have to accept my 'fun-spoiling'."
>[Big]"Seriously, come on-I know both of you speak English."
"You're right-anyway we're just talking about how we might get Hillevi to come back with us to Istanbul as like an away training retreat or adventure or what have you."
>[Big]"...And you plan to house her where?"
"Smets' house-it is being transferred to be under my name."
>[EV][In English]"And, as I've already promised to provide some level of assistance with one of Armas' problems in Istanbul, I will be along as chaperone, at least to Istanbul.... perhaps he can be convinced, then-it is a sight more potential security for her, to be escorted to a location that is the homeground of a House Friend."
He idly strokes his scarred chin.
>[EV][In English]"Yes... in fact, I think he could get fully behind the idea, rather than just accepting it. If I speak to him first... this solves my own problems as well-her pestering questions can oft grow tiresome, and knowing she won't be home when I return would give me some peace... you are aware the standard venture is for one full year, correct?"
>[Big]"..If the Head's big on tradition, then if we broach the subject, he's going to want us to leave with her on the start of the new year, sync the time up with the calendar, right?"
>[EV][In English]"Correct. Which means you have less than a week, in the case of success, before you must leave."
"How's the shadow training looking?"
>[EV][In English]"My primary focus the last three sessions was on brute soul enforcement-with what your Contract provided you, that is no longer necessary-the fundamentals, the core concepts, as promised, were imparted."
"Don't suppose you'd mind doing more training wi-"
>[EV][In English]"Actually, I would-you know of Kas Pin, and if I start teaching actual style-which is the only direction I can go from here-I would start resyncing you two, and ruin the entire experiment-so no, with the contract made, you have no more need of such training-I had time to carefully consider this prior to your capture, so accept this as being heavily deliberated rather than impulsively offered."
"...I see. Just for my information, do you have any transportation when you go out?"
>[EV][In English]"Oh, just the family jet."
>[Big]"...The family jet?"
>[EV][In English]"Yes, a Bombardier Global 5000 father picked up back in... '99? It's been given only a small bit of aftermarket treatment-a comprehensive disinterest charm setup to discourage aerial predators from approaching, and an enchanted windshield that can pierce basic illusions, nothing fancy."
....Son of a bitch. I see your smug smile, motherfucker... a damn private jet?
"..I'm going to go ahead and assume the car-"
>[EV][In English]"It had to be after marketed so it had proper seats-and can only fit eight passengers. No, the car cannot come."
Hm... the car IS registered to a dead woman my roommate killed... it might be a good idea to not bring it back...
Definitely something to think on.
"Well, more than I thought we had to work with-or is it family only?"
>[EV][In English]"I have not heard the Head say otherwise on any occasion, and so the implicit assumption must be the permission exists until specifically revoked... Well, unless there was something else you wanted to do first, I think we should just... talk to him, now, actually-he's still laughing about your antics, and would be most inclined to positively view any requests."
I turn to Big.
>[Big]"Woah, you schemers leave me out of it-I'm just along for the ride."
"Boring, but understandably safe. Okay, back in a bit."
We being a long, leisurely walk, in search of Markku.

[SENSITIVE FAMILY INFORMATION: DOUBLE TRIPLE BONUS UNLOCK]
"So... Iiro."
>[EV][In English]"Yes, the one father compared you to."
"Who is-"
>[EV][In English]"I will tell you because you are a friend-but strongly advise never bringing him up around the Head. Iiro was my father's cousin, and closest friend as a child. His death was what ultimately motivated my father's climb into the position of Head of family. I knew him only as a child, but what little I recall reminds me strongly of you-and frankly, plotters in general. He is likely part of why I like those with twisted minds moreso than my younger siblings."
"..Thank you for sharing that, then. ...So, how's my eye looking?"
>[EV][In English]"The same as before-not sufficiently suffused with energy that any passive force can be interpreted, and if what's within can't even do that, you're still fine. And no, I don't recommend preemptively attempting to open it."
"Got to let me say at least SOME of-"
>[EV][In English]"The thoughts you plan and I predict yes I know but I suppose you shall have to make do."
"So.. if we DID use the jet, could we maybe make pit stops-say, in Sweden or Norway-"
>[EV][In English]"Looking for Einherjar? Yes... I suppose we could do so. I don't know of any locations they would be more likely found at, but if you know of some specific places we could certainly go."
"And lastly... do you know if my face got-"
>[EV][In English]"Oh yes-you did not go entirely undocumented in your little spree. I truly doubt any have decent footage-but I have no doubt the Penis Troll is already online."
"...Great."
>>337351
I stop looking for information externally-and look inward.
Say, Sake, is there anything preventing you from possessing something for a short time, then moving to a new form?
>[Sake]"If I wasn't bound to anything living, certainly-but our oath of brotherhood makes shifting hosts more difficult-this I learned from an old friend's fate in Kyoto. I am most content to wait until you find something we can agree ideally suited."
Okay... your earlier words, about how I can't use your power when my soul's in my body-does that mean if I got my soul empowered enough to meet some requirement, that-
>[Sake]"...Dear brother, are you mentally unsound? Is your ability to process and solve problems defective? I said while your soul is in your body, my power could not be tapped by your body-how would making your soul stronger in any way impact this? ...What's that-oh, very well: Your Soul's Shadow would like to ask you to stop coming up with stupid theories, as he has his hands quite full with the crazy ones that are, in fact, your norm-ah, brothers, a wonderful thing to have again."
So only when my soul's not in my body?
>[Sake]"And my soul is still unbound to a host, yes-as then I use our bond of brotherhood to only lightly enter your body, rather than commit full possession-as was proven possible by my id."
So, how do you feel about maybe using a Sceadugenga as a host-they can regenerate, are pretty-
>[Sake]"There are two types of things that are truly difficult to possess: Those with passive regenerative abilities, as it makes establishing a physical toehold harder-and those with shapeshifting abilities-as their multifaceted sense of self makes dominating their mind more challenging. I would not wish to risk it, when with some patience far better options can be found."
You... can communicate with Shadowbro freely, right?
>[Sake]"Currently-I am staying as guest within his domain currently, after all.
So... Sake, what are your opinions on spirit animals?
>[Sake]"I am not all that familiar with them, so I don't really have an opinion on it-what I think of when I hear spirit animal is very different than what you and your friend Big speak of."
...Huh. So you wouldn't know if Shadowbro could get a spirit animal or-
>[Sake]"I do know this much-you need a corporeal form as well as an unslaved soul, to have a spirit animal-lacking flesh, your shadow can have no bound minion-the same does not apply for you. I.. am uncertain, actually, if the oaths you made me swear with our Pact would prevent me from having my own spirit animals, once I am invested into a new host body."
Hm.... can you ask Shadowbro if he thinks he could snare other souls with the shadow teleportation and cheat our way into a spirit animal without the drugs and knife and-
>[Sake]"He says to erase that line of thought, as what little Big sent our way on the subject showed what we did was nothing like binding a spirit animal and that the actual process is still completely unknown to us, but insofar as what little we DO know, it wouldn't be possible to substitute steps, as the ritual's power comes from it's uniformity and flow, rather than individual reinterpretation."
...Hn.

>>337353
My mind drifts to how fun it would be to help Sake troll Mammon and/or his Disciples next time I encounter them-heh, should be awesome.

>>337360
>[PARANOIA Trait activated]
I... really wish I wasn't so paranoid, as what with my... episode, I don't think visiting my relatives would be a good idea just now. ...On the bright side, the Valkonens sure as shit seem like people I want to keep knowing-and I'll have to be in Finland again some time-maybe I can meet them then... when all this 'Penis Troll' stuff has blown over.

I do, however, decide that at least for Arkvad, I have to get some Finnish liquor-maybe a day trip to some nearby city, or something, before we leave.

>>337386
[spoiler]RRR attempt failure-PARANOIA combo started.[/code]

I do, however, resolve to return to my shorter sleeping pattern, to squeeze as much out of these remaining few days as possible.
...And start coming up with a rather strange idea-if it would be possible to make my gun, my spirit animal-it's magic is built around a long-dead Finnish girl and her story, perhaps her soul's within the item... something to think about after I've wrested the rifle from its bone cocoon.
>>337413
...Eh, I can see reasons why it shouldn't work... but not enough for me to abandon the concept. I'll have to ponder it further.

We come to the double doors-finding Markku laughing with Tartalo, both quickly schooling themselves into composure on our entrance.

>[EV][In Finnish]"Tartalo, would you mind giving the three of us some privacy, briefly?"
As the lumbering Cyclops departs-
>[EV][In English]"So how do you want to do this?"

Time to sell Pappa Valkonen on his baby girl leaving the nest... with a guy he just got back from subduing from a multi-day spree of naked shenanigans-and I have to sell myself as an acceptable chaperone and guide for her while she's there... for, if I understood Einrik correctly, a year, though I suppose I could try to do something different.










So what's my plan of attack here?

Ok, we probably shouldn't said flat out from the start that your goal is to take Hillevi to Istanbul.

Going at it from another way- and using a 'training year with Hillevi as a test/proof of loyalty/friendship to the house of Valkonen' might net us both our promise with Hillevi, and something else.

For the "something else" i was thinking an actual recognition of our status as friends of the Valkonen house to the world. This would greatly improve our credibility to just about anyone, i believe.

So, if at all possible, we should aim at making a deal like "Protecting Hillevi's mind, body and virtue for a year, ensure she learns how to safely act in a cutthroat hostile environment and help her create contacts in the world. This, in exchange for a formal acknowledgement of our status as friend".

Of course, this should be the goal, and not something to say flat out from the beginning.

I'd start off with, "In my effort to get back into your daughter's good graces, I did offer her a favor, and she called due almost immediately: to speak on her behalf."

>>337450 did a fine job outlining the benefits of Istanbul as a controlled environment. Markku wants to keep tabs on all his family, keep them close, but he won't get a better place to season Hillevi with a family friend and Einrik watching over her, a web of allies already in place, Markku able to call her whenever and fly out within a day or two. Plus, might wanna bring up that she'd be in good company, since our flatmate's the only other woman we know (besides Hillevi) who can kick our ass. Hopefully it will remind Markku that Hillevi can take care of herself if we were so crass as to make advances, and doesn't come off like we're building a harem or something.

Maybe slant it to make it seem like it's a bit of a bother (which it probably will be), but it seemed only right after the Valkonen's generosity in hosting us. A deal (or a Deal?) that we will protect her life - and yes, virtue - as we would our own is optional if it seems like it would be well-received. Better than our own, maybe, since we take stupid risks.

Obviously Einrik considers us a House Friend already (and by his words, thinks Markku considers us that, too), though, so I don't think we need to push for recognition of status.

Hey, if we cannot use the car perhaps we should sell it?
Could Einrik help us with what is ultimately a stolen car?

If you can do so without detouring too much out of the way, it may be a good idea to pick up one of the hearts you recovered and gulping it down, so that you aren't making this pitch ravenous.

Also, as you walk, you should chat with Einrik, and by telling stories of what you've fought, let him know what's waiting for you in Istanbul, i.e. Savoy and Blackbeard. You should also confirm that Einrik only needs to hold off training ShadowBro until you've aligned your currently blank winter bloodline to something else, as then the danger of re-syncing will have passed.

As an aside, you should ask if next time Markku goes time travelling through the depths of the Nevernever, could he bring you back some stock tips - the Bombardier Global 5000 first flew in 2003.

You should also arrange to bring anything you can with you, particularly your mini-fridge, and leave the rest of the stuff behind as a gift to the Valkonens, as thanks for their hospitality, including "your" car.

We should mention that our house in Istanbul has a exceptionally potent supernatural protector so she will have a safe place to stay.

Mentioning Camella is a good idea - although she's no longer our house mate. Mention her as a potential instructor in the capabilities of modern weapons - after all, we already told Markku about the potential of artillery, and also as an adult female role model, which Hillevi is somewhat lacking in here, and might be good for her.

You could also bring up the existence of the wizard's university in Istanbul, in which it might be possible for Hillevi to enrol. This would serve to keep her out of trouble, and may help with teaching her how to use her magical abilities, which you know she's having to work on. It will also keep her out of your hair when you want to go on jobs, and would give her some structure to a life which could be very disorientating and different to what she knows.

If you have chance as you walk, oe even after the meeting, speak to Sake about investigating any chakra system or bloodline abilities he acquired alongside our soul. ShadowBro and him should be able to work on it together whilst tou're busy with other things.

Given how Amen has gone quiet, I'd suggest cementing your control over Keihas before returning to the house he controls. It's probably not a big issue, but the advantages of being something unique are also attractive, so you might as well investigate further. The spirit animal idea plausible, so speak to BC about what more there is to know of the process. In return, ask Einrik to examine him for latent bloodline potential or anything similar. Also talk to Einrik about the procedure. He's much more magically knowledgeable than you, so between those two they may be able to aid you in developing an appropriate ritual. I suspect that cutting off her bone covering and taking pieces of her kill may be a useful component of this.

If there's anything else to add to our argument it's that Hillevi has had a very strong desire to see the world for what appears to have been a very long time now. This desire will just keep on building and building until she's either let off or goes off, it's an eventuality. So why not have her come with us? As shown by the other posters this is about as perfect of an opportunity as he could ask for in terms of safety, richness of location, and potential value to the family. That and we would be really grateful because we DO NOT want to go back into that room and tell her no.

>>337528
Eh I'm not too sure about selling it. We can't exactly sell it legally so we would have to do some footwork finding a chop shop in the area to sell it to before we have to leave, cutting into our training time considerably. It might just be better to leave it here as an offering, kind of like we did for Lo Fang with Gustavo's house. We just need to make sure Einrik can handle doing some mundane cleaning up on the car so the family doesn't get in trouble for having a dead woman's car.

Wait.
We are running into danger of being locked in Istanbul for a year without being able to leave.
What if Markku allows Hillevi to come with us but with a distinct order to stay only in Istanbul, prohibiting her to go to other countries?
And then telling us that we cannot leave Hillevi and need to look out for her and protect her (well, she can take care of herself in psychical fights, but when it comes to Social situations and general world knowledge, she will be lost)

We really need to visit New Zealand when we deal with Doony, so we also need to make sure that Hillevi can come with us or have a permission to go there without her.

So when asking the permission, instead of focusing on Istanbul, focus on the world. Ask Marrku to permit her to go with you so that she can learn more of the world in general. That way we can take her to other places too.

We could say that Istanbul would be the base but once in a while we would take field-trips.

>>337671
>Also, as you walk, you should chat with Einrik, and by telling stories of what you've fought, let him know what's waiting for you in Istanbul, i.e. Savoy and Blackbeard.

This shouldn't come out as if we are bragging, more like a caution that we keep attracting all kinds of power. That way he knows that Hillevi might get into fights or something ... not that I am concerned that she can't take care of herself, just so that they know what she will be getting into.

>We should mention that our house in Istanbul has a exceptionally potent supernatural protector so she will have a safe place to stay.
I know Armas said that we have a mansion there ... but do we even know if Amen managed to transfer it to us?
Do we even control Amen at this point ... we should bind that rifle to us as soon as possible.

>Mention her as a potential instructor in the capabilities of modern weapons
If Marrku doesn't seem happy with the idea that we will teach Hillevi to use guns, tell him that it will do Hillevi good to know what to expect and how to deal when fighting modern enemies. Not knowing the capacities might be her undoing when fighting a very resourceful enemy.
It is not like we want her to lumber around wielding artillery gun in one hand (yes we do)


>You could also bring up the existence of the wizard's university in Istanbul, in which it might be possible for Hillevi to enrol. This would serve to keep her out of trouble, and may help with teaching her how to use her magical abilities, which you know she's having to work on. It will also keep her out of your hair when you want to go on jobs, and would give her some structure to a life which could be very disorientating and different to what she knows.

Eh... don't really think this is a good idea.


>Given how Amen has gone quiet, I'd suggest cementing your control over Keihas before returning to the house he controls. It's probably not a big issue, but the advantages of being something unique are also attractive, so you might as well investigate further. The spirit animal idea plausible, so speak to BC about what more there is to know of the process. In return, ask Einrik to examine him for latent bloodline potential or anything similar. Also talk to Einrik about the procedure. He's much more magically knowledgeable than you, so between those two they may be able to aid you in developing an appropriate ritual. I suspect that cutting off her bone covering and taking pieces of her kill may be a useful component of this.

This.
Definately agree with this.
Check the Discussion thread for people who haven't yet to find out why binding Keihas is a very good idea.

rolled 19, 65 = 84

---

GIVE HER A SLAP WITH THE CHISEL AND HAMMER
I just wish we had our dremel.

>>337479
...Right, a direct approach-
" In my effort to get back into your daughter's good graces, I did offer her a favor, and she called due almost immediately: to speak on her behalf."
>[MV][In Finnish]"I am familiar with my own daughter's idea of how to plan. What is the matter she enlisted your aid in?"
"She wishes to go on a training excursion-"
>[MV][In Finnish]"I've spoken with her about this-no, she is not yet capable to follow Einrik or I where we tread, and cannot be allowed on her own-I'll speak frankly, you recognize the danger her naivety would pose."
What I expected, more or less-a pretty reasonable sounding argument of the concerned, protective parent.
>>337450
>[DDDD Trait activated]
"That's why I propose an alternative-and it's one I must ask you fully hear me out on before deciding."
>[MV][In Finnish]"Why do you make the request?"
>[EV][In Finnish]"Because to particular specifics of what he proposes are the real focus, not the core concept. ...Just lend him an ear, father, and you will understand."
>[MV][In Finnish]"...On with it, Armas."
"I propose that Hillevi accompany me to Istanbul, and, under my care, gain some seasoning in the world at large. I know enough of the modern and magical dangers she could run afoul of, and can direct her away from them."
He's frowning, clearly not liking it-and just as clearly saying nothing, giving me his ear, as promised.
"Further, Einrik has agreed to assist me with an affair in Istanbul-and as such would be along as official chaperone on the way to Turkey's capital. You could then make contact with him and render a final decision, on whether you feel comfortable with this proposal. ..Respectfully, as I did say I would argue on her behalf, I have to mention that, as you did name me a Friend of the House, it would appear she has valid formal backing to justify this request."
I'm dancing around the truth rather mightily-but I phrase it ambiguously enough nothing reacts, my words are accepted.
Markku, for his part, is looking thoughtful at this.
>[MV][In Finnish]"...Mm, that is a fair point you bring up. ...But you speak of what to steer her away from-but what would she then face?"
Ah-some interest.
"After an initial bit of training on modern weapons, their application, and how most mundane areas frown on overtly magical public displays, I'd start with gang members-"
>[MV][In Finnish]"Which of the City Bandit Clans do you speak of?"
What?
>[EV][In English]"He means what crime families or collectives would she be facing."
Ah.
"There are several options, and I could curtail it to your whim: There is a strong Mafia presence in the area, though they have had some heavy focus from their higher ups back in Sicily of late. There is a Triad presence with a bodyguard as monstrously potent as their local leader is cunning, and have several Shaolin disciples in their upper echelons. There are Neo-nazi Germans-who have potentially been given a massive boost in numbers from some local politics. And If I understood some insider information I was given recently, even more types of Nazi-associated clans-Japanese Yakuza, some Italian Ex-military, perhaps-could also be incoming."
>[MV][In Finnish]"No to the Triads-whatever she could learn from facing the Shaolin ways, if even one expert is among them there is more of our own style she would need to know before facing them. No to the Mafia-their Upper Echelons include some rather potent assassins, a group I want her uninvolved with. The Nazi affiliates, however... I fondly remember a few run ins with sects of that old regime-they should be perfect targets for her."
Okay... this is sounding okay so far.
>[MV][In Finnish]"And what of supernatural targets? What can you offer her?"
Oh, I was hoping he'd say this. Hooray creative phrasing!
>[MMMMM Trait activated]
>>337671
"Before we go into that, there is one specific individual I would like to mention."
>[MV][In Finnish]"Oh?"
"A mercenary with no real allegiance known by the Moniker Blackbeard."
>[MV][In Finnish]"I'm not familiar with-"
>[EV][In Finnish]"I am, father. He is most uncaring about collateral damage-but not really a lethal threat to a prepared Valkonen. Certainly difficult to pin down. ..Quite frankly, I doubt Hillevi COULD pin him down, having to labor with more subtle workings."
"Also, bit of an uneven segue, but I have a comrade, ex-soldier named Camella-she's... rather good at picking up on when people are plotting something that will end poorly. I'm certain she'd be happy to assist as well."
No reaction from the wards-guess I do believe that-or is it that it is the actual truth?
>[MV][In Finnish]"Oh-ho. ...Well, now that you've concluded the mortal aspect..."
"To start, not a potential foe-but an additional guardian most capable to provide her a safe point to call home during the stay."
>[MV][In Finnish]"I will withold my opinion of that aspect until I hear Einrik's assessment of it's capability.
"I can offer an unpredictable but relatively frequently occurring access to demonic encounters-I've survived them myself, I'm fairly certain she could navigate them as well with some minor assistance-"
>[MV][In Finnish]"Specify the demon's origin."
"Multiple types-all affiliated with Mammon in the grand scheme of things."
>[MV][In Finnish]"The Christian Prince of Greed... what else?"
"The Bosphorus and all the fun it contains-which includes an Akkorokamui that had among others a Doonongaes at it's service in a clash with a local wizard-really, an aquatic setting ripe with options."
>[MV][In Finnish]"...A hunting ground I am familiar with. On you propose neither Wrath nor Lust demons... that still is not all that much to-"
"Again, respectfully-"
>[MV][In Finnish]"There's more?"
"Yes. I have reason to make a trip back to the Americas, as well as a trip to New Zealand-both would, with very little effort, provide their own individual opportunities."
>[MV][In Finnish]"Do you have anything more to say?"
>>337686
"Only that she has fully convinced me that she has had a very strong desire to see the outside world and if I am any judge has held it for some time-and if I have to go back in there and tell her no I don't think that will end well."
Even as Markku begins to scowl faintly, Einrik snorts at my side.
>[EV][In Finnish]"Father-"
The Head sighs, and schools his bearded bricklike face.
>[MV][In Finnish]"I know."

The titanic Head of the Valkonen house stands.

>[MV][In Finnish]"Then, as the Head of the House Valkonen, Seventy Seventh to hold the title, I, Markku Valkonen, do accept Friend of House Armas Laine's proposal for my daughter, Hillevi, to be rendered into his care for a yearlong boarding, complete with guardianship and instruction on modern elements, to start on the first day of the coming year, and end with the same year's closing."
The metal eye... doesn't squirm, doesn't heat-but my eyelid flutters over it without any impulse of my own, as if the ghost of a reaction were not even felt, but remembered from a dream.
He offers his titanic hand to me. Travel rights, appeasing Hillevi-sure it's more to juggle, but this should work out. I take his offer without hesitation.

And, with the deal struck with our meeting hands, Markku seems to think matters are settled-and departs, saying he will need to speak with his daughter. Einrik claps me on the shoulder to congratulate me-and notes it too late just now, to begin a session-and so he absconds to the library with a parting wave.

I exit the room. Big, waiting patiently, stands completely reactionless for a handful of seconds after I summarize, before finally saying.
>[Big]"Yeah, no, I have no idea if that's good or bad. ...You know what, fuck it, I'm going to sleep. Might make more sense in the morning.[/i]"
And with that, Big departs. With Markku talking to Hillevi, I have no more obligations...


Save my concern over my rifle's state.

Having already resolved I'll need to cut it out, I sit down with a few tools, thankful Hillevi gave me a tour that included the craftroom.

Before me, I have my mere, a heavy, wide bladed chisel, a hammer, a rough-toothed file, and a crescent sawblade.

....I... don't know a damn thing about working bone, Sake, do-
>[Sake]"NOPE."
Damn.

Well, I can do this-I've worked wood and stone in art class before, this can't be THAT hard-







[For every d100 roll you want to make in your post (up to three) you must name a tool, and how he attempts to use it. You can link someone else's rolls, and attach your own rolls on after, to chain the excavation. Ex: Post one rolls twice, file and saw. Post two links one, rolls thrice, says mere, chisel and hammer. That would result in file first, then saw, then mere, then chisel and hammer (yes, chisel and hammer take two rolls to use, not one)]
If the rules still don't make sense, ask on IRC

rolled 99, 85 = 184

---

Mere and hammer to chisel away bone shell

rolled 88, 95, 49 = 232

---

First, just use the mere. See if it can just cut the bone and start by trying to just cut off slivers where Silja shouldn't be. If -that- doesn't work, Mere and hammer to work as a chisel.

[First roll: Possibly using mystical mere. Second and third roll: using mere if it's not that mystical.]

rolled 33, 53 = 86

---

>>337734
When pieces from Keihas emerge and you know it´s position, use the saw to remove large bits from it, cutting in a way to not endanger it, followed by slowly filing the rifle out.

>>337734
SUST. We are not slapping her, we're just trying to help her out of her shell, maybe make the bone look nice to help her.

That said, we should save any and all bone shavings.

Get Einrik for this. I mean really, you want to risk Amen becoming unbound?

Oh, and I wonder if your IDs did something to keep Amen from contacting you, either on purpose or accident. His connection was blood based, but he was also able to accurately analyze your soul, which you yourself are incapable of. Perhaps the connection comes from the souls connection to the blood? Perhaps that would mean having your soul blocked off kept him from contacting you.

Actually, maybe that's how bloodlines in general work. Requiring the blood to exist in a living state, but not actually be part of your current self. That would allow for Shadowbro's use of the summer bloodline. Also consider myths of body switching, astral projection, and so many others that have the soul essentially switch bodies. These probably originate from bloodlines. The blood in these cases would end up being possessed by someone else, but still retains it's power. And specifically for body snatching, some legends have destroying the original body causing the switch to lose the ability to switch from body to body entirely. This makes sense if the soul is required but able to draw power from it's living blood, regardless of who is in control of it.

rolled 36 = 36

---

>>337743
Roll for additional file usage.

No matter the method consider keeping the cutting edges coated in blood near the end. Then you'll know instantly when you reach the stock and you'll avoid doing damage to it by for example sawing too far. Also the rifle has probably incorporated some bone so keep an eye open for changes in the actual weapon structure.

rolled 16, 37 = 53

---

Chisel and hammer roll to fit between mere and file stages.

I'd just suggest we use the Mere to slice away broad swaths into the right general shape (>>337741).

Chisel and hammer to get in closer. The final stage should only be undertaken with the wide-edged file (>>337743).

We may in fact want to leave a coating of bone along the front stock or barrel near the bayonet so that they could reinforce it if we need to block an attack with it.

We may also wish to attempt to simply shadow-port the gun out - surely it's already dark in the cocoon.

rolled 59, 34 = 93

---

First, ask help from people who have actual ability with magical tinkering (Einrik) and be very, very careful. No need to rush.

Then, let's also try to soak it in basilisk blood to see if it will trigger the consumption ability.

try and catch big before he goes to bed and ask him any tips on how to properly shape bone

Prior to all this cuttan, why dont we try giving Keihas a few drops of our own blood to see how she reacts. Just be sure to talk with Einrik first to see what he thinks about our insan.. perfectly plausible idea.

>>337734
SUST. We are not slapping Keihas. She's our rifle, there aren't even many like her, and she's most definitely ours.

>>337755
>>337742
SUST. Think about how the mere functions. It cuts through spirits with supernaturally sharpness, so if its effective against the bone, it's quite possibly because we're carving off pieces of Keihas' soul/spirit. If we're just using it for its bone crushing ability, that should be OK.

>>337735
Whoa, whoa, whoa. You have a highly unusually magical weapon here, that just a couple of days ago demonstrated a very unusual ability which basically made these bones part of her body. You also have a good friend that's recently demonstrated his skill a scrimshawing magic charms. He must be a competent bone carver, indeed, may well have carved this very kind of bone. He also has the magical perception to know if what you're doing her is likely to be damaging.

You also want to talk with BC about spirit binding the rifle, and make sure that your soul is recovered before you make the attempt. This carving session may be your opportunity for you to literally carve your will on the rifle.

>>337744
>>33741
Only if getting Einrik/BC's aid is possible should you attempt this, then I propose when you use the mere you try to make a small crack in the bone down to the stock, then have ShadowBro enter the crack and try to force it open, and then pour in the weeks worth of basilisk blood SM has been sending. The intention here is to soak the bone with the blood, triggering Keihas' eating ability, allowing it to consume the bone cocoon it couldn't assimilate before.

As I say above, Downvoting all posts that try to crack open Keihas' without talking to Einrik first, and probably having consulted on modified spirit animal bindings with BC.

>>337775
Get Einrik to watch as well, so that he can examine the eating process under controlled conditions. Actually, do this for some normal supernatural blood first, as a control. The bone may be actually part of Keihas, and capable of eating blood. A Vedt cow may have enough blood in to soak the bone if it can eat it itself.

>>337734
[Chisel and hammer]
[19, 65] 84/200
>>337743
[Saw, file]
[33,53] 86/200
I take up hammer and chisel, presuming the bone will be most like stone-and I'll make the most progress with. I position the chisel carefully, get a feel for the hammer's heft and weight, assure myself I am stably braced, carefully swing-

And find out bone is NOTHING like stone.

Okay, well, I only carved a thin layer of flesh off my hand doing that, more like a skin peel, not even bleeding... but okay, so more like a dense wood then. Fine, I can work with that.

I take out the saw and set to work-
To find the teeth too large, getting stuck far too easily for any reasonable use to be had from the toothed tool.

...Okay....

I try the file-it... works better, I suppose, but if it's all I have to work with this is going to be disastrously slow. There has to be a batter way.

an hour closer to midnight with nothing to show for it, I take a brief moment to collect myself. For one, I claim the sim card from my now mangled phone-and I think it just may still work. I gulp down one of the Sceadugenga hearts, rechecking my fridge and assuring myself I do at least still have all my foods, now down to five hearts.... and think of how I shall approach this next.

Instead, I decide to ask Sake if he knows any Winter Bloodlines, a distraction from my initial failures as I find myself having to reject seeking out Big or Einrik, certain I can do this on my own.
>[Sake]"Winter.. yes, I know of Bloodlines of all four Seasonal Courts-each has representation in my homeland, though those of earth and water, whatever court they be based in, were usually most dominant. For instance, the Winter mortal Bloodlines I knew of were apt manipulators of reflection within ice and dealt in the nature of borders-or at least, such was the skill of those I actually deemed a threat in life. There were others-an endless number of sword imbuing styles and clans, as always-but only one other type of Winter Bloodline stood out: Those being a sect of monks influenced by foreign teachings-from a land called Greece, as I recall. They claimed to practice Stoic Taoism, and were most apt at negation and nullification... well, for mortals, at least."
Huh.... and what about my eye?
>[Sake]"Hm?"
The attack you hit me with is self sustaining-and as my brother, should you not be able to isolate it?
>[Sake]"Ah, that-well, I took the liberty of forcibly drawing the energy of that other presence you and your shadow spoke of-Amen, right? I took the power of his blood, and shunted it into the sealed eye-which means I need to keep funneling power in there. As far as your shadow and I can tell, we should ultimately come out victorious in the exchange-it will merely take a while."
So you recommend leaving it be?
>[Sake]"Yes, the combined force of the fragments of your own soul, the Summer Divine fragments, and my own boogle of weaselly contributions-against the power of a few drops of blood. I do not doubt this Amen entity far our superior-but the odds are rather heavily stacked against him."
So the nature of the battle in my eye has shifted-it is no longer a contest against a new invading force, it is a coalition to expunge a dangerous force.
>[Sake]"That would be correct."
Hm... Sake, a final question before I get back to my attempts-do you know much about chakras?
>[Sake]"Only insofar as I and my living brothers used them as divine weasels for abilities we were born to-so both quite a bit, and nothing at all that would be useful to a non specialized mortal."

>>337741
[Mere and hammer]
[99, 85] 184
Okay, attempt two. I pick up the hammer again-and this time choose the mere, in place of a conventional tool. I take a moment to put a small rage over the mere's handle, so I can minimize my chances of breaking the greenstone implement with the metal hammer-head-and begin tapping away, with slowly increasing force. I start making my first real progress-the mere's blunt edge again defies logic and begins to cut a deep slice into the bone. It takes me half an hour-but I remove half the masses weight, simply cutting where I know there cannot be any rifle parts.

>>33742
[Mere, mere and hammer]
Next I try putting the hammer down and just using the mere... I am met with limited success, carving as I might with a dull knife in hand and a few beers in gut. I elect to go back to the hammer approach-but I seem to have lost my earlier mojo-that, or my mind isn't playing tricks on me and the bone actually got harder.

...Well. Now what.

>>337755 [TRIPLE DOUBLE]
[ALTERNATE PLAN ACTIVATED]
...Wait.
Shadowbro, can you just shadowport the rifle out? I mean, it HAS to be covered in shadow inside that, right?
No words in answer, instead-

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 25nd, 2010
FUNDS: $79,014.12
CASH: $0.00
SHADOW PATIENCE: 90%

-As midnight comes and with it christmas day begins, my rifle, my cherished Keihäs, suddenly springs forth from my own shadow, flying up into my hands. I drop the tools in my hands and grasp my weapon-

As I start to take in the details.

Barrel, bolt-all of it's still metal, to be certain-but looking closely, it's become ever so slightly ribbed, with tiny protrusions that hint at the shaping of vertebra. But this is something I notice more as an afterthought-for it is the stock that's shifted the most.

The wood remains as brilliantly scarlet as it was before-but now the wood is oddly... pliant to my grasp. A brief investigation shows it not to be rot, the more giving material still quite sturdy-and a new bone cap covers the butt, ensuring the malleability does not disrupt my ability to aim. Indeed, a few experimental twists and movements, running through a few basic LINE movements, some adapted Taiahan work, some Jukenjitsu and finishing with my newly acquired Kas Pin familiarity-the give doesn't make the weapon unstable.... hm.

I move on to the other aspect of the stock's change-some of the wood's grain has become exagerated, engorged-and developed muted bone ridges, like a ribcage about the forstock, none more than half a centimeter in height... and possibly some bone arrangement to suggest a pelvis stamped in the rear stock's flanks.

The spine theme, the foux-ribs, the pelvis-yeah, I'm going to go ahead and give myself the point-Keihäs HAS to be fundamentally built around the girl from its creation story. ...Is she trying to come back to life?
>[Sake]"Perhaps not consciously-it is hard indeed to remember how to think once the action has fallen to disuse-but it would certainly seem some instinctual urge to be in a host body is driving it-she must have died with a great many regrets, to have such a strong urge."
>"...I think you should indeed look into bonding Keihäs as your spirit animal-the way you've shoehorned it into brutally messing so many problems for you has to lead somewhere, and frankly this is one rabbit hole I am quite content to fall down to the bottom of."

Hnh......

I am distracted as I watch the remaining bone fragments crumble to ashen dust before my eyes.....

And start having a great deal more trouble staving off my fatigue-with my last pressing concern dealt with, seems I kind of need to-

[DISCONTINUITY]

...Okay.

..Yeah, maybe I underestimated how tired I was.

Yes, I do feel amazingly rested, and after a few pounds of Sceadugenga meat, I am feeling perfectly fit. However, I do notice this is about three hours later than I normally get up-it's eight AM in the Valkonen household, and I find myself wondering, now that I've finally dealt with all the pressing concerns.....








Just what my next move is?

>Just what my next move is?

Making steps towards binding Keihas.
First we need as much as information as we can get, so we need to ask Einrik and BC how we should go about binding business.

Also, see how Hillevi is doing

>>337788
I'm gonna first suggest bringing up 'Spirit Animal Gun: Silja' with Einrik and we have the Buntline looked at by him - find out just what it does, and what not.

Also: Her name is Silja. Call her such, Armas. She has been your compainion for longer then anyone, but your Shadow.

Second, we need to talk to Sake and find a way to keep Amen out of his head.

Third, lets go look to see what toys we got. And maybe talk to someone about tracking our purchases

First, ask Weaselbro for any knoweldge on weasel wine and if it's not reproducible.

Then, ask weaselbro to ask shadowbro whether he could cloak us in the 'agressive stealth' invisibility trick if he manages to learn it.

Ask Einrik and weaselbro for an estimate on how long the battle in the eye will take, and if they think it will get more difficult once we will be out of the Valkonen's house grounds.

Try to fight with the brothers Valkonen to incorporate Einrik's martial art gift better, see if it can be used with our 'evasive' close combat technique.

>>337800
this. also have Einrik take a look at Keihas, he should be able to give us at least a basic idea of whats going on.

Armas can teleport when he has a stock of weasel spirit wine and his soul is out of his body.

If a battle goes south (say, vs doonie or equally powerful foes), couldn't armas soul retreat into his shadow to leave his body running on ID? Even if it doesn't kill the foe we could escape. And with the viewing port we can monitor the situation and take control back when needed.
The main problem here is that for that we would need a replenish-able supply of soul weasel wine. Lets ask Sake how easy it is to replenish and what he thinks of using the above as an emergency strategy.

It shall be known as "The Drunken Fist Penis Troll Style"

EDIT:
>>337823
Ah, totally ninjaed me there.

We have five days until we leave. So... make sure Hillevi is packing appropriately for her first trip out. And Einrik has had a little while to think about good places for kitschy tourist crap for us to bring back.

>Just what my next move is?
It's Christmas day. We should really call your parents if we have any kind of positive relationship with them at all.

Spirit binding the rifle is important, but it can wait a bit- find where the kids are this morning and make sure that they have a decent Christmas. They may or may not observe the holiday significantly, and if they do having no family there with them could be crushingly depressing and they'd need someone there. Also, you just gave them a bunch of presents and they love you, so it could be a great opportunity to bond with them and find out a little bit more about their family with a few delicate questions spaced out over a great deal of time. Also finding out their future plans is very important before we leave; let them know that we'll be leaving soon and want to keep in touch.

Check with Hillevi; her father was talking with her and your bargain is fulfilled, so she might have something to say to us. See if she's got any preparations made for the trip. It would also be good to try and track down that spear that she gave us- where did it end up? It was a nice gift.

>Winter Bloodlines
We've got five times the normal maximum potential Winter bloodline. Does that mean that we can template it five times? It could be useful to be a double or triple Einherjar assuming that would let us push that much farther past the normal limits of human prowess, but five times seems excessive. Mixing in other bloodline powers- possibly doubling or tripling up on something very useful, or possibly getting two or three different powers for the crazy potential versatility- would likely be better.

First thing to do is carefully sweep up the bone dust and put it in a sealed container. It may come in useful later.

Spending a few hours with the children today seems the best option. It's the kind thing to do, and cements our relationship with them and the Valkonens as being more than just commercial. You should check on BC first though. He was injured whilst hunting with you, and you should care what happens to him. Also, of the remaining Sceadugenga hearts, 3 of them really belong to him - and we did want to try them.

Einrik would probably be interested in Keihas' evolution, and you should also take the opportunity to have him inspect the buntline and your mere.

In thanks, you should act as a messenger between Sake and Einrik to describe the techniques the former observed the Stoic Taoist monks use. This would seem to be very similar to what Einrik is already trying to develop, so merely learning what other people have found possible may well help.

You also need to discuss your eye with Sake more generally. Amen demonstrated that whilst outside the grounds, he was capable of exerting enough power through his blood to divert a wizards' mental intrusion, so you probably don't want to leave with this matter unresolved when we leave. Ask Sake if it is possible to channel more power into the eye, either through him, or from your/the divine spirit fragment's regeneration. Would eating more hearts help accelerate the process, or can ShadowBro use the energy channelling he has learned to pour energy into the eye to strengthen those aspects of our own self that are inside the eye?

During the day, you should also speak with Hillevi about your upcoming trip. Say that your glad that she's coming with you, and that you're confident she'll find it an interesting time.

As an aside, make note of precisely what Sake said about his chakra use. He said it would not be of use to a non-specialised human. This is not the same as valueless. SM may pay handsomely for these techniques. Also, suggest to him that now he has incorporated part of a human soul and chakra system, what he is capable of may have expanded slightly.

When you see Einrik and BC today, you should raise the Keihas/spirit animal potential. Don't mention the Amen complication/motivation to BC, but do to Einrik, as justification for why you would take such a step. When you suggest it to BC, mention he saw what happened to the Iju-Turso - it seems Keihas is taking on some traits of a living animal, and that it would be desirable to reinforce your influence over it. When speaking to Einrik, be more open, and discuss how this seems a possibly unique opportunity to guide the development of something new. When you speak to both of them, discuss if they know any rituals based around binding domesticated animals as lesser partners, rather than wild animals as slaves, particularly horses, as there are lots of cultures, including North American ones BC may know of and steppe ones Einrik may, that had very strong bonds with their steeds.

>>337800
>>337801
>>337826
I decide to seek out Big first. He's had the night to mull over things-and I find myself idly wondering if he's planning to leave once we get back to Istanbul-he's been a bit more quiet than usual, these last few days. And with the excuse of needing to learn about Spirit Animals and how they are bound, I can spend some time talking with him, and maybe better sense why he's been acting aloof. Doesn't take me too long to find him-watching as Helmi fights Tuomo and Veiko in yet another of the families endless string of sparring matches. At my approach he waits placidly for me to speak.

"So. You had the night."
>[Big]"That I did."
...That way, huh? Alright.
"As it happens I need some advice on a topic you're well versed."
>[Big]"You finally want to learn how to shoot properly?"
Don't acknowledge it, just keep rolling-
"Spirit Animals, and how they are claimed."
>[Big]"...And why would you need to know a thing like that-you got yourself a Soul Weasel."
"Sake? Whatever I did while striking the pact aside, I cannot use his power-he's going to need a new weasel's body, something I plan to arrange-but still, the Kamaitachi is no spirit animal to me."
>[Big]"I know, you're no Spirit Shaman, Dirt Snake's certain of that-so why ask?"
"Is it not enough that I could benefit from the knowledge? Last I checked, you were under no illusion of me being altruistic."
>[Big]"....Fine, why not, it's been buggin' me how shitty the cribbed info you got from Dirt Snake was, all said and done-might as well jaw at yah. Lend an' ear-stay a while, and listen."

Over the course of an hour, I learn some rather interesting things:
-While there are multiple ways to claim a Spirit Animal, and the way he was taught is not the only one, there are a vast number of lethally unworkable ways to attempt a Spirit Binding, then there are successful ways.
-I also learn that Spirit Binding, the general term for what a Spirit Shaman practices, so far as Spirit Animals are concerned, is one of the slowest magical fields to gain new innovations or uses-which directly relates to the high lethality of experimentation. He tries very, very hard to stress the danger of personal adaptation rather than adherence to the orthodox.
-The mechanism he knows requires the ingestion one hour before attempting a spirit binding of a compound that is considered secret by his tribe-and while he cannot tell me specifics about the material, he does make it plain he has some with him, should I end up needing it.
-The compound is hallucinogenic as a secondary side effect-it's primary function relates to making the soul more pliable and flexible, more able to safely weather a Spirit Binding. ..This safety is only for a mortal relative to a mortal animal's spirit-I'm not certain how I, or my rifle, would class on this scale, but I keep my considerations to myself for the moment.
-A knife that can cut both flesh and spirit is needed, for an exchange of blood and ectoplasm in the binding-this guides the soul reconditioning that slaves the spirit to the Spirit Shaman. Putting this with Sake's observations, it would seem it abuses the corporeal anchoring of the one soul to dominate the exposed, while at the same time performing a much smaller scale exchange of soul than what I experienced with Whaitiri. I am uncertain if this would apply to my shadow or my weaselly soul brother-but as both are quite outside Big's field of expertise, I don't get any clarification.
-As to how to get an unwilling-or possibly unable-spirit to comply, the chemical compound also renders contact with the mortal soul capable of very minor, temporary contact soul absorption-so far as I see it, if I just grappled something while drugged up, I'd start sapping soul until I had enough I could spill my blood and seal the pact. Again, Big is only versed in how all this plays out with Mortal Spirit Animals.

And at the end of it all-he gives me a single pouch, filled with a thick paste. He tells me to lick the bag clean when I plan to do a Spirit Binding, and that my mere, so far as he saw, should work fine. With that, he takes the opportunity to go speak with Helmi, the sparring for the moment on hold.

Content with what I learned, I wander off after my next target-Einrik, easily the most knowledgeable person available to me right now. I find him watching Markku talking with Hillevi in one of the houses muted interior gardens, looking as smugly pleased as a cat with cream still coating it's whiskers.
>[EV][In English]"Care to take a guess as to why I am so pleased?"
>[MMMMM Trait activated]
>[DDDD Trait activated]
>[RRRR Trait activated]
>[WTN Trait activated]
I can't really help myself.

"Well, I would wager that, as the only member of the current generation free to come and go as you please, you are happy to see another of yours getting to go out into the world-one that has desired it and has been completely deprived of it."
He looks ready to make a comment-but I keep going.
"But what pleases you more, I think, is that this could be the kick-start of getting the Valkonens back into the greater scheme of things-as more get to go and show their ability, given a chance to learn of worldly dangers in non-lethal ways, connections can be renewed, or forged fresh."
>[EV][In English]"...Interestingly, it seems you are still not done?"
"Correct. What pleases you most, I think, is that in making the rest of your cooped up siblings happy, in giving the clan a chance to start moving forward again, you give yourself a greater chance of being exposed to different styles even at home, more contacts to call on-and the chance to watch your father's reactions to different styles, to even further assess how what you build will work on him."
A smile oddly identical to the small, privately shared one I've seen pass between him and his father-strange.
>[EV][In English]"...Exactly as I feared-you are not blind, when you pay attention. And I think you have questions for me that ultimately deal with your own power."
"Well, wanted to know about my rifle, Keihäs here-what's up with these changes?"
>[EV][In English]"Spear? I suppose with the bayonet it can be handled as one-but why would you give her a new name?"
"What now?"
>[EV][In English]"...The advantages of having had to bouce back from debilitating permanent sensory deprivation, I suppose-one notices more. Your rifle is just a shell of imbued physical components fueled, anchored and driven by a Mortal Soul within-one that has the Name, of Silja."
I try to process this, immediately recognize it as something of a brain twister, and table it for later.
"..Well, I know that the rifle was supposed to have gained its power from a murder and subsequent brutal vengeance, originating with a Finnish women nearly a century ago."
>[EV][In English]"...Yes, an eighty year old soul, thereabouts. ...A rather impressive amount of Emotion, Regret and Ego, to have lasted so long... yes that's right, this gun can draw in material from wounded organics... which makes it somewhat more impressive, as she had to not only stay her own 'self' without ANY sensory data of any sort-with nothing but her own mind as reference-and had to do it while being given the blood of men as they died over the years-and clearly she did persist through it all, as with your recent magical oversaturation, you've.... Jostled her soul, I suppose. It's why the rifle has been changing-and I doubt this is the first time it's done this to you."
"...Do you know how it could end?"
>[EV][In English]"Absolutely not-anything I offered would be guesswork, no better than your own. I simply know she is still far from 'awake'"
"...You think I could bind her as a Spirit Animal?"
>[EV][In English]"What-why?"
"Well-I got that Amen thing-and it's bound to blood that is inside the rifle."
>[EV][In English]"...Oh that is quite an interesting predicament. ..Yes, I suppose if you bound a fellow mortal soul as servitor and minion, even if it became self-aware later the blood within it would still be under your ownership. ...I do not offer ethical advise, so I can merely say so far as I see it, mechanically it is feasible, though I wouldn't know how, specifically. ...Well, I'm of a mind to resume my training in the Wyld Goblin Arts-I think I am close to having a firm grasp of it's fundamentals."

He's right, he is-and with how helpful he's been and looks to continue to be, I have absolutely no problem losing the rest of the day-save for a jerking realization, a dreaded, passive aggressive guilt trip drawn up from his memories-as he enlists Einrik's aid to help him replace his phone-so that he can call his parents and wish them a merry christmas. His fate should he fail, to be met with a long-suffering mother quite possibly for years to come from the omission, is a fate worse than death-

And with a call that catches them 'just about' to go to sleep, I tell them of how many friends I've made in Istanbul and Finland, how business has been booming and hectic, but ultimately rewarding, and that I hope to see them soon. I'm not entirely certain my mother buy it fully, but it seems my linguistic practice is paying off-she lets me off the hook, spending a few minutes telling me of how work has been, life at home-before a yawn escapes her, and I realize just how late it is at home. I practically insist for her to get some rest, and end the call, a fate worse than death averted, a man relieved.

Whew.

Back to Einrik's training.

He does surprisingly well. I'm not sure if it's because he's had time to mull it over himself, or from watching me practice it in earnest whilst chasing my Id, but his movements have gained that sense of... comfort, in the motions he lacked before-something that makes them natural-and thus not worthy of notice, neither bad enough to gawk, or skillful enough to appreciate-the motions of a man at his craft, nothing more. I wouldn't say he pulled it all together, went from intermittent progress to a comprehensive understanding in one day.

But he wouldn't benefit much from my early journal of Goblin training anymore, of that I am certain.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 26th, 2010
FUNDS: $79,014.72
CASH: $0.00
SHADOW PATIENCE: 80%

>>337823
>>337829
I start a new day with my pool of stored magical energy replenishing from my constant hearty, still perceivably over-large meals of magical meat-saddened as I realize I won't be able to make instant jerky anymore-as Kei... Silja, Keihäs, whatever-just outright eats meat now.

So to distract myself from the realization I've lost ready access to a tasty treat-I ask myself more questions.
So Sake-what's up with Weasel Wine-what is it, and is it reproducible?
>[Sake]"...Shadowbro is quite insistent I need glasses to irritated adjust on my snout... I do not know what he references. Well, Weasel Wine is... hm. It would be easiest, and very nearly accurate, to think of it as the unused spiritual energy left with each Kamaitachi after they are able to think, act and choose for themselves-a liquid security blanket, if you will. I had thrice the stores of a normal Kamaitachi-given I had my brother's shares-and now have but twice a normal amount.[code]" .....No way to get more then? >[Sake]"[code]Short of hunting living Kamaitachi-which I would rather strongly object to-no."
Guess that means I'll need to find a substitute if I want a reusable plan.
Say Sake-does my Shadow think it could replicate the Valkonen Agressive Stealth, the Riihipuori?
>[Sake]"He is fairly certain he could not-as he is still working on the metaphysical schema required to bridge what his own soul is capable of, with what he has been instructed with. He cannot give a time estimate on this being completed."
Not what I wanted to here, but little I can do about it just now.

>>337920
With that, I devote the remainder the entire day-to the little things. I spend time with the Riihivuori children, and finally learn they are going to be warded here with the Valkonens-and that they seem to have no problem with the notion, as their father was the only relative they knew all that well. I spend time hinting things to Hillevi that it would be prudent to pack-and as her excitement mounts, I watch her stay perpetually flustered as she readies for the impending trip. I spend time sparring with Tuomo and Veiko, getting a more solid feel for how to integrate Kas Pin with my own self-titled Ghost of the Spear fighting style. This time, NOT making the assumption I've gained strength from some magical powerup, I fight cautiously, judiciously-and am able to abuse my evasion and stamina to draw the fight out for hours. I can't say that I tire the twins-they seem as inexhaustible to the tides to me-but I can say I was able to, with full focus, render their efforts to catch or harm me irrelevant. I've definitely ironed out some more kinks in how I can approach close quarters encounters with the supernatural.

And with that, a day spent in general chatting, talking and laughing with everyone in the house-passes by.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 27th, 2010
FUNDS: $79,016.01
CASH: $0.00
SHADOW PATIENCE: 70%

>>337930
I... make a mistake this day. I, rather foolishly, ask Hillevi if she has anything to say to me-and as if she forgot my involvement with her coming trip, she breaks both collarbones and five ribs giving me the fiercest damn hug I've ever recieved-I don't think I've every been spun about like a child... as an adult before. Hard to appreciate it through the cracking and popping of bones-but hey, it feels like it's mostly superficial breaks.

...Mostly.

From there she basically keeps me locked down all day, between apologetic healing, a barrage of further questions about what Istanbul's like, and in general being the only source of information for an information starved teen.

I longingly look at my rifle Keihäs... or should I say Silja?

I swear, compared to her nattering all damn day, a 7.62 millimeter aspirin may be just the thing....

..Nah.

Nevertheless, I fall asleep thinking but one thing-that girl needs to learn to fucking control herself.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28th, 2010
FUNDS: $79,017.34
CASH: $0.00
SHADOW PATIENCE: 60%

>>338106
This was the 'conveniently keeps becoming finer and finer grained until it fades from existence so no hoarders take it or people wary of missed checkov's guns' type of bone dust.

This day, after spending time with the children again, and learning that when I brought them presents, controlled by my Id, that I was covered in KY and had my dick stuck in the jar, and that Helmi who was present at the time nearly died of asphyxiation choking off the laughter when I played santa, and I will never speak of this again, I seek out Einrik again-this time with my Buntline in hand. I ask him what he thinks of the piece. He takes it, and spends a good hour inspecting it-and scratches his head.

>[EV][In English]"....I haven't a clue."
....What?
"What?"
>[EV][In English]"I'm serious-the magic matrices within this gun are recursively layered as well as contingent on multiple variables and involved the use of infinite values and fractal-based equations. I can see it, sure-and what I see is too much. I can't separate one thing from another. None of it is overwhelmingly potent, and the collective power I detect does not worry me-but it is a puzzle I would like to hear the answer to."

Turns out Big was planning to play with the kids this morning too-but when he sees me already there, talking with Einrik, he makes his way over-and I notice he's not limping anymore.
"Leg all fixed?"
>[Big]"I suppose I should thank Helmi for that... but that girl..."
>[Ev][In English]"My sister is most adept at making it hard to be grateful to her."
>[Big]"Ain't that the truth... look, Armas, I wanted to talk to you... Einrik, you mind?"
>[Ev][In English]"Not at all."
And with a knowing smile, Einrik withdraws.

While Big tells me that he's asked-and been accepted-by the Valkonens as an extended guest. When I ask him why, this is what he tells me.

>[Big]"...Travelling with you made me feel a bit old. Stupid and childish as it is-you're stick with your dream, I can tell. Well I got a dream too, a pretty simple one-be a faster shot than my teacher, and best my tribe's Elder Shaman. I... had forgotten that, I think-not in my head, but my heart. I started to take jobs that looked... safer.. because I didn't want to die, leave my dreams unfulfilled. Well-I can't heal like you. Fine. Nothing's stopping me from getting better in other ways-and I got permission from the Head to try and claim a Magic Spirit Animal, with his personal assistance. I still plan to go back to Istanbul-hell, I've got a better chance making my name with you than going it solo-I just need to make sure I can survive alongside you. ...Eh, look, I'm not that great with words, but I know I still owe you-so I'm asking yah-can I do this?"









What's my reaction to Big's request?
I have two and a half days before we leave December 31st at midnight-what shall I fill my time with?
(Armas does NOT have a phone again-he used a landline to call his parents.)

>>337800
>>337801
>>337826
I decide to seek out Big first. He's had the night to mull over things-and I find myself idly wondering if he's planning to leave once we get back to Istanbul-he's been a bit more quiet than usual, these last few days. And with the excuse of needing to learn about Spirit Animals and how they are bound, I can spend some time talking with him, and maybe better sense why he's been acting aloof. Doesn't take me too long to find him-watching as Helmi fights Tuomo and Veiko in yet another of the families endless string of sparring matches. At my approach he waits placidly for me to speak.

"So. You had the night."
>[Big]"That I did."
...That way, huh? Alright.
"As it happens I need some advice on a topic you're well versed."
>[Big]"You finally want to learn how to shoot properly?"
Don't acknowledge it, just keep rolling-
"Spirit Animals, and how they are claimed."
>[Big]"...And why would you need to know a thing like that-you got yourself a Soul Weasel."
"Sake? Whatever I did while striking the pact aside, I cannot use his power-he's going to need a new weasel's body, something I plan to arrange-but still, the Kamaitachi is no spirit animal to me."
>[Big]"I know, you're no Spirit Shaman, Dirt Snake's certain of that-so why ask?"
"Is it not enough that I could benefit from the knowledge? Last I checked, you were under no illusion of me being altruistic."
>[Big]"....Fine, why not, it's been buggin' me how shitty the cribbed info you got from Dirt Snake was, all said and done-might as well jaw at yah. Lend an' ear-stay a while, and listen."

Over the course of an hour, I learn some rather interesting things:
-While there are multiple ways to claim a Spirit Animal, and the way he was taught is not the only one, there are a vast number of lethally unworkable ways to attempt a Spirit Binding, then there are successful ways.
-I also learn that Spirit Binding, the general term for what a Spirit Shaman practices, so far as Spirit Animals are concerned, is one of the slowest magical fields to gain new innovations or uses-which directly relates to the high lethality of experimentation. He tries very, very hard to stress the danger of personal adaptation rather than adherence to the orthodox.
-The mechanism he knows requires the ingestion one hour before attempting a spirit binding of a compound that is considered secret by his tribe-and while he cannot tell me specifics about the material, he does make it plain he has some with him, should I end up needing it.
-The compound is hallucinogenic as a secondary side effect-it's primary function relates to making the soul more pliable and flexible, more able to safely weather a Spirit Binding. ..This safety is only for a mortal relative to a mortal animal's spirit-I'm not certain how I, or my rifle, would class on this scale, but I keep my considerations to myself for the moment.
-A knife that can cut both flesh and spirit is needed, for an exchange of blood and ectoplasm in the binding-this guides the soul reconditioning that slaves the spirit to the Spirit Shaman. Putting this with Sake's observations, it would seem it abuses the corporeal anchoring of the one soul to dominate the exposed, while at the same time performing a much smaller scale exchange of soul than what I experienced with Whaitiri. I am uncertain if this would apply to my shadow or my weaselly soul brother-but as both are quite outside Big's field of expertise, I don't get any clarification.
-As to how to get an unwilling-or possibly unable-spirit to comply, the chemical compound also renders contact with the mortal soul capable of very minor, temporary contact soul absorption-so far as I see it, if I just grappled something while drugged up, I'd start sapping soul until I had enough I could spill my blood and seal the pact. Again, Big is only versed in how all this plays out with Mortal Spirit Animals.

And at the end of it all-he gives me a single pouch, filled with a thick paste. He tells me to lick the bag clean when I plan to do a Spirit Binding, and that my mere, so far as he saw, should work fine. With that, he takes the opportunity to go speak with Helmi, the sparring for the moment on hold.

Content with what I learned, I wander off after my next target-Einrik, easily the most knowledgeable person available to me right now. I find him watching Markku talking with Hillevi in one of the houses muted interior gardens, looking as smugly pleased as a cat with cream still coating it's whiskers.
>[EV][In English]"Care to take a guess as to why I am so pleased?"
>[MMMMM Trait activated]
>[DDDD Trait activated]
>[RRRR Trait activated]
>[WTN Trait activated]
I can't really help myself.

"Well, I would wager that, as the only member of the current generation free to come and go as you please, you are happy to see another of yours getting to go out into the world-one that has desired it and has been completely deprived of it."
He looks ready to make a comment-but I keep going.
"But what pleases you more, I think, is that this could be the kick-start of getting the Valkonens back into the greater scheme of things-as more get to go and show their ability, given a chance to learn of worldly dangers in non-lethal ways, connections can be renewed, or forged fresh."
>[EV][In English]"...Interestingly, it seems you are still not done?"
"Correct. What pleases you most, I think, is that in making the rest of your cooped up siblings happy, in giving the clan a chance to start moving forward again, you give yourself a greater chance of being exposed to different styles even at home, more contacts to call on-and the chance to watch your father's reactions to different styles, to even further assess how what you build will work on him."
A smile oddly identical to the small, privately shared one I've seen pass between him and his father-strange.
>[EV][In English]"...Exactly as I feared-you are not blind, when you pay attention. And I think you have questions for me that ultimately deal with your own power."
"Well, wanted to know about my rifle, Keihäs here-what's up with these changes?"
>[EV][In English]"Spear? I suppose with the bayonet it can be handled as one-but why would you give her a new name?"
"What now?"
>[EV][In English]"...The advantages of having had to bouce back from debilitating permanent sensory deprivation, I suppose-one notices more. Your rifle is just a shell of imbued physical components fueled, anchored and driven by a Mortal Soul within-one that has the Name, of Silja."
I try to process this, immediately recognize it as something of a brain twister, and table it for later.
"..Well, I know that the rifle was supposed to have gained its power from a murder and subsequent brutal vengeance, originating with a Finnish women nearly a century ago."
>[EV][In English]"...Yes, an eighty year old soul, thereabouts. ...A rather impressive amount of Emotion, Regret and Ego, to have lasted so long... yes that's right, this gun can draw in material from wounded organics... which makes it somewhat more impressive, as she had to not only stay her own 'self' without ANY sensory data of any sort-with nothing but her own mind as reference-and had to do it while being given the blood of men as they died over the years-and clearly she did persist through it all, as with your recent magical oversaturation, you've.... Jostled her soul, I suppose. It's why the rifle has been changing-and I doubt this is the first time it's done this to you."
"...Do you know how it could end?"
>[EV][In English]"Absolutely not-anything I offered would be guesswork, no better than your own. I simply know she is still far from 'awake'"
"...You think I could bind her as a Spirit Animal?"
>[EV][In English]"What-why?"
"Well-I got that Amen thing-and it's bound to blood that is inside the rifle."
>[EV][In English]"...Oh that is quite an interesting predicament. ..Yes, I suppose if you bound a fellow mortal soul as servitor and minion, even if it became self-aware later the blood within it would still be under your ownership. ...I do not offer ethical advise, so I can merely say so far as I see it, mechanically it is feasible, though I wouldn't know how, specifically. ...Well, I'm of a mind to resume my training in the Wyld Goblin Arts-I think I am close to having a firm grasp of it's fundamentals."

He's right, he is-and with how helpful he's been and looks to continue to be, I have absolutely no problem losing the rest of the day-save for a jerking realization, a dreaded, passive aggressive guilt trip drawn up from his memories-as he enlists Einrik's aid to help him replace his phone-so that he can call his parents and wish them a merry christmas. His fate should he fail, to be met with a long-suffering mother quite possibly for years to come from the omission, is a fate worse than death-

And with a call that catches them 'just about' to go to sleep, I tell them of how many friends I've made in Istanbul and Finland, how business has been booming and hectic, but ultimately rewarding, and that I hope to see them soon. I'm not entirely certain my mother buy it fully, but it seems my linguistic practice is paying off-she lets me off the hook, spending a few minutes telling me of how work has been, life at home-before a yawn escapes her, and I realize just how late it is at home. I practically insist for her to get some rest, and end the call, a fate worse than death averted, a man relieved.

Whew.

Back to Einrik's training.

He does surprisingly well. I'm not sure if it's because he's had time to mull it over himself, or from watching me practice it in earnest whilst chasing my Id, but his movements have gained that sense of... comfort, in the motions he lacked before-something that makes them natural-and thus not worthy of notice, neither bad enough to gawk, or skillful enough to appreciate-the motions of a man at his craft, nothing more. I wouldn't say he pulled it all together, went from intermittent progress to a comprehensive understanding in one day.

But he wouldn't benefit much from my early journal of Goblin training anymore, of that I am certain.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 26th, 2010
FUNDS: $79,014.72
CASH: $0.00
SHADOW PATIENCE: 80%

>>337823
>>337829
I start a new day with my pool of stored magical energy replenishing from my constant hearty, still perceivably over-large meals of magical meat-saddened as I realize I won't be able to make instant jerky anymore-as Kei... Silja, Keihäs, whatever-just outright eats meat now.

So to distract myself from the realization I've lost ready access to a tasty treat-I ask myself more questions.
So Sake-what's up with Weasel Wine-what is it, and is it reproducible?
>[Sake]"...Shadowbro is quite insistent I need glasses to irritated adjust on my snout... I do not know what he references. Well, Weasel Wine is... hm. It would be easiest, and very nearly accurate, to think of it as the unused spiritual energy left with each Kamaitachi after they are able to think, act and choose for themselves-a liquid security blanket, if you will. I had thrice the stores of a normal Kamaitachi-given I had my brother's shares-and now have but twice a normal amount.[code]" .....No way to get more then? >[Sake]"[code]Short of hunting living Kamaitachi-which I would rather strongly object to-no."
Guess that means I'll need to find a substitute if I want a reusable plan.
Say Sake-does my Shadow think it could replicate the Valkonen Agressive Stealth, the Riihipuori?
>[Sake]"He is fairly certain he could not-as he is still working on the metaphysical schema required to bridge what his own soul is capable of, with what he has been instructed with. He cannot give a time estimate on this being completed."
Not what I wanted to here, but little I can do about it just now.

>>337920
With that, I devote the remainder the entire day-to the little things. I spend time with the Riihivuori children, and finally learn they are going to be warded here with the Valkonens-and that they seem to have no problem with the notion, as their father was the only relative they knew all that well. I spend time hinting things to Hillevi that it would be prudent to pack-and as her excitement mounts, I watch her stay perpetually flustered as she readies for the impending trip. I spend time sparring with Tuomo and Veiko, getting a more solid feel for how to integrate Kas Pin with my own self-titled Ghost of the Spear fighting style. This time, NOT making the assumption I've gained strength from some magical powerup, I fight cautiously, judiciously-and am able to abuse my evasion and stamina to draw the fight out for hours. I can't say that I tire the twins-they seem as inexhaustible to the tides to me-but I can say I was able to, with full focus, render their efforts to catch or harm me irrelevant. I've definitely ironed out some more kinks in how I can approach close quarters encounters with the supernatural.

And with that, a day spent in general chatting, talking and laughing with everyone in the house-passes by.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 27th, 2010
FUNDS: $79,016.01
CASH: $0.00
SHADOW PATIENCE: 70%

>>337930
I... make a mistake this day. I, rather foolishly, ask Hillevi if she has anything to say to me-and as if she forgot my involvement with her coming trip, she breaks both collarbones and five ribs giving me the fiercest damn hug I've ever recieved-I don't think I've every been spun about like a child... as an adult before. Hard to appreciate it through the cracking and popping of bones-but hey, it feels like it's mostly superficial breaks.

...Mostly.

From there she basically keeps me locked down all day, between apologetic healing, a barrage of further questions about what Istanbul's like, and in general being the only source of information for an information starved teen.

I longingly look at my rifle Keihäs... or should I say Silja?

I swear, compared to her nattering all damn day, a 7.62 millimeter aspirin may be just the thing....

..Nah.

Nevertheless, I fall asleep thinking but one thing-that girl needs to learn to fucking control herself.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28th, 2010
FUNDS: $79,017.34
CASH: $0.00
SHADOW PATIENCE: 60%

>>338106
This was the 'conveniently keeps becoming finer and finer grained until it fades from existence so no hoarders take it or people wary of missed checkov's guns' type of bone dust.

This day, after spending time with the children again, and learning that when I brought them presents, controlled by my Id, that I was covered in KY and had my dick stuck in the jar, and that Helmi who was present at the time nearly died of asphyxiation choking off the laughter when I played santa, and I will never speak of this again, I seek out Einrik again-this time with my Buntline in hand. I ask him what he thinks of the piece. He takes it, and spends a good hour inspecting it-and scratches his head.

>[EV][In English]"....I haven't a clue."
....What?
"What?"
>[EV][In English]"I'm serious-the magic matrices within this gun are recursively layered as well as contingent on multiple variables and involved the use of infinite values and fractal-based equations. I can see it, sure-and what I see is too much. I can't separate one thing from another. None of it is overwhelmingly potent, and the collective power I detect does not worry me-but it is a puzzle I would like to hear the answer to."

Turns out Big was planning to play with the kids this morning too-but when he sees me already there, talking with Einrik, he makes his way over-and I notice he's not limping anymore.
"Leg all fixed?"
>[Big]"I suppose I should thank Helmi for that... but that girl..."
>[Ev][In English]"My sister is most adept at making it hard to be grateful to her."
>[Big]"Ain't that the truth... look, Armas, I wanted to talk to you... Einrik, you mind?"
>[Ev][In English]"Not at all."
And with a knowing smile, Einrik withdraws.

While Big tells me that he's asked-and been accepted-by the Valkonens as an extended guest. When I ask him why, this is what he tells me.

>[Big]"...Travelling with you made me feel a bit old. Stupid and childish as it is-you're stick with your dream, I can tell. Well I got a dream too, a pretty simple one-be a faster shot than my teacher, and best my tribe's Elder Shaman. I... had forgotten that, I think-not in my head, but my heart. I started to take jobs that looked... safer.. because I didn't want to die, leave my dreams unfulfilled. Well-I can't heal like you. Fine. Nothing's stopping me from getting better in other ways-and I got permission from the Head to try and claim a Magic Spirit Animal, with his personal assistance. I still plan to go back to Istanbul-hell, I've got a better chance making my name with you than going it solo-I just need to make sure I can survive alongside you. ...Eh, look, I'm not that great with words, but I know I still owe you-so I'm asking yah-can I do this?"









What's my reaction to Big's request?
I have two and a half days before we leave December 31st at midnight-what shall I fill my time with?
(Armas does NOT have a phone again-he used a landline to call his parents.)

>>338206

"B.C. you're a helluva guy, and there's no finer compliment a man can be paid than what you've just told me. For what it's worth, I think you'll be able to do it. Just keep your eye on that end goal. Give me a call before you head back to Istanbul, and I'll line up some jobs for us both, hunting Neo-Nazis or whatever. There's always something. You're a fine friend to have in a fight.

"And you don't owe me anything. We agreed to just start fresh back in Istanbul, remember? This whole trip was supposed to be like a trial run. You passed. Whenever you want to work with me, just call.

"Anyhow since you're staying here, you ought to keep the Escalade. It'll be good for ferrying the kids around, and you could fit, well, some of the Valkonens in it. Probably want to change the VIN and plates though. And not just because it was Olga's, but because of the mess on the ferry. The plates, at least, are going to be in the ferry company's records.

"Do you plan to learn Finnish?"

>Nevertheless, I fall asleep thinking but one thing-that girl needs to learn to fucking control herself.

Well that's one of the reasons behind bringing her out to Istanbul. She's seven years Armas' junior, but she's led such a sheltered life that she's got only limited experience in containing her emotions and suppressing her startle reflex. This will be good for her. Just, plan for little problems to crop up. The first annoying stranger she meets, for example, will be in far more danger than he could ever know. And God help someone who tries to feel her up in a crowd.

So, set aside some bribe money.

>[EV][In English]...A rather impressive amount of Emotion, Regret and Ego, to have lasted so long...

This bodes ill for trying to bind her. If a mortal animal is dangerous to even attempt to bind, and requires sticking to orthodox methods to bind safely, how the hell can Armas hope to bind a willful mortal soul, even one that is not awakened yet?

>[EV][In English]...Yes, I suppose if you bound a fellow mortal soul as servitor and minion, even if it became self-aware later the blood within it would still be under your ownership. ...I do not offer ethical advise...

Einrik has a very good point. He didn't outright say it, but there are not many moral codes that would allow that kind of binding. For a man born and raised as an American it is extra-sketchy to do that to someone. And Silja is a someone, even if she's not aware again yet. Pretty much the only reason to even consider it is because Amen is incredibly dangerous, and Silja's personality is unknown.

If Armas could make a friend of her, and if he helped her understand just how fucking dangerous Amen is, then binding Silja wouldn't be necessary.

Well, that's a problem for later. Armas is still exploring all options.

>I have two and a half days before we leave December 31st at midnight-what shall I fill my time with?

Familiarize yourself with what Hillevi's glamored identity will look like, if she is using one. She can pass as a normal human, unlike her brother, so she may not bother.

Make sure she's aware of metal detectors and other completely mundane detectors (like backscatter scanners and chemical detectors), so she can plan ahead about what weapons she chooses to conceal on herself. She can certainly store whatever she wants in the house, and when you or she is expecting a fight she can use whatever she wants, but in normal public life concealable weapons are the rule. And in higher security areas even those must be chosen with care.

You've been putting it off, but you should take the Escalade and go into a town (not one that Kyrpä Peikko visited either). You need to make a trip to a bank that will let you do a transfer from your Istanbul account. Get a couple of thousand, and then make the time to get a new cell phone. You need to be able to check your messages and return calls without linking your phone number to the Valkonen land line. An encrypted phone is just a good idea at this point, even if it is extra expense.

Be ready to fight, when you do go into town. You never know, you may get lucky and find an Einherjar.

Call Camella, let her know you're bringing a couple of friends you'd like her to meet.

Call Amen and have him prepare the house. Find out what the house's current status is, and remind him that you don't want any hint of whatever he's been up to with his extra-curricular activities to be present in the house.

And if nothing else, make sure to make time on the way to the airport to buy a bottle of Teerenpeli Single Malt for Arkvad.

New thread
>>338208
The last post in this thread by bob is actually replicated in a new thread because this one is getting too large. Post replies there.

However the server is acting up and currently its giving 404 error for that thread so we are waiting on that to resolve. If there is a huge lack of replies it is because of that reason, so bob please wait up before following the one or two people who get impatient / don't notice the new thread before making the next post, we want to do this properly.

Needed to restart the new thread to make it work right. Link here

http://tgchan.org/kusaba/quest/res/338249.html