Kaktus 2014/07/22(Tue)06:02 No. 585302 ID: 65a774
File 140603413388.png - (25.19KB , 900x450 , 84.png )

>[Scan all targets in area]
[Neutral Creature (Friendly): Order Sergeant.]
[Undead Creature (Hostile): Sir Daniel Anderson the Death Knight.]
>[scan blue flame]
[Object (Hostile): Death Knight Core.]
>[Display pawn status]
[“The Savage” Status: Extreme pain. “The hunter” Status: Dying. “The priest” Status: Scared shitless. “The Alchemist” Status: Depressed, headache. “Sister of Wisdom” Status: Celebrating victory. “Sister of Power” Status: Miffed. “The Valkyrie” Status: Sprinting like mad, Tired.]
>[Message to Grey: Didn't Steve say he was unique in having anti-corruption and anti-undead abilities? Don't play word games with us.]
[I… err… he said to me that only the magic of the gods and demonic magic can harm daemons and that I should guess which one he uses… personally, I call it holy to not scare the men.]

>Vlad, you ought to have been issued a healing potion before heading out on this mission so get it down your throat while you still can!
*Gurgle*…
>Brad, if you have any strength left in you, use it to pull that sword from yourself.
Pain… I c-can’t…
>Hey Brad, you know, if you die, Anna's gonna die too.
No… I… I h-have… too…

>Alexa, you need to help Vlad. Step around the fighting as best as you can.
Whoa, careful! You’re a prime target if you leave yourself op-
I’m not going to attack a defenseless maiden. There’s no honor in that…
Ah, someone with honor, eh?
>Wait, I just thought of a plan. There's a grenade lying on the ground over there, half-frozen. If you can lure the death knight closer and either let Vlad detonate it or detonate it yourselves, that might kill him. Can you quickly whisper that to the sergeant about it before he enters battle?
Ah… indeed, you’re right… I think I got a plan… go take care of your boyfriend, before he expires! Quickly!
What? He’s not my-
Well then, brave sir Knight, I challenge you to a duel with swords. No magic nor any magical artifacts. Just sword skills against sword skills.
It would be an honor… except, my blade is already preoccupied. Do you mind if I use a blade made out of magical ice?
As long as it’s nothing more than a blade.
I have to warn you, old man, I believe I’m several leagues beyond you.
Oh, but I do have this to help me even the odds.
A crossbow? Hmm, the bolt isn’t even holy… how can you believe that toy can even hurt me? Nevertheless, only a honorless scoundrel would bring a crossbow to a sword fi-

Kaktus 2014/07/22(Tue)06:02 No. 585303 ID: 65a774
File 140603414625.png - (26.37KB , 900x450 , 85.png )

*Tock!*
*Boom!*

Kaktus 2014/07/22(Tue)06:02 No. 585304 ID: 65a774
File 140603415941.png - (25.61KB , 900x450 , 86.png )

…and only a moron would bring a sword to a bomb fight. Honor my ass. Besides, I said no magic and nothing about bombs or crossbows. So, how’s it going back there?
I was able to stop the bleeding by pouring his healing potion on the wound, but he’s out cold… I just need to stabilize him a bit further…Come on, Vlad, don’t you dare die on me!
And you? Bearded guy?
PAIN!!!
…that didn’t sound good, did it?

Insert Bradford used double team!_

The man has a sword of ice in him. If he hasn't already we want to use his healing potion on him!
...Aaand maybe this is just me being amoral here but might not that Death Knight's equipment make good loot?

Awesome paladin dude there's another orange haired bearded warrior behind you!

Also he's in pain, not dying though which means he'll live but it's gonna fucking hurt like a bitch.

Nice going random paladin dude. Now try not to die from the Doppleganger Bradford who is not behind you. This is probably that look-alike that killed those guards a while back.

>...Aaand maybe this is just me being amoral here but might not that Death Knight's equipment make good loot?
When you have already killed them for a legitimate reason, the term is 'recycling'.

Kaktus 2014/07/22(Tue)07:51 No. 585311 ID: 65a774
File 140604066420.png - (25.82KB , 900x450 , 87.png )

>The man has a sword of ice in him. If he hasn't already we want to use his healing potion on him!
(I’ve almost done with Vlad… and I got a potion myself if he’s already used his...)
>...Aaand maybe this is just me being amoral here but might not that Death Knight's equipment make good loot?
(He was an undead abomination. Morals can kiss my ass about that.)
>When you have already killed them for a legitimate reason, the term is 'recycling'.
(I call it easy cash.)

>Awesome paladin dude there's another orange haired bearded warrior behind you!
Err… wait, who’s he-
Hey!? What are you- Who are you!?
Don’t worry about me, I’m just here to clean up the mess. I see that you’ve already defeated his undead minions, brother paladin, impressive. Now, let me take care of its master.
You can’t just- Hands of that sword!
That I can’t do. I need it to banish this monster once and for all.
…b-brother?
Your sins will finally be paid for…
Wait, what?

Insert This was supposed to be some kind of big shocking reveal but everyone already figured out what’s going on…_

[scan newcomer, check pawn status]

WHOA WHOA BACK UP. Who are you, why are you trying to smite brad, how is brad responsible for the undead, why did you kill all those Von Zolner goons, don't you think there are better ways to atone, and would you really kill your wounded brother?

We're going to meet that death knight again aren't we? or at least another death knight, before this is all over.

and queue Anna.

Whoa now he's not in possession of the undead or even in control! He's our pawn and the undead master is the Blood God Daemon now back off! *Bite*

Before you destroy him, I have but one question:
What is your name, copperbeard?

>>585311
Dammit tell him Brad's on our side! He thinks Bradford is Ragnar. Which he might have been once, but it doesn't matter! He's also our King, and we cannot win if we lose our king! The man thinks himself a paladin, so Alex, you can use your body as a shield to protect Brad and he won't kill you. Granted he'll probably shove you to the side but it will also at least delay him a bit so we can try to talk him out of it.

[query: can we make a different pawn our King?]

>>585311
Everyone, swarm Brad's brother! (*Bite* *Bite* *Bite* *Bite* *Bite* *Bite*)x 100

Alexandra, tell this guy that you and Sgt. Duran can both attest that the sword stuck in Bradford was here when you two arrived and that the Death Knight was standing over Brad. Since the Death Knight made no move to remove the sword from his "master" when the sergeant challenged him to duel we can deduce that the Death Knight almost certainly stuck the sword into Brad. So Brad wasn't the Death Knight's master, nor master of any undead, and is in fact considered an adversary of the real master of the Death Knight, the Blood God.

Tell him what you know of Brad. Tell him that Brad doesn't remember anything before he woke up a month ago at the bottom of a well in Svartsälv, save for a few flashes of memories. That for the month before he showed up at Ängladal he was destroying the undead that were trying to capture him. He saved Vlad over there from being killed by the undead. Tell him that Brad is being watched over and has been working for the Order these past few days. They've confirmed that he's clean now of daemonic corruption and you don't sense any on him either. And he's been fighting on the Order's side against the cultist and undead forces. He even gave 10 crows to clear a penal laborer's debts, for heaven's sake! He's not the monster he was anymore!

Oh, and the eyes of the head of the Death Knight are still glowing, so you might want to jab that blessed arrow up inside its helmet a few times just to be safe.

Brad, Anna's last status was "sprinting like mad, tired" so the yeti's after her! You gotta get up and save her! Just do something! Anything!

>>585341
NO! DO NOT DO THIS! That will just make him think that some daemonic force on Brad's side is attacking him!

Since Vlad is supposed to be out cold I assume his icon at the end was an error and it's supposed to be Alexandra's

Oh and in case nobody else has realized it, that's the man on the wanted poster. The guy who killed all those Von Zolners.

Kaktus 2014/07/22(Tue)10:22 No. 585353 ID: 65a774
File 140604973279.png - (26.20KB , 900x450 , 88.png )

Wops, that was supposed to be Alex speaking and not Vlad in the last update. I blame the heat for that mistake! Damn you, heat!
>[scan newcomer]
[Divine Creature(Hostile): Angle of Justice.]
>[Check pawn status]
[Only one change found: “The Hunter” Status: Unconscious.]

>WHOA WHOA BACK UP.
HEY! Beard Breath! Back off from grumpy!
I’m sorry, but I can’t let him get away ag-
>Alex, you can use your body as a shield to protect Brad and he won't kill you.
Get out of the way, woman.
Just answer my questions. He’s pinned to the ground by a broadsword, he’s not going anywhere.
…fine.
>What is your name, copperbeard?
Do you not know me? I am the great Hero! I am Conrack, the last windwalker! Savior of Järgien!
>Why are you trying to smite Brad.
Brad? Who is… what kind of lies has he spoken to you? That is Ragnar, the very scourge of the gods! You’re a priestess! You should know who he is! Surly, you’ve lost many kinsmen over the years to this monster?
…I wasn’t even born when Ragnar was alive, how should I have lost someone to him?
Not born? What are you talking about?
Err… Ragnar lived 300 years ago?
…you’re either very deluded or he’s manipulation is worse than I thought!
>How is brad responsible for the undead.
Who else would be? He summoned them when we did battle, did he not!? And now they are ravaging the country side as long as he lives!

>He's not in possession of the undead or even in control! He's our pawn and the undead master is the Blood God Daemon now back off!
…the blood what? Demon?
Have you been living under a rock? These undead armies are being led by a powerful demon who wishes to undo us all!
…if this is true… hmm… and I thought Ragnar was bad enough…
>Why did you kill all those Von Zolner goons.
…who?
Clad in green and red? Douchebags?
Ah, those… they tried to extort coin from innocent farmers, so I cut them down.
Wait… you mean those same farmers who reported having a mad man burning down their farm?
They said that King Gustav the fourth, the lord of Järgien, was dead and they didn’t need to pay taxes to him. That’s treason! They needed to guidance from their traitorous ways!
But King Gustav the fourth has been dead for hundreds of years!
…do not test my patience, Paladin. I might have a respect for your ideals, but I will cut you down where you stand if you continue spouting those traitorous words.
>Don't you think there are better ways to atone.
Only death can repay him for his sins!
>And would you really kill your wounded brother?
He is no longer my Brother. He’s just a beast that needs to be put down!

>Tell him what you know of Brad. Tell him that Brad doesn't remember anything before he woke up…
So? Amnesia is not an excuse to be spared! He will face justice!
>He thinks Bradford is Ragnar. Which he might have been once, but it doesn't matter!
…he even gave up most of the money he made making the life of a poor, sick child just a little better!
It doesn’t matter what he’s done. No matter what he does his sins far outweighs his current deeds. He needs to be put down!
>Brad, Anna's last status was "sprinting like mad, tired" so the yeti's after her! You gotta get up and save her! Just do something! Anything!
NO! I can’t… I CAN’T LET IT HAPPENED AGAIN!!
You’re not escaping me again, Ragnar! Step aside, Priestess!
No.
Then you’re in league with him. Might whatever god you believe in ha-
Listen to yourself! Look at what you’re doing!? You’re about to cut down a defenseless priestess in the name of Justice!? IS THAT WHAT YOU THINK JUSTICE IS!?
I… I…
What have you done the last few days!? Who have you helped!?
I help-
You burned down their farm! You ruined their lives! For what!? For a king that’s been dead for 300 years!?
But he’s-
You’ve killed and laid things to waste, while Brad here has saved and rebuilt! Even know, you’re trying to stop him from saving an innocent woman, just because of “JUSTICE”!!
It’s not… no… it’s…

>Queue Anna.
Oh, man, *gasp* the fight is already over? *Wheeze*
…wha- Elusia!? It can’t be… no…
…um… who? *Gasp* Wait, why is there two grumpies?
Elusia?
No… you’re dead! You’re supposed to be dead! EVEN IF I HAVE TO PUT YOU BACK IN THE GRAVE!
…what did I miss? *Wheeze*

Insert He’s grump and he’s not so grump_

This guy was clearly brought back the same way Brad was, although with more memories. We need to get him to realise that his fight was won ages ago and that his blade is needed for another fight. We could to use every Windwalker we can get.

>>585353
I see what's going on here. Both Brad and Conrack have somehow been displaced in time. ...or maybe everyone has. Maybe everyone in the game is recycled every 300 years, and most people just don't remember their past selves... Nah, that'd be crazy. It's probably just that Conrack somehow stepped through a crack in time- remember that the last windwalker just "disappeared"? Brad is like, a ghost or something, though.

Brad, tackle him, disarm him. Tell him that's not Elusia, her name is Anna. They just look very similar, maybe even distant relatives. How much proof does he need to see that he's been displaced in time?

OH we still have those sleep drugs, use them on Conrack!

Anna, how far back can you trace your family history? Any common family names?

She isn't back from the dead, she is probably just a relative you didn't know about. She has living (if unsavory) immediate relatives that we have seen ourselves.
Conrack appears to be back from the dead rather than displaced in time, but as an "Divine Creature" rather than undead, whatever that means.

[Claim The Angel of Justice]
Man, what the heck. Is Conrack being guided by demons posing as gods? I mean, it wouldn't surprise me too much, given that Steve already does so. It doesn't look like he's already got a player, if that's even possible for him, but he might have been brought forth in delusions, manipulated by a player.

Alex, if Conrack can't hear me directly, relay my words to him, please:
Time has passed, the forests have grown, your king has been dead for hundreds of years. Everybody you think you know, is somebody you know to be dead. What of yourself, then? Our lore said you died shortly after killing Ragnar.
We know of the existence of those who can manipulate the dead, particularly one Lord of the Dead, in service to a Daemon calling himself The Blood God. There are plenty of other necromancers, but few with malicious intent such as he. For all we know, your soul has been bound to a descendant of yours, and Bradford's into a descendant of Ragnar's. Deep down, there is no malevelence in Bradford's soul, it is only in the flesh. We have been slowly purifying his body, but a full on holy attack risks destroying him, and harming many of his allies.
...
Now, you're probably wondering who's speaking these words. We are known as Player Teal. Players are something such as "Angels," but, such as how Daemons are not quite Demons, Players are not all the benevolent force you might expect from the wording. Just as there are some forces in the name of righteousness who are overzealous, such as yourself, there are Players who can do so. We, however, Player Teal, have been purified of such traits. All we can do any more is guide our friends, and that's normally all we want to do. Please, do not be our enemy. If we managed to speak directly to you, give it a day and we can release you from communications, should you so desire. Regardless, we have no reason to be opposed to you being near our friends, so long as you agree to attempt to be less zealous. Your very presence may purify the body Bradford inhabits, allowing the soul's purity to shine through, even.

>[Claim The Angel of Justice]
Don't invade the head of someone while we are trying to convince them we aren't evil.

We don't even have an open pawn slot.

> EVEN IF I HAVE TO PUT YOU BACK IN THE GRAVE!
What would that accomplish? You're trying to kill your way to a better world like the daemons you're trying to fight.

Anna, the second grumpie is the ghost of Conrack. He's been hunting down his brother Ragnar, who is also a ghost and also happens to be Brad who happens to be the amnesiac ghost of Ragnar. Yeah, it's messy. Conrack also thinks you're somebody named "Elusia" who's probably a long dead distant relative to you. And apparently he really, really hated her so you ought to defend yourself right now and get out of the way. And maybe tell him your full name, though it probably won't help. Oh, wait... Actually, keep talking! Your may look like Elusia but you probably don't sound like her.

Alexandra, in your best commanding voice tell Conrack that that woman is Ann-Sofie Tempest, not Elusia; Elusia is dead and has been for a long time. He likely won't believe you, so tell him that after what he's done recently should he not slow down to make totally sure this is not a case of mistaken identity before he strikes down an innocent. There's no reason to rush to kill here, right? And ask him to listen to her voice; Does it sound like Elusia's? Does she act like her?

Brad, get to your feet and be ready to take the Death Knight's sword if Conrack makes a move on Anna. Get after him and try to use the sword's extend-o-blade ability to stop him. Make sure to aim it at his legs so you don't accidentally shoot it through him, the sergeant and into Anna. Also, you should have been given a vial of knockout poison. If you get close enough to smash it into Conrack's face, do so. It's the only thing we have on hand that we know will knock him down in one go.

And it's been 300 years? I thought it was only 200. That's what it was in the last two threads.

>>585363
Conrack is a "divine creature," not a pawn, so even though he has a unique name he's not claimable. We also don't have any free slots so even if he was a pawn we couldn't claim him. Also, he's not in any frame of mind to listen to a long speech.

Kaktus 2014/07/22(Tue)12:34 No. 585381 ID: 65a774
File 140605766545.png - (26.29KB , 900x450 , 89.png )

>[Claim The Angel of Justice]
[You can’t claim non-pawn creatures!]

>Anna, tell him your full name, though it probably won't help. Oh, wait... Actually, keep talking! You may look like Elusia but you probably don't sound like her.
I’m Ann-Sofie Tempest! Not… um… whoever you think I am.
But… you… you looks so much…
>Alexandra, in your best commanding voice tell Conrack that Elusia is dead, has been for a long time, and that woman is Ann-Sofie Tempest.
DO YOU UNDERSTAND!? SHE’S DEAD!
But…
>What would that accomplish? You're trying to kill your way to a better world like the daemons you're trying to fight.
…
>We need to get him to realise that his fight was won ages ago and that his blade is needed for another fight. We could to use every Windwalker we can get.
You can’t just go around hurting innocent people! The world you lived in is gone! It’s in the past. You ne-

Kaktus 2014/07/22(Tue)12:34 No. 585382 ID: 65a774
File 140605767855.png - (26.29KB , 900x450 , 90.png )

*Swoosh*
I… err…
Where did he go!?
Whoa, he’s fast…

>It's been 300 years? I thought it was only 200.
(I don’t know, I suck at history. Duran said 300 so I just followed on that.)
>Anna, how far back can you trace your family history? Any common family names?
(Err… I don’t really know… really…)
>Anna, the second grumpie is the ghost of Conrack. He's been hunting down his brother Ragnar, who is also a ghost and also happens to be Brad who happens to be the amnesiac ghost of Ragnar. Yeah, it's messy. Conrack also thinks you're somebody named "Elusia" who's probably a long dead distant relative to you.
Okay, that’s… I can’t even… it’s like some weird, cheap, badly written novel or something…

>And apparently he really, really hated her.
Actually, he loved her…
What? She was his girlfriend or something?
…she was my wife…
…err… wait… WHAT!?

Insert Victory fanfare?_

Uh, okay, wow. Somebody wanna fetch Vlad from behind the wagon so we can actually see him? I don't like not seeing somebody.
Also, can we bring Daniel's head for a ritual to bless him and release his soul from the grasp of the Blood God or something? He was our pawn, and I don't want to see him violated further.
Bradford, did you regain memories when Daniel tried to banish you, or from seeing Conrack? I still stand by what we didn't get a chance to tell him--It seems more likely that you are ghosts bound to descendants. ...I also just had a thought. Was "burning the temples" pinned on you because you converted them and Conrack was the one to actually burn them down? I could certainly imagine you sticking around to try and save what residents you could, and he definitely seemed the zealous sort to do that kind of thing. I mean, he burned down a barn just for saying the King is dead.

>>585382
Brad, is your memory coming back? Please don't go berserk on us.

Alright, now, considering that Steve told us to kill our King, I think we can end our alliance with him. Where do we go now though? Oh shit, we need to get Jal out of the paladin city, or into the company of the Serathians, who are also our pawns in our past timeline, and so should be allied with us still. Actually I think we have our future selves here as well, so I'm not sure why we didn't warn ourselves about this. I guess we achieved victory without any lost pawns so maybe it was best to keep it to our futureselves?

Or... maybe we can pretend we don't know Brad is Ragnar, and continue to keep tabs on Steve and his paladins... That's probably the safest bet right now. The paladins are being lied to as much as we are, anyway. Is Grey in on it, though?

Secure the keystone and heal Vlad. Then we should regroup with the others in the western pass.

[message to Green: The "Light" has betrayed us, I think. The "enemy" daemons might be the ones spreading the least lies... In fact, an enemy Death Knight, who had anti-undead powers somehow like the paladins do, told us of a supposed impartial information source. I suspect we have a presence there in the past, so we will tell you what we learn later, once we've experienced it. Oh and before you ask, we did kill the Death Knight and have no plans to ally with the other daemons at this juncture. I'm not sure if we need to cut ties with the paladins yet. It would complicate things, and the paladins are being lied to as much as we are anyway. I'm not sure about Grey. Grey and Steve seem to have a close relationship, so Grey might be corrupted by Steve and under his control...]

Let's not tell Grey we know Brad is Ragnar until we get Jal to safety. However, we need to find out if he knows...
[message to Grey: Well? Any explanation as to why a Death Knight has anti-undead powers?]

>cheap, badly written novel or something
It isn't THAT bad.

Brad, you realize you can't drop a bomb like that without offering an explanation, right? Alexa, get Vlad and the keystone- make sure it isn't booby-trapped or anything- and let's get the hell out of here before someone else with a grudge shows up. It's possible the others may need help dealing with the rest of the caravan.

And somebody destroy that godawful cart, it's given us enough grief.

Alexandra, how long do you think it'll be until Vlad recovers? I'd imagine it'll be awhile since that ice shard looked like it went through his right chest. That'll have fucked up some ribs, a lung, his shoulder blade and all the muscles around it. He's not gonna be drawing a bow for awhile after that.

>>585387
[Stop those messages to Green and Gray]
Dammit, man! Wait until we get an explanation from Gray and Steve for giving us a mission to kill Ragnar before we do anything like pulling the plug on this alliance! And Gray already told us that divine AND demonic magic can counter demonic magic here >>585302. How else could our Lightbringer "blessed" weapons be so effective against the undead and daemonic forces? So get your facts straight before shooting a message that'll most likely blow up in our faces.

[Message to Green: We got a possible lead on a non-daemonic source of information that might give us the answers we need to clear up what they say is true and what is lies and misinformation. Supposedly the gods placed an "oracle" that can answer our questions somewhere within where the Amun Empire is today. Unfortunately we got this tidbit from a rather chatty Blood God Death Knight so, as usual, we can't trust it right off. When we're next in Amun we'll seek out other sources to verify it's the real deal and hasn't been tampered with before trusting it. But assuming we find it and it's legit do you have any particular questions you want us to ask it?]

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Come back Conrack we need your bear- I mean Windwalker skills. *sob*

Kaktus 2014/07/22(Tue)14:50 No. 585404 ID: 65a774
File 140606581126.png - (25.70KB , 900x450 , 91.png )

>[Message to Green: We got a possible lead on a non-daemonic source of information that might give us the answers we need to clear up what they say is true and what is lies and misinformation. Supposedly the gods placed an "oracle" that can answer our questions somewhere within where the Amun Empire is today. Assuming we find it and it's legit do you have any particular questions you want us to ask it?]
[Ask it if you can trust me.]

>Uh, okay, wow. Somebody wanna fetch Vlad from behind the wagon so we can actually see him? I don't like not seeing somebody.
I rather not move him unless we have a sled to put him in.
Don’t worry, Dooriya should be on her way by now with a sled to pick us up.
>Alexandra, how long do you think it'll be until Vlad recovers? I'd imagine it'll be awhile since that ice shard looked like it went through his right chest. That'll have fucked up some ribs, a lung, his shoulder blade and all the musculature.
Luckily, it missed his ribcages and his lungs, but his shoulder is rather badly wounded. He’ll probably be bed ridden a day or two and it will be a long while even with magic before he’s ready for combat again.
>Alright, now, considering that Steve told us to kill our King, I think we can end our alliance with him.
Wait, whoa! A bit… premature there, bud! He didn’t actually, you know, tell us to kill Brad, right? I mean… um… maybe he didn’t know it was Brad or… err…?
OH! It’s probably all symbolic and mysterious and stuff! Like in the books! You have to defeat yourself to become yourself!
…that didn’t even make sense…
…I’m still surprised that guy can still stand and talk after having a blade trough his stomach…
Actually, Brad, you should sit down. You might not be bleeding, but that wounds still seems rather… um… gruesome…

>Alexa, get the keystone- make sure it isn't booby-trapped or anything.
Hmm… it was teal colored right? Because I’m almost standing on it then. I guess the Death knight must have had it on him.
>Also, can we bring Daniel's head for a ritual to bless him and release his soul from the grasp of the Blood God or something?
Err… he did kind of… um… burn up like most normal undead do when we killed him… I can try blessing his armor, if you want…
>Brad, is your memory coming back? Please don't go berserk on us.
No… I… I’m not the one I was back then… not anymore.
>Bradford, did you regain memories when Daniel tried to banish you, or from seeing Conrack?
Seeing Conrack… and hearing him talk about the past…
>Was "burning the temples" pinned on you because you converted them and Conrack was the one to actually burn them down?
No… I… I did that… I remember…

>Brad, you realize you can't drop a bomb like that without offering an explanation, right?
…I… Back then, I was a member in the order of the WindWalkers together with my smaller brother Conrack… I… I left the order when I met her… my wife Elusia… we… we… got a son together and… then… there was a disease… it took them both… I… I went mad in grief… I needed someone to blame… someone to lash out too… but… the only ones who should be blame was to gods themselves… and they are beyond riposte, aren’t they? So… I… I… … …
You attacked the next best thing…their temples and followers?
Yes… that’s it…
>And somebody destroy that godawful cart, it's given us enough grief.
Preparing the bomb…

Insert Worse dung eve-
>It isn't THAT bad.
“Every time I try to read it, my eyes mysteriously start bleeding… and most of my brain commits suicide out of sheer freight that this kind of idiocy can even exist without collapsing into a black hole of ignorance.” – Kaktus’ inner Critic – 9,8/10 (Completely unreadable!)

Alright fine, let's find out if Steve wants us to kill Brad.
[message to Grey: Hey, you know how we agreed to kill Ragnar? Turns out he's already dead. All that's left is his memories. You might want to ask Steve if we've done what he asked already, somehow.]

WAIT don't blow up the wagon! There's some weird purple thing inside it, it could be anything!

>I can try blessing his armor, if you want…
Please, if it's all we can do for him, then it is what we should do. We will still try and get a copy of him to survive, but I no longer know if it's possible to mess with his space-time clones.
>It’s probably all symbolic and mysterious and stuff!
I actually agree with you, Anna. I believe it has to do with defeating the taint upon his soul. His regaining memories mean his soul, at least, is truly Rangar's, but we've been purifying it bit by bit, and if we keep this up, eventually Rangar will be slain while Bradford resumes living.
>and they are beyond riposte, aren’t they?
They are dead. They have been dead for over a thousand years. Any "Gods" that are still present, with one exception, are Daemons. The one exception is a New God, and currently is walking around Gaia in a mortal shell. This prevents him from using most of his powers--including the ability to not die.
> – Kaktus’ inner Critic
[Ticket: The gods are supposed to be dead, who's writing these critiques?]
>[message to Grey: Hey, you know how we agreed to kill Ragnar? Turns out he's already dead. All that's left is his memories. You might want to ask Steve if we've done what he asked already, somehow.]
I'm willing to back contacting Gray, but perhaps a little more subtly?
Something like, "We've acquired more information, and Ragnar definitely was slain centuries ago. There are memories, but what are we expected to do about that? Might be worth asking Steve if "Teal's Power" is needed for the mission. He should know what we mean.
Oh, but something we definitely want relayed to him: Dooriya is a bit upset and wants to summon us into the meeting the next time he visits her. He probably already knows, but we've already freaked Bob out with stuff he didn't know, so better safe with a time buffer than not. We have a lot more questions than what we've publicly announced for him."

>[Ask it if you can trust me.]
That.... would clear up quite a lot. We'd know if the Daemons are a reliable source of information if the predictions align with the daemonic visions, in addition to the obvious tactical implications. I hope the oracle doesn't have a limit on the number of questions you can ask. The last time that happened, the prophesy-speaker killed two of our pawns. I hope he doesn't speak in mumbo-jumbo, either. That'd just be a waste of time.

>He didn’t actually, you know, tell us to kill Brad, right? I mean… um… maybe he didn’t know it was Brad or… err…?
KILL STRELOK.
Sorry.
I'm unsure what Steve's reaction will be- he sounds like a more rational creature than Conrack, but until we can trust him, we should keep this to ourselves. We have no reason to doubt Grey, so he can be a mediator, if necessary. Conrack's recent actions would make him a convenient scapegoat, but that's dirty and, should be a last- ditch attempt.

Belay that destruction order- if the stone is on the corpse, what's inside the cart?

Kaktus 2014/07/22(Tue)21:53 No. 585435 ID: 65a774
File 140609120721.png - (24.83KB , 900x450 , 92.png )

>[message to Grey: We've acquired more information, and Ragnar definitely was slain centuries ago. There are memories, but what are we expected to do about that? Might be worth asking Steve if "Teal's Power" is needed for the mission. He should know what we mean.]
[He says if your King remembers and isn’t shoving his hammer up Alexandra’s butt for being a priestess you’ve succeeded. …that’s a direct quote… just so you… um… yeah…]
>[Dooriya is a bit upset and wants to summon us into the meeting the next time he visits her. He probably already knows, but we've already freaked Bob out with stuff he didn't know, so better safe with a time buffer than not. We have a lot more questions than what we've publicly announced for him.]
[He says it’s understandable and that you’ll soon be able to talk to him face to face about everything.]

>Belay that destruction order- if the stone is on the corpse, what's inside the cart?
What is this? Some kind of… purple crystal ball?
Ah, I know what it is. It’s a magical focus… I’m guessing the legs that move this cart is controlled by it.
…legs?
Um… haven’t you seen it? They’ve stuck a bunch of undead legs on the underside of the cart to get it to move.
>Please, if blessing his armor is all we can do for him, then it is what we should do.
-and by his holy name, I guide you to-

…

Here comes Dooriya!
Finally…
Greetings… it took some time to sort through the prisoners the cultist had captured, so my apologies about that.
At least we were able to save a lot of innocents today…
Innocent? Ha! Let me tell you, most of those faces we found are rather familiar if you’ve checked the bounty board lately. It’s probably easier to catch a bandit out here then a normal person, really…
Either way, we got the prisoners and all the carts are burning, so good job people. We did a great number on them today and we only lost one man… right?
As long as Vlad doesn’t… um… yeah…
Wait, what’s that?
Ah, it’s… Steve asked me to keep a look out for parts like these to bring back. He wanted to see how far they’ve come… but it’s nothing to worry about, there’s no way they already got one to function.

>Scan Harvester.
[Object(Demonic): Fully functional harvester head.]

…you do realize as soon as you said it, they will have a functional one, right?
…son of a-

That is indeed a fully functional harvester head.
Speak thy name and Murphy sends a message.

Speaking of which, stay a safe distance from that thing, I don't want anyone getting hurt because it decided to bite or suck souls or whatever.

>>585435
AAAAAAAAA

AAAAAAAAAAAAAActually this is fine. Harvesters are kindof important for the future of the world. I expect we will want to replace the Flawed harvesters at each major rune with the fully-functional ones. I mean, it's not like Harvesters do anything except funnel emotional energy to daemons.

Oh right... Alex, Brad, Vlad... keep that keystone a secret. We are not giving it to Steve and Bob. Oh, and don't carry it anywhere near the Archbishop. He'll be able to steal it right out of your pockets from across the room. I wish we could go unlock a Vault with it, but the one nearby is up at the peak.

>most of those faces we found are rather familiar if you’ve checked the bounty board lately
The Blood God is proving more and more trustworthy. Man, it's a real shame we're stuck helping Gray and The Light. Not that I blame Steve for it, it was mostly Gray's actions that required this.
>Fully functional harvester head
... Maybe set some symbols of Light around, but not on, the harvester head. Try and contain its power.
>He'll be able to steal it right out of your pockets from across the room
Grand... I'm really wishing the Gods gave cured players the chance to have abilities now. Active abilities that could be given to pawns.
Well, at least we have the ability to kill other players, despite being weaker than them. Not so fortunately, the Archbishop serves Steve unwaveringly. He will still have his powers even without Gray's influence, meaning we would need to kill him too, if that's our solution.
[Message Gray: Do you trust us? With everything everybody's said, we're having a hard time telling who to trust anymore, and may, as a result, start offering less direct aid. Service to the order will, of course, still be granted by those who are in it, which is everybody but Daniel Anderson, but we don't even know what his status is other than that "One temporal copy became a Death Knight of The Blood God and was slain." Our temporal power may help gain a living copy, but we don't know for sure.]
I'm also voting against belayed orders to send this message, meaning you'll need at least two of them to overpower it!

[message player grey: ...Well then. Success it is.]

Anna, you are wise beyond your years. Might want to... put a blanket over that harvester or... something. Make sure nobody touches it.

> Let me tell you, most of those faces we found are rather familiar if you’ve checked the bounty board lately.
I was about to say good on the blood god for not using innocents as sacrifices, but weren't the bandits working for the cultists not too long ago? Not that it would have been a great loss, but still, that's cold.

>>585488
We can't switch sides on the word of a corrupted death knight, Not even if it was Daniel. Even if what he says is true, which we cannot even verify yet, it's possible Steve's goals are noble but methods are flawed- in which case we can ask him to do things differently. Even if this is a worst case scenario where all the grief the daemons wrought and good Steve has brought is somehow a nine thread long series of ruses and misunderstandings, there is no reason that the Archbishop should be killed- he's a political type, not a zealot. Even taking everything Steve says with a grain of salt, so far he's been the lesser evil. We'll need solid evidence if we're going to betray him. and preemptively voting against belaying your own message is just juvenile.

[message to Grey: We also met the wanted windwalker guy. He's Conrack, and a ghost like Bradford, except he remembers everything from 200 years ago. He burned down the farm because they weren't paying taxes to the king he thought was still alive, and he killed the Von Zolner thugs because they were trying to extort money from people. A "Divine Creature" seems to be the term for his case... what does Divine mean though? Does that mean a God brought him back?]

Seeing as I have been completely useless throughout this whole ordeal I will now try to help with THEORIES.
First off it is entirely possible that the death knight was unaware of the true end goals of the Blood God and was being lied to or was lying himself.
Secondly, since Anna remembers nothing from her past life is it possible that the event that broke Brad, the Deamon entering the world thing, could of overlapped Ragnar's "soul", programing, with Brads.
And finally is it possible that Conrak was purposefully brought to modern times by an enemy to kill Brad?

>>585496
I still want to tell Gray that we want to be neutral, only sticking with the Order because all our Pawns are a part of it.
>preemptively voting against belaying your own message is just juvenile.
Hah! Of course it is, most everything we do is juvenile!
... Re-reading my message I see no reason to change it, though. I never said we'd abandon Steve, while I did say our people will continue helping out the order. Giving out some honesty about not knowing who to trust ourselves seems reasonable, and I'm asking Gray if she still trusts us. Or for that matter, has. If you want to reword it, be my guest.

>>585552
If we're not going to abandon Steve, and we'll continue aiding the order, then functionally nothing has changed. Steve also said that we'll be able to talk to him face-to-face soon, suggesting he already knows about our doubts and is going to discuss it. This situation will either change or may even be settled soon.
>Of course it is, most everything we do is juvenile!
...Point. Carry on.

[Echo last scan to nearby pawns] ...Dammit, Dooriya... Alright, we're messaging Gray this news immediately. [Message to Gray: Recovered Harvester part from caravan. Scans as "Object(Demonic): Fully functional harvester head." We'll have to bring it in for testing to confirm it isn't a very convincing fake, but assuming it isn't, just how bad are the implications of this?]

We should test the keystone to make sure it's not a fake. It's unlikely it is since the Death Knight was carrying it, but I'd rather not risk the Blood God or his followers being extra clever and doing something like giving a fake to the Death Knight and hiding the real one in the wall of the bone wagon.

Dooriya, check Lightbringer's Book to double-check if keystones are indeed indestructible by any means currently available in the world. Gray told us so but I want to confirm it before proceeding. Once confirmed place the keystone on a rock or other solid surface and Brad'll hit it as hard as he can with his hammer. If the keystone comes out okay, good; We can torch the wagon and get going. If it doesn't then search this bone wagon and the others top to bottom. If the search finds nothing then smash it to pieces and search in those since it could have been hidden in a skull or fused into the bone. Dooriya's magic ought to be a help in breaking it down since the wagon is a daemonic construct and the magic ought to just disintegrate it.

Also check Lightbringer's Book for how much the emotional energy from this world is diluted by passing through the barrier to the Daemon Realm. The Death Knight said that bringing a source of emotional energy to the Daemon Realm would yield at least ten times the nutrition for the daemons compared to what would flow from this world, so I want to see if that info checks out.

Oh, and also look up if there's any way to free a person once they've reached 100% corruption and been taken as a daemon's thrall. We want to know in case something goes horribly wrong on a mission and one of you guys is taken.

Now, there's a few minor things to do before we head back to the city: Collect the Death Knight's armor and gear and bring it with us so it can be modified and reused or sold off. Has the ranger come back yet? If not we're gonna have to track him down before leaving to make sure he wasn't killed. And have the remains of that poor crossbowman been recovered? I'm guessing the yeti took the body so all we have left to bring back is the head, right?

Brad, on the way back fill everyone (that are our pawns) in on what happened with Conrack, what we've found out about you and what the Death Knight told us. Of course we'll have to verify what the Death Knight said, but even so that old feeling of dread that we're doing totally the wrong thing is creeping up on us again.

Brad, you said there was an order of Windwalkers, so what happened to them? How did Conrack end up the last Windwalker?

Of course there's the lingering question of why and how the ghosts of Ragnar and Conrack have come back now and not closer to when they died, and also why they're so strong compared to pretty much every other ghost ever. Hm... Dooriya, could you check Lightbringer's Book for any other account of a ghost coming back as strongly as Brad and Conrack did. I'm wondering if there's anything that's known to be able to do something like that.

>>585444
You must not have been paying attention when Dooriya read from Lightbringer's Book what the capabilities of a fully functional Harvester are. According to the Book a daemon who occupied such a Harvester would be able to wield most of the powers it has in the Daemon Realm while in this world. (Reference: >>/questarch/567105) Needless to say, this is Bad News.

And we're not gonna hide the keystone from Lightbringer. We wouldn't be able to even if we wanted to since Sgt. Duran saw Alexandra holding it. Once he's debriefed Gray and Lightbringer would know we had it and hid it.

Art error: Drina's bangle is on the wrong antenna.

>>585488
Thought up a reason to belay message from my side--Gray initiated the alliance with us, that shows she trusts us anyways. After a full nine months, I'm sure she should know how we work.

Kaktus 2014/07/28(Mon)09:56 No. 586400 ID: 65a774
File 140656656669.png - (25.59KB , 900x450 , 93.png )

>I'm also voting against belayed orders to send this message, meaning you'll need at least two of them to overpower it!
[Error! Please do not try to cheat or I’ll go iddqd on your ass!]
>[Message player grey: ...Well then. Success it is.]
[Message from Grey: Ah, good to know that Bradford won’t slaughter us all when he starts to remember.]
>[message to Grey: We also met the wanted windwalker guy. He's Conrack, and a ghost like Bradford, except he remembers everything from 200 years ago. He burned down the farm because they weren't paying taxes to the king he thought was still alive, and he killed the Von Zolner thugs because they were trying to extort money from people. A "Divine Creature" seems to be the term for his case... what does Divine mean though? Does that mean a God brought him back?]
[Conrack? Hmm… we had our suspicions on that… glad to have it confirmed. And a divine creature is simply a creature created by the powers of the dead gods that still lingers.]
>[Do you trust us?]
[I trust you to make the choice you believe are right. I do not trust you having the information to do the right choice… I don’t even trust myself in that regard.]
>[With everything everybody's said, we're having a hard time telling who to trust anymore.]
[Trust your skepticism and questions. Without knowledge trust is worthless.]
>[Message to Gray: Recovered Harvester part from caravan. Scans as "Object(Demonic): Fully functional harvester head." We'll have to bring it in for testing to confirm it isn't a very convincing fake, but assuming it isn't, just how bad are the implications of this?]
[…I can’t say myself but… um… err… Steve is freaking out a bit after I told him so… I’m guessing this is bad?]

>We should test the keystone to make sure it's not a fake.
How do we-
Give it here! Siegfried, guide my hammer!!
*Sigh* are all your solutions to problems hitting them with hammers?
Only the good ones! Now, FEEL THE THANES THUNDER!!!
*CRASH!!*
Holy- you cleaved the wagon in half!
And there’s not even a scratch on the keystone… it got to be real.
…wait, how in Hel’s frozen domain did you light the wagon on fire with a hammer? I mean, it’s made out of bones! That’s not… how… but…
Because it was awesome.
...

>Check Lightbringer's Book for how much the emotional energy from this world is diluted by passing through the barrier to the Daemon Realm.
Hmm… it’s just says that a large majority of the emotional energy is lost between realms.
>Also look up if there's any way to free a person once they've reached 100% corruption and been taken as a daemon's thrall.
Either by breaking the daemons connection or in some way destroy the daemon itself.
>Dooriya, could you check Lightbringer's Book for any other account of a ghost coming back as strongly as Brad and Conrack did.
“Ghost and other specters are spirits who clings to the mortal coil because of a strong emotional bind, like anger, regret or the need to set things “right”. Neutral ghost can appear in places with a lot of natural magical energy, like most of the northern lands thanks to their large deposit of magic infused crystals, and aren’t more than visions begging for release. Ghost that can manipulate the world are either natural ghost with an extremely strong emotional bind or get infused with a large burst of magical energy (Either through a lot of magic usage, magic battles, the death of a powerful magic user or even the manifestation of a daemon.)

>Brad, you said there was an order of Windwalkers, so what happened to them? How did Conrack end up the last Windwalker?
(…they were in the way of my revenge so… I removed them. Of course, they were already weak thanks to the king’s use of them in the failed war with the Vildmän.)
>I was about to say good on the blood god for not using innocents as sacrifices, but weren't the bandits working for the cultists not too long ago? Not that it would have been a great loss, but still, that's cold.
No, I’m pretty sure these are other bandits. Not all bandits are in cohorts, right?
>Might want to... put a blanket over that harvester or... something. Make sure nobody touches it.
Right, that thing is starting to creep me the fuck out…
I think it’s kind of cute…
…you’re weird, sis… and not in a good way…

>Brad, on the way back fill everyone (that are our pawns) in on what happened with Conrack, what we've found out about you and what the Death Knight told us.
…very well… I guess it’s time for a story, then…

Kaktus 2014/07/28(Mon)09:56 No. 586401 ID: 65a774
File 140656658484.jpg - (68.08KB , 445x218 , At least the pool is close.jpg )

Greetings from Stockholm!

>>586400
RIP bone cart.

Maybe we should switch to Jal, now.

>…wait, how in Hel’s frozen domain did you light the wagon on fire with a hammer? I mean, it’s made out of bones! That’s not… how… but…
...Did you forget he's wielding a HOLY hammer? It was made to smite the undead, and purge their taint from the land. Setting things on fire through such means is fairly common, right?
That, and the intense friction Bradford can cause with his PSI is going to generate a good amount of heat. Throw any sparks in and you can get a flame.
>Book's info
Hmm. This is really something. Definitely going to want to talk to Steve about this all. It may just be possible that in this loadstate, the Blood God actually is one of the benevolent Daemons, and a Daemon's visions just cover previous loadstates.
Er, when I say "Loadstate" I mean loading up a state of time into the crate that acts as "present"...? Temporal control is weird, and even we don't fully understand it, but that's the closest I can think of to explain that term. Probably as riddlesome to you as a Daemon's speech.
>manifestation of a daemon.
Perhaps Ragnar became a Neutral Ghost and it was through the Daemon's arrival at that town that he was given full existence.
>Steve is freaking out a bit after I told him so… I’m guessing this is bad?
[Message: If it is bad, then we should see how well we can study it. It did not appear to have any affiliation, it is simply an object right now. I don't wish to trust Steve with a full Harvester body, but then, he does not seem to have any intention of using one anyways, and if he changes his mind, it is just a head for now. If we get lucky, we might find some evidence of the Word of the Gods, but I would honestly be surprised if the Daemons used such a means to create their bodies.]
>I trust you to make the choice you believe are right. I do not trust you having the information to do the right choice… I don’t even trust myself in that regard.
[Message: That makes three of a kind, then. Green, who is doubtful of all words from the Daemons, and you and us, who are skeptical of their words, but look through to see what truth they do possess.]
We still need to talk to White and Purple on the matter, of course. I believe White figured out that Libby was a mostly benevolent Daemon, but Purple's going to be a tough case.
>I think it’s kind of cute…
I think I know how you feel now, Anna. Calling a Harvester head cute is just creepy. I mean think about it, Dooriya! Steve's going to give himself a Mantis body, not a Harvester body!