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File: 1669073838950.png (733.19 KB, 1410x555, Buiwong Cut-In Final.png)

 No.762858[View All]

>Amy
"Are we supposing there's a little teapot somewhere in this valley we gotta find?" Hurricanrana says, tilting his head. "Is it perhaps short and stout?"

"No more singing, please," Desert sighs.

"Actually…" Mudi says. "In Tartarus, the will is supreme… It's even true at an Anchor. You saw how people suffered when they used techniques to move great distances without being seen, like the Ecclesian flash step. Oh! And we all had to agree on what we saw before we could even enter the anchor!"

"Oh no…" Desert groans.

"The singing probably helped us get this far!" Mudi extrapolates.

"No, no, no–!" Vizsla complains.

"We gotta sing to find the tea ingredient!!!" Mudi declares.

The Paper Trail shrugs.

"R-right?" Mudi asks, losing all her momentary bravado.

>Cloak

As a unit, with paces in sync despite the disparities in height and length, the Ecclesians move out, following behind the Paper Trail.

>Shei

"Take it from someone who has spent more time down here than you–" the Witch says. "Anything you hear claim to belong to or be from 'God' is not to be believed. Best not to overuse that word. An Anchor may be safe enough, but in the Abyss – tantamount to suicide. What you encountered was most likely an Umbral who became overmuch obsessed with that thing, and began to hallucinate a theosis."

>Shei and Flaming

"Cursed?" the Witch repeats. "Is that what they're saying?"

She scoffs, then full-on laughs, like it's the only funny thing she's heard all day. She shakes a ratchet at you. "My Craft is in the mechanical arts. I put no curse on any one of them.

https://youtu.be/C9ESv2NzKkw

"People like them… don't need any curse from anyone. They are curses unto themselves. Curses unto one another… you get me?"

The others ponder this in silence.

She looks at Flow. "But, it is true I got into a dispute with the royals. Must be the genesis of this rumor. Why do you ask?"
955 posts and 5 image replies omitted. Click reply to view.

 No.767621

>>767620
>>767617

Amy has a moment of terror wash over her before she realizes what !Flaming has done. She smiles. "Even a fake sister is still a sister," Amy nods with a resolute smile before turning to run.

"Everyone, get out of here! Asphodel is coming!"

[1d10] to get to the nearest flying device, regardless of who else is on it. Amy can't fly anyway.

Roll #1 3 = 3

 No.767622

>>767620
"Shorthorns" convulses on the ground, her head pulsating in pain as though she'd torn through herself with that last assault, rather than Amy. A small moment of relief passes through her as a result, her dozens of arms struggling to find their footing as "Shorthorns" struggles to make sense of her mind.

She looks at her countless limbs and her horrid appendages, and her heart drops like a stone. She *IS* a Daughter of Perdition, after all… a living time-bomb, a weapon of betrayal set to cut at the heart of those dearest to them. And yet her own heart weeps in earnest. Amy, Journey, Rus Tea, all of the people gathered here MEAN something to her. She loves them, she remembers them as though she were the real Shorthorns, and the compulsive orders she feels to strike at them, to kill them, tear her soul apart.

She looks around, desperately trying to get a sense of the voice as she shakes her head, "Not… a dream…. they… they're real…" her abominable voice bellows, the sounds of what was once Shortyhorns falling away to the gutters of a monster. "They're real to ME… I'm not going to hurt them… I don't WANT to! YOU CAN'T… MAKE…. ME!"

[3d10] Rolling to resist, DC 5

Roll #1 5, 9, 5 = 19

 No.767623

>>767622
>>767621
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGa6aHGlf4A
The Daughter of Perdition thrashes and flails about, fighting to turn her every malevolent impulse away from the ones she had been sent to betray and slaughter, gouging and scoring the landscape all about in her struggle to remain "herself." As Amy scrambles to get out of the zone of destruction, she stumbles, but as she falls toward a scattering of rock, she instead lands on a pillow– of snow.

When she looks up, she sees Vizsla standing above her. A streak of ice runs across the ground, which had enabled Vizsla to dart to Amy's side in but an instant. Vizsla's expression is one of brief confusion, and amazement. Yet an instant is all she can afford. She yanks Amy up and throws her onto the streak of ice. From a standing position, Vizsla launches across the ice, dragging Amy with her– an uncomfortable yet speedy getaway.

Ah… I see. A strange and captivating dream indeed. Small wonder that you should struggle to cling to it, even as it is time to rise and go to your work.

High above, a blur of holy bones drops from the sky in a vertical pillar, ripping through all Anchors in its path, scattering rock and steel as if they were mere blowsand.

But I made you for a purpose. And that which cannot fulfill its purpose is defective, and broken. I am not without compassion, my Daughter. You may die. Die, and return to me in Cocytus, as so many of your siblings have already. There I shall embrace you… and unmake you, and remake you, again and again, as many times as I must, until I finally fix this defect in you. Then in joy you may go out, and fall asleep again… then awake, and betray, and slaughter, and drink. So as I have made you.

So sayeth the dreaded Queen of the Ninth Layer: TREACHERY;
The Mother of Perdition;
The almighty Witch of Betrayal;
GEHENNA

With an earsplitting eruption that scatters what remains of this ruined Anchor to all the corners of Tartarus, Asphodel dives straight through the earth, snapping up this lonely Daughter of Perdition in his inescapable grasp. As death's numbing blanket falls upon the Daughter's senses, her last thoughts are of those ones she so briefly thought of as her allies – and the knowledge that she did not hurt them.

 No.767624

>>767623

Amy looks up at Vizsla in shock as she is saved by the least likely of people. "Wh-why?" she asks as they make their escape. The ice is too slippery for her to do much than be along for the ride.

 No.767625

>>767623
The Daughter of Perdition, monstrous and inhuman in its gnashing form, holds herself still, refusing to allow herself to do any harm to those she loved… even if those memories, this love, was all a fabrication, they were her feelings, and she would not betray them.

She looks to them all as they manage to flee from her, and up to the sky as the incoming form of Asphodel guarantees their safety… and her end. With her struggle soon to be over, "Shorthorns" speaks loudly, her great and monstrous bellowing calling out her death call

"You… chose… poorly… the one you have stolen… even when replaced… loves her friends so dearly she protects them from worlds away, and for that I love her…"

She coughs, looking up to the sky at her incoming doom in the form of the serpent. "And you… how *DARE* you to call yourself a 'mother'…. the pain you inflict upon your own children, the sorrow and heartbreak and agony you put them through… I didn't realize just how deeply the suffering of the children of Perdition was, but now I know firsthoof…" the monster speaks, tears welling up in its eyes in contrast to its horrific, jagged teeth.

"CHILDREN DON'T EXIST TO SERVE THEIR PARENTS. They are NOT your tools! Parents are supposed to protect their children… you send yours to slaughter to fight your enemies. Parents are supposed to LOVE their children, you dispose of any you deem worthless…"

"I… I may not live to see it… but one day, I swear… the other me, the REAL me… will set them all free… set all of us free from your torment!"

She closes her eyes, awaiting her own end. "Please… let her be safe… let all of them be safe… its up to you now, Shorthorned Dragon."
She awaits Asphodel, grateful for the kind lord's merciful end, as she uses the link one last time, to impart these final feelings back to the real "her", so they do not go out in vain.

[1d10] Shei-Link to pass along final feelings to the real Shorty

Roll #1 5 = 5

 No.767626

>>767625
>>767624
"Y-you're more useful to me alive than dead for now!" Vizsla blurts out as she drags Amy along on this involuntary ice-skating dance. "The second that you aren't– argh!"

None of your allies stop moving until they are ragged and panting, and the sounds of annihilation are far behind them. A few cast a look back, watching what remains of that war-torn Anchor drifting away from the site of Asphodel's attack. Most of the Anchor is now but a gaping void, surrounded by Abyss on either end. Asphodel is gone, as is the Daughter of Perdition he took… but you can sense, just faintly, a lingering, silhouetted sentiment.

In particular, Amy can sense that the sentiment – the last vestiges of the Daughter – are drifting with a vector. A destination. Aided by the familiar power of an unmistakable goat.

Maybe… just maybe… that sentiment can lead you right to the real Shorthorned.

 No.767627

>>767626
>>767625

Amy smiles and nods as she struggles to stand up on the ice. "You're right," she says to Vizsla. "I'm sorry I questioned it. I was just… caught up in the moment."

"And, I think we both agree what we gotta do next. We gotta go save Shortyhorns and Moody."

Then, Amy looks up to see/feel the final sentiments of !Flaming. She tears up at the beautiful sisterly love she shares with Flaming as well as the tragedy of what just happened to !Flaming.

Then, Amy smiles without wiping away the tears. "And, I think we've just been given our path right to them."

 No.767628

>>767627
Vizsla scowls at your words and stomps off a small distance, hiding her face. The other factions weren't quite so affected by the Daughter's passing as you are, but the other Saviors cannot help but share in your feelings. Just a look at their distant, haunted expressions, tainted by a little sorrow, tells you as such.

"Quite," Doctor Galton says, trying to hide her own nervous grimace. "Now let's all concentrate, and we'll be able to bring back–"

But it seems that everyone's thoughts had already moved back to your missing allies, even before her declaration. For things have already begun to change, even though you yet stand at an Anchor.

A projectile streaks past your face, shrieking like a bullet. The others scatter as other projectiles fly about them, making for cover.

Only, in a strange moment of clarity, you manage to catch a glimpse of the near-miss shot in your peripherals. It is not a bullet, nor dart nor arrow, as the others may imagine.

It's… a plumbing gasket.

Another shot follows.

This time, as you involuntarily move to dodge it, you see that it is a carpenter's nail.

Dear reader, the reason that the late King of WRATH brought so many Anchors with him from WRATH to LIMBO was paranoia. For paranoia is a near cousin to WRATH, and follows in its kindred's steps. Paranoia begets jealousy, and envy. GROGAR half-imagined that his collection of Anchors, if left in WRATH, would be taken from him by the many other petty lords hiding elsewhere in WRATH, biding their time until they could dethrone him. Even if GROGAR could easily re-conquer them, the mere thought of HIS possessions being tainted by the touch of another was utterly unacceptable. Thus he took along this extra baggage, forcibly reasoning that he could weaponize them. Of course, this proved his undoing.

However, he was not alone in such reasoning. Lord TIRAC brought along an Anchor of his own– just the one. The King of VIOLENCE could prove to be a rather cool-headed tyrant at times.

Roof shingles. Chimneys. Copper wiring, magitech cores. Gutters, drainages. Marble, cobblestone, furniture, rugs, screws, fasteners, silverware siding portraits bricks windows plants concrete rebar soil grass blood sweat tears and–

All about you, the bits and pieces that go into building a habitation shoot by you, then freeze in the air, finding their proper place, waiting their companions.

Piece by piece, stone by stone, the Anchor brought to LIMBO by Lord TIRAC assembles itself.

(1/?)

 No.767629

Behold, Midnight Castle.

A mountainous […] extending thousands of miles into the […] exudes from the metal and stone comprising its outer walls, offering […] protection against the eternal […] envelops the whole of the […] the […] whose black hills overflow with the abominable […] who seek the Castles' destruction.

Midnightcastle is one of the last […] Castles that remain in all the […], and is the final […] millions and millions of souls that […]

It is, as well, the home of the King of VIOLENCE.

[…] of them were […] here, and others came to it, whether from another Castle, or even, […] from elsewhere in […]

It has been just over two months since […] the Heart of Midnightcastle would run out of […] Without […] and open to siege by the […] spelling the complete and total […] fates far worse than […].

Curiously, the […] Time Long Forgotten, […] an age long since past, […] when mortals lived outside of […] protected by the […]

Within a few hours of […] But, it was far too late; fear was already […] into full-blown panic. It took a month of […], but eventually […]

[………………………………………………………]

 No.767630

File: 1724209299060.png (940.18 KB, 817x817, map.png)

A storm engulfs you, a storm of construction, washing your vision away under copper and mahogany and brick and irrigation. When the dizzying vision at last concludes…

You find yourself strange new place.

It seems to be a secluded study. Like a small personal library. Bookshelves line the walls, and a nice rug of foreign make covers the polished wooden floors. Magitech lights line the walls, giving the place an ambience that would be warm and relaxing in most other circumstances.

It's not helped by the fact that you are utterly alone here.

And the fact that your bag feels different.

>roll perception, DC 4

>you are in the room marked 1

 No.767631

>>767628
>>767629

Amy shakes her head as she struggles to comprehend the structure assembling around them. Before she can figure anything out, she realizes she's somewhere new - and without her allies. With this realization, she panics slightly. Most important to her is saving Flaming. But, now she doesn't even know where she is.

>[1d10] perception


Roll #1 2 = 2

 No.767632

>>767631
You distinctly feel like you're missing an object from your possession, but all your usuals are still here. Perhaps something you gained recently, you misplaced…?

>optional, roll again


It doesn't seem like you're in danger right this second… at least, not a danger more severe than being alone in Tartarus. But, if you're alone, then surely by now you'd have fallen prey to the effects that going unobserved in Tartarus begets… the fact that you haven't can only suggest that you are, in fact, being observed.

There are three doors to the room, one on the east side, and two on the south side.

 No.767633

>>767632

Amy goes over her possessions one more time.

>[1d10]


"Is there somebody else here?" Amy ponders out loud.

>Vestigial Sunlight to get answers

>[1d10+2]

Roll #1 7 = 7 / Roll #2 2 + 2 = 4

 No.767634

>>767633
You realize now that the IOU note which you received from the Storm King is gone. Was it that heavy that you could sense its absence…? It was just a sheet of papyrus…

There is no response to your query.

 No.767635

>>767634

"Huh…" Amy mutters in contemplation. "I guess I have a demon king to thank later…"

Then, Amy looks around at the doors. If she's going to find anyone, she'll have to go somewhere. She chooses the door to the north-east as it is the only door on its own wall.

 No.767636

>>767635
As you approach the northeast door, you realize only now how large it is – as is the room. The structure was built to accommodate someone of a very great stature, and the door is massive, the main handle unreachable for you. However, there is a smaller door, built into the larger door, meant to address such an accessibility issue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb24FxVsNdY

Beyond the door, you see a great and vast hall, albeit one that strangely snakes before you, first south, then east, bending south, east, north and east once more… the hall is wide and tall, as was the door. It is elaborately furnished with portraits and plants, as well as strange trophies in glass cases… peculiar skulls, intricate jewelry, pickled demon's hands, and other such tokens of conquest.

There's quite a bit of blood on the floor and walls; recent yet dried, an hour or so old at most.

A thumping noise catches your attention. In the aforementioned u-bend in the hallway, there is another door, some manner of closet. You can hear a rapid and awkward thumping, like someone's trapped behind it.

 No.767637

>>767636

"Hello?" Amy calls out from the other side of the closet door. "Do you need some help? Or are you just having a fun time in there?"

As she asks the question, she grins to herself.

 No.767638

File: 1724212668706.png (381.62 KB, 860x955, daisy.png)

>>767637
>>767636
"Ugh… wait Amy?! Amy, is that you!"

Shorthorns calls from the other side of the door, bumping against it hard. "I-I feel like… I don't know, like I just woke up! It's dark, I can barely see in here!"

She thumps against it a few more times, before eventually her buffalo strength finally forces it to give way. "AGH! Finally!"

As Amy sees Shorthorn tumble out of the room, the door knocked off its hinges, you see the white buffalo calf is dressed quite differently from how she is normally - a vibrant orange/yellow dress, puffier and prettier than any outfit you had ever seen Shorthorns wear in all the time you've known her. She practically trips over her dress as she spills out of the room, though she doesn't seem entirely aware of what it is she's wearing. A small crown adorns her head, as though to complete the look of a princess who was locked in the tower. She beams as she looks at you, clearly relieved. "Amy, it is you!"

 No.767639

>>767638
>>767637
As you reunite, your thoughts turn now to another, who had wished to stand here as well… yet now cannot.

 No.767642

>>767638

"Sh-shortyhorns?!" Amy exclaims, looking and sounding more confused than excited. "How did you get HERE? What are you WEARING?"

Then, he eyes narrow. "Are you really you?"

>>767638
>>767636

>Appraise on Flaming to determine if it's really her

>[1d10+1]

Roll #1 8 + 1 = 9

 No.767643

>>767642
100% grass fed divine bison. You're sure this is the real deal.

Now as for why she's dressed like that… small psychedelic lights dance around the hems of her skirt, then sparkle and fade, and are seen no more.

 No.767644

>>767642
As she asks her if it's really her or not, Shorthorns turns her head, "Huh? Of course I am, what do you mean is it really…"

>>767642
>>767639
All at once, Shorthorn's expression turns crestfallen. The memories of the Sister of Perdition who had taken her form, the one who had sacrificed herself trying to disobey her treacherous mother, hit her like an oncoming train. She sits down, processing all that happened as she suddenly understands all too well why Amy is concerned for if it's really her. "Oh… right… y-yeah, don't worry, it's really me. At least, I think so…"

She shakes her head, "The Sister… she reached out to me somehow, I think with Shei's chain. She wanted me to help her and, I could feel what she felt. She… she really didn't want to hurt you, I remember that, and she was so hurt…" she says on a deep inhale. "I feel her heartache, even now."

 No.767645

>>767642
>>767644
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb24FxVsNdY

Both ends of the bending, blood-stained hallway stretch out before you, giant in their length and scope. Were you to go west, you would return to the study in which Amy found herself. Were you to press east… a short glance around the corner reveals another room at the end of the hall (room 3), and another hallway just before it.

 No.767646

>>767644

Amy frowns and nods. "She really did something awesome. I'm glad you know about it."

"I still don't understand the dress, though…"

>>767645

"Well, there's nothing back that way," Amy says, gesturing toward the direction they came from. "So, let's go this way, I guess…"

Amy goes toward room 3, but stops at the intersection in the hallway.

 No.767647

>>767645
>>767646
Shorthorns seems lost in thought for a moment, still contemplating the feelings of the Sister and her sacrifice before Amy's comment breaks her out of it.

"Huh? What dress, I don't…"

She finally looks down and, finally given the light of the hallway, blanches at the puffy yellow-orange outfit she finds herself in. "W-what in the world?! How did I get in this?!" She says, twirling around and trying to shake it off, "T-this is NOT what I was wearing before, who's idea was this!?"

>Following Amy towards Room 3 as well

 No.767648

>>767647
>>767646
Down the southbound wing of the intersection, you see another long hall, which terminates in a set of stairs leading downward. There are a number of recent corpses laying in the hallway between you and the stairs… or rather, bits and pieces of corpses. Shorn-off fragments of limbs, spare fingers, an organ or two… a vast and diverse display of gore and flesh rots in the hall, smeared across wall and floor alike. There was nothing surgical about this dismemberment. These were torn from their bodies from sudden blunt-force trauma…

You notice that the body parts seem to have come from a wide array of victims. You think you recognize some of the forces of the other Layers among the dead… the Wild Hunt of VIOLENCE, and the Drowners of WRATH, and even some of the filing-cabinet armor of the Paper Weights of GREED, as well as others. It's like a random sample platter of the grunt soldiers from each LAYER.

 No.767649

>>767647

"I kinda like it," Amy says with an impish grin as she continues onward. "It's very pretty.

>>767648

"Well… That looks like a trap to me…" Amy says as she elects to go into room 3 instead.

 No.767650

>>767648

[1d10] to open door

Roll #1 9 = 9

 No.767651

>>767649
Shorthorns groans as she continues onward, grateful that her dress (somehow) does not seem to hamper her brisk pace as she trots to keep up with Amy, "That's the problem! It's…. pretty! Buffalo don't do 'pretty', not like the pony kind anyhow. If anyone in my clan saw this… forget that, if anyone PERIOD saw me like this, I'd die!"

"I just wanna know who had the bright idea to stick me in this and where to find them…"

>>767648
As Shorthorns looks at all the bits and pieces of corpses, she shudders, trying to lift up the dress she hates so the hem doesn't become stuck with bits of corpses. "All of these bodies… they look like they were all fighting in the war outside. Did this collect all the fallen?"

As she approaches the door, she pushes against it with Amy
[1d10] STrength

Roll #1 10 = 10

 No.767652

>>767651
>>767649
The door hardly budges, and an elastic force seems to be holding it steady. You give it a great and sudden shove, and feel something shearing on the other side.

Beyond the door is another wing of the aforementioned library. Most of the study materials in here, orreries and star-charts, are inaccessible, owing to all the spider-webs which cover the walls, floors and ceiling. It was webbing which held this door shut until you just forced your way in.

In addition to the study material, you see many random soldiers and mercenaries from the other Layers in this room. They're held fast, bound and gagged by spider-webs. Momentary terror overwhelms them as you burst into the room, and many let out muffled screams. But, when they see that it's you, their fear quickly subsides… there's something more fearsome than you roaming around these halls… and apparently, being trapped in these webs is preferable to being found by that something.

There's another door to the north, over on your left, and yet another door to the southeast. You can hear humming from the direction of the southeast door.

 No.767653

>>767652
>>767652
Shorthorns looks around at all the captured soldiers, noting the fear in their eyes after they push through all the spider-webbing holding this area fast. "All this web… I hate to cast blame at the obvious suspect but, do you think Buiwong had anything to do with this?"

She looks to the nearest soldier and uses her magic to dissipate the web covering him, using a combination of her Dark and Life spheres to turn the organic webbing into harmless dust.
[1d10]

Roll #1 7 = 7

 No.767654

>>767653
>>767652

"I mean, OBVIOUSLY Buiwong is involved," Amy says as if the question is foolish. "Even if these webs weren't made by him personally, he should definitely be able to see through their spiders. That's how it works, right?"

Amy looks around the room. "Buiwong, where are you?"

 No.767655

>>767654

[1d10] to get his attention

Roll #1 8 = 8

 No.767656

>>767653
Out of the webbing drops an armored satyr, his garb reminiscent of that which you saw the Storm King wearing. Almost as soon as he hits the floor, the soldier heaves out a shuddering sigh, and sits down hard, pulling up his knees with his head hung low. "Why… what, do you want to feed me to that thing too? The hell with it… it's going to happen sooner or later, isn't it? It's over now…"

>>767654
As you call Buiwong's name, the door to the southeast bumps open, pushed by… dear reader, you already know who it is… but what you didn't know was that he's wearing a rather dashing butler's suit. In addition to the costume, Buiwong's wearing a harness, to which is hooked a fancy-looking cart with all kinds of housekeeping supplies. The hall beyond the southeast door smells pleasant, freshly-cleaned.

"Ladies," Buiwong says by way of greeting, as he makes his way northwest, to the door through which you just came.

 No.767657

>>767656
Shorthorns looks to the terrified GLUTTONY soldier, trying to calm the satyr's nerves. "Calm down, I'm not going to feed you to ANYTHING. I just want to know how you got here, what happened to you?"

As Buiwong enters the room so casually, and wearing a butler's outfit no less, Shorthorns looks at him with a most peculiar look. "…I'm going to guess I'm not the only one here who got stuck with a silly outfit. HEY BUIWONG!" She shouts at him as he leaves, "Get back here!"
>Not following him yet

 No.767658

>>767656

Amy does a double-take between Buiwong and the satyr.

"Sorry, what!? You're telling me the God of Stories isn't going to explain what the heck is going on here!?"

>[1d10] to get him to explain what the hell is going on

>DC-4

Roll #1 10 = 10

 No.767659

>>767658
>>767657
Buiwong pauses. He reaches his shadowy arm back, retrieves some pillow-mints from the housekeeping cart, and offers them to you.

The soldier shrugs. "A shadow passed over me during the battle… next thing you know, I woke up in this labyrinth of a mansion. There were others. Peepers. Defiants. Ragers and Misers. All scattered all over the place. Some fights broke out at first, but somehow we struck an uneasy truce so we could get out. Then we heard this screaming roar… like this blast from a train-whistle, and from down the end of the hall…!"

The soldier flinches and shudders, burying his head beneath his hands from the sudden flashback.

"Mmm, it's about what happened to me as well," Buiwong says. "Seems I arrived in the mansion after the Beast already had his fill of this Floor. I've explored most of the Floor, gathered up the survivors. The Beast isn't here anymore… but neither are our unlikely colleagues. They're either upstairs, or down… and based on what I've heard from the other captives here, the Beast doesn't exactly need to take the stairs to hop Floors."

"The King… may his cloud thunder forever…" the soldier stammers. "He… he went after it alone… th-that's the last I saw of his mighty conduct…"

 No.767660

>>767656
Shorthorns takes the pillow-mint from Buiwong, looking down at it contemplatively and, recalling how you shouldn't ingest any food from Tartarus, politely puts it in a pocket on her dress. She turns to look at the soldier as he explains how he was abducted by a shadow, same as her (and evidently Buiwong), looking around at all the captured soldiers.

"The Beast, hmm? And there might be more of us then, if Buiwong and I were both captured." She thinks for a moment, nodding as the soldier affirms the Storm King was also captured.

She looks to all the other soldiers wrapped up in web. "Okay, all of you listen - I am willing to free all of you, but I am extracting a promise now that you WON'T re-engage in combat the moment I do. You hear me, this is officially a CEASEFIRE until we're out of this castle. Anyone who takes a swing at anyone else will get personally introduced to the floor, by ME. If that's agreeable to you all, we'll get you all down."

 No.767661

>>767659

Amy looks at the mint and flatly says, "Ew. Mints are gross."

Then, she listens to them tell their stories. She looks to Buiwong. "How did you end up here? You don't seem all that worried. Do you know where we are?"

 No.767662

>>767660
The suggestion that you're going to take the other soldiers out from their little safe-room proves to be a very unpopular one… but the notion that they'll eventually be rid of Midnight Castle seems to sweeten the deal. The soldiers of the various Layers look at one another, then one by one, slowly nod.

>>767661
Buiwong flicks the mint at your forehead. "Lady, I'm in upper management. It's my job not to look worried no matter how much shit has hit how many fans. But I had a better look at that 'shadow' that abducted myself and everyone else here. I believe Lord TIRAC calls it 'the Rainbow of Darkness.' One of his supreme weapons, in addition to Midnight Castle. I got taken up by it not long after I dealt with Tirek and his Freaks…"

The Peepers trapped in the room – being from LUST – scowl at Buiwong upon hearing that he killed their leader and elite troops… but a single withering stare from Buiwong is enough to get them to cast their baleful gazes down at the floor.

"Besides that," Buiwong continues. "I'm among friends once again! Acting aside, I'm not too worried at all. Now I have some of my favorite colleagues to rely upon slash hide behind. You're not top of the popularity poll but pretty high up there."

 No.767663

>>767662

"Hey, you killed Tirek!? Good job! I guess believing in you actually worked out for once," Amy says with a simple smile and a wag of her tail.

"It's weird that that dark rainbow took you HERE - if this really is TIRAC'S castle. Since Shortyhorns was taken here, I figured everyone who was taken was taken by the Sons. She got replaced by them the same moment that shadow showed up. How'd they pull that off so perfect-"

Amy stops herself. "Yeah, I guess that's just kinda what they do, isn't it?"

She pauses for a second. "Hey! Who's more popular than us!?" she exclaims, sounding insulted.

 No.767664

>>767662
Shorthorns nods in accordance with all the soldiers agreeing to a ceasefire, using her magic to free them all by turning the webs into dust

[1d10] Roll if needed

She turns to Buiwong as she works, "Do you know who among our own number got swept up? I didn't even realize it when the shadow passed over ME, much less anyone else. I know there's you and me but who else could have been caught?"

Roll #1 7 = 7

 No.767665

>>767664

"I know there were a lot of us missing. I HOPE they were all caught, and not dead… Moody was one of them."

 No.767666

>>767663
"Mocha, obviously."

>>767663
>>767664
The soldiers of the various Layers drop to the ground. There's a few each– Peepers, Leftovers, Misers, Ragers, and Defiants. The lowest grunt soldiers of all the warring Layers. Each group quickly sifts themselves out, keeping their weapons close and their eyes spread, not trusting each other even an iota, even with the threat of your defining violence to enforce this temporary truce.

"I haven't been able to sense the others," Buiwong says. "There's something truly unusual about this Castle… something tells me that it's been around well before Lord TIRAC – and will probably crop up again long after he's gone. I know that nobody else in my little army got taken with me… I made sure they got away. It looks like the Rainbow tried to get a little of each Layer… and it probably took us to be representatives of the First. Probably at least one Son of Perdition around here."

Buiwong looks to the door. "…and the longer we're here, the longer our colleagues go without backup. If Mudi's here, I'm sure she won't do half as well rustling up a crew of thralls as you!" he adds with a laugh.

 No.767667

>>767666

Amy nods at Buiwong's answer. "Fair enough."

>>767666

When Buiwong points out that Mudi won't have as much luck gathering allies, Amy smiles and wags her tail. "Thanks," she takes it as a compliment. "You're right. We should find the others fast. Let's see…"

Amy screws her face up as she tries to remember names and faces. "There was Grillnshine, Moody, Faith, and Shei's band that were all missing… I think…"

 No.767668

>>767666
>>767667
Shorthorns looks around at all the soldiers, eying them all as they eye each other. She realizes this is by no means going to be the end of all hostilities, but she tries to make it clear to everyone present that they're in this together until they're OUT of the castle.

She then looks to Buiwong as he explains the unnatural state of the castle. As Amy makes a full list of everyone who was missing earlier, Shorthorns nods her head in agreement. "Alright, then we know who we're looking for, and we at least kind of have an idea of what we're up against. Soldiers, you can bunker down here for now - we'll conduct our own search for everyone, make sure this area is secure." She says, commanding the various factions present as though they were her own forces.

As they proceed to move, she looks to Buiwong, "I just have one more question…" she says, picking at the hem of her dress. "What's with the costumes? Any idea why I'm like… this and you're like… THAT?" she says gesturing to his butler uniform.

 No.767669

>>767667
"I'm sure that someday you'll back on these names and laugh," Buiwong says.

>>767668
Buiwong looks at his outfit and yours a little more closely. "Hmm… no idea. I thought I'd just roll with it until something better occurred to me. Like it was one of those types of puzzles. The Rainbow of Darkness doesn't exactly strike me as particularly fashionable, however…"

>>767667
>>767668
The soldiers look a little wary about being left here, but… the thought of the unnamed 'Beast' on the other Floors keeps them obedient.

With Buiwong at your side, you return to the hallway just outside of room 3 (Buiwong explains that the other room beyond room 3, to the east, had nothing of note, and has just been freshly mopped and vacuumed besides, meaning that he doesn't want you to go in there and track dirt/blood/gore everywhere).

 No.767670

>>767668
>>767666

Amy nods at telling the riff-raff to secure this room. "Probably the best idea. It's not like these guys are good for much. No offense," she says as she looks around to the demons after her very offensive statement.

>>767669

"Maybe I will, Bouie-Gong," Amy says with a grin.

>>767669

Amy looks down at herself. "And why am I not in a costume?" she asks curiously.

>>767669

"Now, then, I think I smelled something nice somewhere…" Amy says as if that's the next obvious order of business.

[1d10] to follow the good smell

Roll #1 4 = 4

 No.767671

>>767670
"Maybe because you weren't kidnapped by the Rainbow of Darkness like me and Buiwong and the others were? You came from outside the Midnight Castle, right?"

She raises an eyebrow. "You want a dress?"

>>767669
"What kind of puzzle would involve dressing me like some kinda princess and you like a servant?" Shorthorns says, shaking her head in confusion.

She nods to the soldiers as they hunker down in this library, and as Buiwong explains that the room beyond 3 (10) has already been checked out, she suggests heading back out the hall, hanging south, and following the long, winding series of hallways to room 2 (that is, assuming Amy's nose doesn't know better)

 No.767672

>>767671
"Listen," Buiwong says. "I speak for puzzle makers everywhere when I say that sometimes we really just appreciate it when you roll with it."

>>767670
>>767671
The Beast isn't on this Floor, and Buiwong seems to have been the principal mistaken representative for LIMBO for this Floor. Meaning, whether you go up or down, you still need to scour another Floor to find the rest of your companions… even if that means risking an encounter with the Beast. Therefore, Amy's nose starts leading you southbound, to the downward stairs…


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