Fate/Destiny (Quest)

[GilgameshKingOfMemes]

Authors Introduction

Hey, thanks for taking interest in this. I've been inspired by some of the Quest series on this site and I wanted to give a try so now I am. This is the first time I've really done something like this, I've never done a proper fanfic or anything before so I can't promise quality but I'm happy you were willing to give this try even if it turns out poorly. I am kind of using this project as an experiment so I'll be testing out some mechanics and ideas I've had, but if people dislike them I can remove them or edit them to try and find balance. Basically none of the features listed below will necessarily stay in the same form for the entire quest. I'll also be drawing the major characters of the story myself for some art practice, so you'll have to forgive me if the major characters don't look that good as they won't really be shaded or colored as I'm still not that good at doing it digitally. I'm also completely available to suggestions of any kind, be it an ability or mechanic and I'll answer basically any question, worst case scenario I'll just I can't because spoilers. I'm posting this now but exam season starts soon so outside of giving the results of the character creation there probably won't be a post for another week or so, but that just gives a lot of time to debate the character creation choices seeing that it appears more expansive some other quests. If I didn't mention something that feels like it should there tell me I could have forgotten, but usually it's just because this follows other quest formats. Also because I canceled this quest once before it ever came out, there are some spoilers out there for it, so just a warning I guess. Anyways I hope this looks interesting enough and you don't cringe too hard, thanks for reading.

Fate/Destiny
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"It was always meant to be. Mankind's karma shall return to 0. Humanity shall be reincarnated this day. Resurrected like a Phoenix, in hellfire."

Like a puppet, humanity dances on strings bound around them like chains. A show put on for one man alone by a god from beyond.

This is a tale of humanities end. From centuries of sin, the vices of humanity culminate in a terrible fate starting here. It's time to reap what you sow.

It's up to you, as destiny ordained, to find salvation and escape this hellish World War III.

Story Arcs

This serves as both a teaser for what is to come and a catalog of the various chapters (When they happen)

Prologue:

The Endless Night Parade

China:

The Ultimate One Man Army

India:

Oasis Within A Sea of Torment

Japan:

The Witching Hour

Russia:

The Sea of Souls, Tamoanchan

America:

Curses of Fate

The Scandinavian Alliance:

The Orchestra of Genesis

The South American Confederation:

Character Creation

Magecraft

Magecraft in this quest will work a little differently from the other quests. The way it works is that there will be a selection of "Skill trees" to pick from, and every so often throughout the story you will get free time. One of the options during this period is to do training which will give you one single skill point to spend and obtain a new ability from the skill tree. All the spells available to you will vary both in how many skill points are needed to pick it and how much mana is required to cast it. Some skills even require resources which you can pick up over the course of the story through actions, its not that complex it's just something of an extra time investment. Magic which requires resources will usually have a recipe for crafting which tells you the items to get, but you can also come up with one on your own if everyone agrees with your idea. Ideally over the course of the story you will have enough skill points to max one skill tree and then some. I however have never done this mechanic before and without a way to really beta test it, if things progress too fast or too slowly some chances might be made to the cost of things. As a side note if you think of an ability or something I'm willing to add it to the skill tree just send it to me.

To save me time of making an entire skill tree for a type of magic you won't use I instead made a general outline of what you can do and have created a Pro's and Con's list for each one. You start with 3 skill points to start with, so pick one or two skill trees and once that's decided I'll release the available abilities and you can vote on what else you want. Also, mostly because I'm lazy, some types of magecraft have been merged together such as curses and witchcraft.

Alchemy

Pros:
. Many strong late game abilities
. Many abilities ignore durability to some degree
. Boosts intelligence
. Good utility




Cons:
. Weak early game
. High investment to get a return
. Can be mana intensive
. Limited defensive options

Innate bonus - You start with low level structural analysis

Starting Skill (1 Skill Point): Transmutation (I)- A skill which allows the user to turn one material into another. At this level you can produce some basic metals out of mundane objects. Some very basic items can be transmuted if the materials are present. Cost 20 mana to use.

Runes

Pros:
. Cheap mana cost
. Great amount of variability
. Low resource cost
. Decent strength available in early game
. Can be considered a “balanced” skill tree ( it lacks notably low level abilities)


Cons:
. Can be considered a “balanced” skill tree ( it lacks very high level abilities)
. Often requires some prep to use your spells most effectively

Innate bonus - The time it takes to cast a spell is shortened

Starting Skill (1 Skill Point): Ansuz - a simple starting rune, it posses the ability to set things ablaze when magical energy is run through it. It is good for both close quarters and long range. Cost 20 mana to cast.

Witchcraft and Curses

Pros:
. Very Strong offensive capabilities
. Good for stealth
. Decent mana cost


Cons:
. Few defensive options
. Support abilities usually have negative side effects
. Many abilities need prep time and special resources
. Can have negative effects on your mental state

Innate bonus - your attacks are stronger when either you or your opponent possess lower mental health.



Starting Skill (1 Skill Point): Gandr - One of the most basic curses, though it possesses overlap with rune magic, it serves as the starting skill of this skill tree. By channeling mana into the index finger the player is able to curse an enemy slightly lowering their health. Cost 10 mana to cast.

Transference

Pros:
. Strong healing capabilities
. Can greatly expand mana reserves
. Many mental attacks
. Can support the magecraft of allies
. Meshes well with other skill trees


Cons:
. Lacking in offensive options
. Can be costly to use

Innate bonus - Your ability to resist mental attacks is increased by default.
Starting Skill (1 Skill Point): Healing (I) - Healing magecraft which can heal minor wounds. Costs 30 mana to cast.

Familiars

Pros:
. Allows access to some of the most powerful abilities
. Has good versatility
. Somewhat customizable to fit a given playstyle


Cons:
. High mana cost
. The most powerful abilities are time limited
. Abilities to buff yourself are very limited if not non existent depending on your choices, leaving your character basically powerless themselves
. Some what luck based (in terms of obtaining powerful familiars)

Innate bonus - the mana burden of using your servant is reduced
Starting Skill (1 Skill Point): Familiar (I) - basically a starter Pokémon. A skill which allows for the summoning off a low level familiar. Pick between offense, defense and support. Having your familiar active reduces your total mana by 20%, using their ability costs 20 mana.

Necromancy

Pros:
. Cheap individual cost allows for wave tactics
. Zombies are difficult to kill
. Good offense
. Very strong in certain chapters


Cons:
. Difficult to control
. Finding materials can have negative effects on your mental health
. Most people do not like necromancers
. Very weak in certain chapters


Innate bonus - you inherently have a strong stomach for death and brutality, the mental damage from seeing such things is reduced by default.
Starting Skill (1 Skill Point): Resurrection (I) - Allows for the resurrections of weak undead for a short period of time. While stronger than most humans they are fairly weak at this level overall. Cost 20 mana to cast, revives one corpse at a time.

Elemental

I can't really make a pro and con list for this as it depends on which elements you pick. Basically just imagine what it is like to be a bender from Avatar.
Innate Bonus: You take less damage from spells that use your own element.
Starting Skill (1 Skill Point): Power Enhancement: You do more damage by channeling mana based on your element into your fist.

Skill Tree

Here is where the skill trees you have currently unlocked are stored. Graphic design is my passion so it looks terrible but it functions I suppose. I'm posting the imgur link so you can hopefully zoom in and open it in a new tab or whatever as your leisure. The skill trees could be updated at any time but here is what exists currently. Also if I messed up something let me know cause I do that all the time.

https://imgur.com/a/Hy0sfV9

If someone desires a different magic type to pursue and I decide to add it, it will go here.

Perks

Perks are very much a Fallout New Vegas sort of mechanic and encompass basically all the abilities you have that are not spells. Like Fallout certain perks can open new doors for you giving you special choices and what not. Each perk is unlocked by a perk point. You get at least one at the end of every chapter but they can also be granted by other means through out the narrative. There will be more perks but in order to make this whole extensive mechanic thing less overwhelming then it already is I'll list only a few of them first.
You start with one perk point.

Brawler (I) - A perk which grants the player offensive hand to hand combat capabilities. This perk focuses on strong offensive combat allowing the user to deal lots of damage in short bursts. This combat style is brutal and generalized, it should be considered to be like street fighting. At rank one your base attack potency is E+


Brawler (II) - Requires Brawler (I). It’s the same perk but now with an inherent supernatural edge. Increases your base attack potency to D


Martial Artist (I) - A perk which denotes a practitioner of traditional Martial Arts. Compared to Brawler this is combat style is focused more on defense. Defense while in combat is increased to E+.

Martial Artist (II) - Requires Martial Artist (I). It’s the same perk but with a supernatural edge. Increase defense in combat to D, allows for some of your punches to ignore durability on human opponents.


Charismatic - A perk which denotes someone who is considering naturally charming and possess a particularly effective way with words. Adopting this perk increases the effectiveness of options which require you to convince someone of something, and sometimes opens new choices entirely. Choices which require a certain level of bond to achieve can now be achieved at a lower bond and bond level increases quicker.


Historian: A perk which denotes someone decently knowledgeable about history. When analyzing entities with a historical or mythological basis such as servants you get more information out of it then you would otherwise.


Swordsmanship - a perk which denotes ones talent with a sword, is grants a combat bonus when using melee weapons in close quarters combat and allows you to use them effectively. Some items found throughout the quest cannot be used properly without this perk.


Ranged Weapon expert - A perk denoting someone with sufficient training with ranged weaponry. Grants a combat bonus when using ranged weaponry and gives the player above average aim. Some items can not be used properly without this perk.


Medic: A perk denoting someone with medical training. This allows the player to carry out basic medical treatments and diagnosis. It also boosts healing magecraft.


Carnival Phantasm - a perk for the insane. Gives ridiculous plans a greater chance of success the less severe the situation. Also allows for special encounters.

Special Perks

Special perks while giving the main character some slight benefits, are really just for fun. They pretty much serve as achievements for doing something stupid or significant in the plot. While I haven't revealed them as I want them to be reached naturally, I will give some examples of what it's like.

Good enough for Government work - Die within the first 3 choices after starting a new task. (Suicide does not count). Once a chapter you can turn a choice which normally leads to a bad end into a successful choice.


“Of course I’m a human doctor, now let’s see that brain” - operate on someone with the veterinarian skill but without the medic perk. Health increases by 20%

Characterization

Who do you want to be? (Pick up to 2):
1. I want to be smart

2. I want to be a genius

3. I want to be strong

4. I want to be special

5. I want to be beautiful

6. I want to be powerful

7. I want to be talented

Decide on a elemental Affinity as well:
Earth
Fire
Water
Wind

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Vices:
Vices define your most notable character flaw. They will be one of your characters defining characteristics and will influence the choices you can make and the flow of the story. They also serve as a debuff which gives your character a weakness.
You must take at least one vice, but if you want it is possible to take all of them. For every vice taken over one you will get the following benefits:
-Spoilers.
- For Every additional vice taken your total mana capacity is increased by 15%.




Gluttony: Your max stamina is reduced by a quarter by default and by half when hungry. Your character gets hungrier faster and you get filled up slower. Other characters in your party may go hungry by eating more than your share if food is scarce.


Sloth: Every time you attempt to spend a skill point there's a chance it will fail and you will not receive anything. This is decided by rolling a die and landing on a specific number of the audience's choice.


Lust: Your character is much more susceptible to being charmed or seduced.


Wrath: Negative mental states or character relations can result in the audience losing control of their character in rage. You get angrier easier. You also hold grudges, making it much harder to improve bond with characters you have a poor relationship with.


Greed: Options to perform actions of charity and sharing are much rarer, if not nonexistent in more casual situations.


Envy: Your mental status and bond with another character drops if you witness them with something you covet.


Pride: Failure decreases your mental health. Determining the strengths of an opponent you look down on sometimes fails. The more valuable something is, the more entitled your character feels to it, sometimes removing the option for other characters to obtain buffs.

I get there are a lot of choices so if you want for me to say, make a poll or something that can be done. I'm also looking for a name for the main character cause I hate names, they are a girl and I’m currently just looking for the name.I'm also unsure about the quest name so we will just deal with it for now.

Mechanics

Combat

Combat functions fairly simply. You get a choices based on the abilities you have available or you use the write in option to suggest your own plan. Physical combat costs some stamina, ranged combat cost ammo, and magic attacks cost mana.

When judging the strength of an opponent, item or spell, it obeys the following system. The system is more of an estimation of somethings strength, and the strength increases exponentially. So someone with E rank strength can engage in combat with someone with strength E+ as a disadvantage, but someone with C strength might get decimated by someone else with C rank Strength, but they can still harm each other. All ranks have both a + and - rank, but if its not listed here it is because I couldn't think of a good example. Characters can also have multiple ranks as they may possess an ability of a greater rank then their average, such as a Noble Phantasm.

E- : Below average human strength, such as a rabbit
E: Average Human Strength
E+: Athletic Human, such as a body builder
D: Magically enhanced mages, guns
C: Missiles
B: Powerful Phantasmal Beasts
A: A Servant
A+: many Divine Beasts
A++: Dragons
EX: Beings from beyond humanity like BB

Stats and Status

Status encompasses your various stats and mood.

Mental Health: The main defining status of your nonphysical well being. It varies to based on the situation such as happy, sad, angry, fearful and so on. Feeling a particular emotion once is fine, but the more you experience negative emotions the redder your mental health status becomes. Poor mental health can effect the story, changing options normally achievable into bad ends and just defining how you interact with others. You can improve your mental health by engaging with what your character likes. This can include your vices.

Health: Your total health, the lower it goes the more injured you become. When your hp reaches 0 you die. Your physical health can also effect the story.

Stamina: Determines your available physical energy. The lower it goes the more tired you become, and when it reaches 0 you will pass out. Unlike other stats this can recover fairly quickly.

Mana: Determines all the mana you have available. Spells cost mana which lowers your pool. When you hit 0 you can't use magic. Mana will reset to full by sleeping.

Hunger: Hunger is a minor stat which is only relevant in scenarios where food is scarce. When hungry your stamina regenerates much slower and it effects mood and strength. It is possible to starve to death but that's probably not gonna happen.

Free time and Bond

Free time are short breaks in the main narrative to focus either on your abilities or character. This includes bonding with other characters, obtaining skill points or forging for extra materials.

Bonding occurs during both the story and this free time. Bond level determines how you interact with other characters. It goes from 0 to 15. 0 being hatred and 15 being close family for life. Most characters start at about 1 which is neutral. Starting at bond 5 you can get access to interludes, which are basically just more special bonding scenes then normal.

Secret Mechanics

I feel like this is maybe a more controversial choice in my story design but whatever I think it is fun. Basically there are two abilities/story mechanics available from basically the start of the story but you won't be told exactly what they are right away. One of them is admittedly very hard if not impossible to fully figure out until chapter 3, but the other is something you can uncover if you make the right (Or wrong) choices. You find out both of these in chapter 3 as you won't be able to get through that scenario without them.

.

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Profiles

Formatting is too hard on Beast Lair, Profiles Moved to google docs
Profile Doc - Google Docs

[Lunasilverhart]

Name: Imelda Sybilus
Magecraft: Onmyoudou
Perk: Swordsmanship
Characterization: Strong and Smart
Element: Water
Vices: Lust

[Theadier]

Name: Miguel Japon
Magecraft: Onmyoudou
Perk: Swordsmanship
Characterization: smart and beautiful
Element: Fire
Vices: Lust
data about he:
He is Spanish, a descendant of the Japanese who had to live in Castilla when the Tokugawa Shogunate closed the country, specifically a family from Onmyoudou.
He is a lustful libertine, he is a college student in history, he knows European history well, especially Spanish and Japanese history. He has talent with swords.


This is a second version that does not infer anything from his previous characteristics other than the cultural origin of his surname.
Name: Michael Caballero
Magecraft: Mystic Code Master
Perk: Swordsmanship
Characterization: smart and beautiful
Element: Fire
Vices: Lust

[GilgameshKingOfMemes]

Ah, sorry if I maybe didn’t make it clear as I’m not very good at that, but I was only looking for a name right now, not an entire backstory.

[Theadier]

Well part of the story comes in the name both, the nationality and the origin, in addition to rationalizing the magic chosen for a magician of Western origin, both the personality trait and skill are also only specifications of vice and perk, Although I recognize that the university part I have only put in an attempt to give the personage knowledge of history that can be useful in the final arcs.

If you have a pre-defined backstory, you should at least give a bit of it as nationality and culture so that the names make sense.
edit the original post to put a second more appropriate version but I will have to change the magic

[GilgameshKingOfMemes]

I suppose I’ll see about including some of that when I add the face claim when it’s finished.

[Alliceron]

Name: Lillian Thalon
Magecraft: Alchemy
Perk: Swordsmanship
Characterization: Smart and talented
Element: Wind
Vices: Lust

[SleepMode]

Name: Haris Pangloss
Magecraft: Transference
Perk: Swordsmanship
Characterization: Strong and Genius
Element: Water
Vices: Wrath & Lust

[Bird of Hermes]

Name: Imelda Sybilus

Magecraft: Onmyoudou
Perk: Swordsmanship
Characterization: Strong and Smart
Element: Water
Vices: Lust

+1 to this

[Ayr]

Name: Nakazawa Makoto
Magecraft: Onmyoudo & Mystic Code Master
Perk: Swordsmanship
Characterization: Strong and Smart
Element: Fire
Vices: Greed & Lust

+1

[Spartacus]

Name: Haris Pangloss
Magecraft: Transference
Perk: Swordsmanship
Characterization: Strong and Genius
Element: Water
Vices: Wrath & Lust

+1

[zikari8]

Name: Nakazawa Makoto
Magecraft: Onmyoudo & Mystic Code Master
Perk: Swordsmanship
Characterization: Strong and Smart
Element: Fire
Vices: Greed & Lust


Allow me to explain this build.
First off, taking two Magecrafts just feels like a better option than focusing on one. At the very least, we have the option of either path, giving us more variety to choose from.
Also, the two magecrafts chosen, Onmyodo and Mystic Code Master, are rather synergistic. Onmyodo alone is pretty good, with both good utility and combat skills and Mystic Code Mastery only enhances it further, since the creation of talismans and shikigami will be vital to any Onmyoji.
The perk, Swordsmanship, further synergizes with the magecrafts as Mystic Code Master can also give us better proficiency with the sword and even a potentially better sword too.
As for the talents, Strong works well with swordsmanship since we'd most likely be in melee combat a lot. Smart is, in general, a good thing to have.
As for elements, fire seems good. Since talisman seems to be based on elemental affinity, there's a chance that shikigami are also based on elements too. In that case, I feel like fire would be the best, since water may only give us aquatic shikigami, wind may be only flying shikigami. Earth could work too, but between it and fire, I prefer fire.
And in terms of vices, Greed works well with our Mystic Code build since we preferably want as many resources as we can get for our Mystic Code, so we probably won't be sharing much anyways. And Lust is mechanically a good add-on.

For these reasons, I would like to propose this build.

[GilgameshKingOfMemes]

So I'd like to end voting maybe tomorrow sometime, so its time for any last minute vote/vote changes

currently there is a 3 way tie between zikari, sleep and luna. If the tie isn't broken I'll just pick one of the options myself I suppose.

[Faux]

Name: Nakazawa Makoto
Magecraft: Onmyoudo & Mystic Code Master
Perk: Swordsmanship
Characterization: Strong and Smart
Element: Fire
Vices: Greed & Lust

+ 1

[Bird of Hermes]

Switching to zik's

[Alliceron]

I'll also switch to zik's

[GilgameshKingOfMemes]

Alright its time for voting round 2. I've created some skill trees and an early profile for the main character. Because I am bad with designing the skill tree and what not it, it works even if it doesn't look nice. Also so you can zoom in and what ever I am just going to give out an imgur link which I hope works. I've added it character creation but I'll post it here too. Your starting skill is the yellow square. (Will be updated later with some spelling error corrections)

https://imgur.com/a/Hy0sfV9

So you guys have one skill point left to spend plus deciding on what your starter mystic code is going to be like. Go into as much detail as you care to, I'll just balance it as I feel is appropriate if needed. Some of the skills will probably have more explanation in the ability section when you unlock it as I couldn't include it all for space reasons.

[SleepMode]

Chosen Skill: Seimei Kikyo

Need a good magical offensive to start off, especially if we are to go against spiritual opponents down the line.

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Mystic Code Idea:

Ol' Reliable ~ Chūshin-Anzen: Chinkon (中心安全:鎮魂)

A charm that takes the appearance of an Omamori. Your first crafted Mystic Code.

Unlike Western magecraft's incantations, much of the practice in the East place great emphasis on breathing itself; the intake of external energy of the outer world and linking it with the inner world within oneself.
The process of "taking in and releasing the Gods," the foundation that invites the Divine into oneself, an act of cleansing and anchoring the soul.
There are those born with the ability to "Breath and Walk" naturally, their very breaths bearing Mystery.

You, however, are not one of them. If your poor physical health all those years ago were any indication.
Instead, you opted for something close to it.

Within the charm's pouch is a piece of wood, taken from a tree near your family's shrine. The fragment serves as a vector point, to channel the spiritual energy within in order to protect your spirit.

It wasn't perfect by any means - - the boon it offers is small, a jolt of vigor than a full recovery. It's somewhat amazing it worked at all.
Still, it did the job, so you can't really complain. It proved useful in lengthening your regular bouts of training, after all.
Nowadays, it also serves as a memory of home. It may be only 18 months, but it feels longer.

Effect: Replenish your Stamina by 21. Two uses before exhaustion. Can be replenished by resting.

[GilgameshKingOfMemes]

Destiny and the Home Wrecker

Prologue

1. Destiny is a Convenient Thing

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????????
?????
????

(BGM)


“I empathize with you, ▂▂▃▃▅▅----▂▂▃▃▅▅■■■■, but this is a mistake you’re making right now.”


Everything is hazy.

What did I say?

The world appears clear yet when I try to focus on anything, its true form escapes me like a picture in my mind's eye.
This must be a dream, I’m sure of it.

Still, The imagery of my imagination has never felt like this. These visions can only manifest dread and melancholy.

Emotions so real it’s as if my heart is locked in a terrible stranglehold.

Like I’ve been cursed.


The world is barren, it’s burning, it’s ruined. The stuff of nightmares shines in the distance and covers the horizon, from the ground to the sky and the heavens above.


It’s horrible


It’s terrifying


It’s depressing


It feels as if the world is falling apart, being torn to shreds by what my mind still refuses to comprehend. Everything becomes more surreal the closer I go, but I can’t stop, I can’t go back no matter how frightful the nightmare or how heavy the burden.
I don’t know why. Such is the logic of this dream.

A single figure stands between me, the horizon, the end of the line between the normal and the surreal.

They’re ▂▂▃▃▅▅■■■■.

I ▂▂▃▃▅▅■■■■▂▂▃▃▅▅■■■■ them.

They may be shrouded in darkness but their visage is unmistakable. No matter how much it hurts to look I can’t turn away. I don’t know anything about them, but I can feel it, I feel it so strongly.

The regret.

They open their mouth to speak, I can’t…. I can’t! Iiiiiiiiiiiii ▂▂▃▃▅▅----▂▂▃▃▅▅■■■■ーー！！▂▂▃▃▅▅----▂▂▃▃▅▅■■■■▂▂▃▃▅▅■■■■▂▂▃▃▅▅■■■■ーー！！


————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Location: Clocktower Dorm
Time: Noon
Overall Status: Normal

Character Status

Health: 400/400 (Excellent)
Stamina: 400/400 (Excellent)
Mana: 400/400 (Excellent)
Mental Health: (Groggy)

(BGM)

I suddenly sit up right in my bed. My entire body is sweating, yet the coolness of the air makes me feel chilled. I just need to take a deep breath and calm down. A bad dream is nothing new.

Everything is fairly quiet and the room is still dark. Even with the few rays of sunshine that breach my shades, illuminating dust and dirty clothes, the entire place is still mostly cast in shadow.
Silent and deathly still.

The bright light from the window kindly informs me that morning had passed a while ago.

I’m still interested in taking 5 more minutes. Nightmares be damned. I can just lay back down to enjoy a lazy Monday like I always do and………

“Ah.”

There’s someone else in my bed. Can’t say this is new but I’d beat the shit of past me if I saw her for this. If you’re gonna bring home a cute boy like this at least don’t drink so much that you can’t even remember doing so. Lucky for me they appear to be a heavy sleeper. Clearly they must be as I haven’t awoken them so far. He’s some skinny dude with messy brown hair, I feel like I’ve seen him before…...

He’s……….

Ah shit, I’ve done it again. That face belongs to Fredrick doesn’t it.

Uuugggghhhhh!

I don’t know him very well but isn’t he engaged. His wedding should be in a couple of weeks I think. I’ll have to do more than just beat my past self for doing this again, an execution should be in order. Still, I didn’t think he would be my type, personality wise at least. Prudish Noble types usually talk a lot of shit, but look where he is now..... Would sex with him had been hate sex? Beats me…. or did I beat him?...I've gotten off track.

I put my face in my hands, annoyed, letting out a long sigh, before finally sitting all the way up, dangling my legs over the side of the bed. As I sit there thinking about what to do with him my phone starts vibrating on the bedside table. That's another annoying thing, it’s probably been doing that for some time. I’ve been up all morning and all I’ve done is sigh, I feel that's not good for my health. There’s only one person who ever calls me and that’s because they’re the one who got me the damn thing.

“Hello…” I quietly whisper into the phone.

There is a moment of silence and a crackle of static.

“Aye! Did you finally get your ass up, it's already noon!”

My head aches at the sudden loud voice, I’m probably at least a little hungover.

“Argh! Would you quiet down, you're gonna start waking people up.” I angrily whisper to her.

“Ohhh, do you perhaps have a guest over?” She asks. I can’t even see it but that smug mug of hers is clearly envisioned in my mind.

“They were just leaving so what do you need?”

“What makes you think I just don’t want to chat?”

“If you wanted to chat you would have visited, this is my business phone. The one you gave me. For business.”

“Ah, I suppose that is true. I’d get you a personal phone too but I don’t want to spend the money… Anyways this new target I’m investigating is supposed to have an evil spirit of some kind and I thought who else can help me with that than you.”

I’m already prepared to end the call.

“I feel like you could easily do that yourself.”

“Nonsense! Anyhow, meet me outside Tesco, you know the one.”

Without even a chance to get a word in she hangs up the phone. She might be my friend but god is she annoyingly pushy when she wants something. Regardless, I get up and stretch, today is gonna be a long day I can feel it.

I try to walk over to my closet but I almost slip on all the junk I’ve left around. I can’t believe I’ve let a dude see my room like this, the place is a disaster zone.

I throw on some of my heavier clothing choices, it appears to be quite chilly this morning. I only know because it seems I had left the Tv on all night to cover the noise and now they’re talking about the weather. First it’s the cold and now they’re blabbering on and on about some hurricane. Not my problem I don’t live there…..not that I don’t feel a little bad for them. There’s gonna be an eclipse soon and it seems the thing might break land while that’s happening. I’ll have to take it on myself to watch it extra hard for all of them.

Having had enough I step over to turn the tv off. Despite all that he’s still asleep somehow. What am I gonna do with him? I get that it’s a one night stand but would it be rude to just get out of here and leave him behind. Just write a note saying I had to go……. wait a minute, this my room! I can just tell him to get out.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Location: Tesco
Time: Noon
Overall Status: Normal


(BGM)

“Yo, how’s it hanging?”

Amelia waves me over as I approach the store. She was standing around outside smoking without a worry on her mind. I’m surprised she can act like that despite being such a clear nuisance. Second hand smoke is a terrible thing, I swear she wants to kill me with it.

“Hey, I’m doing fine. I had some coffee so I think I’m finally awake.”

“Good to hear. Did you make sure that boy you brought over got home ok?”

“Once he’s out of my room he’s not my problem anymore. Not like there’s anything for him to worry about. He left pretty quickly with a, and I quote, ‘We never met.’”

Amelia just stares at me.

“..... Yeah yeah I made sure he made it out of the building just fine.”

“Hahaha! Now that’s the worry wort I’ve come to know. Glad he didn’t get lost like the last one.”

Amelia happily laughs and I groan. I think that’s how these conversations usually go.

“I suppose it lets me rest easy.”

“Excellent, I’m glad you took care of him.... Now, did you remember to bring it?”

“Use your eyes Amelia.”

A dark blue bag rests against my back, the kind you often see golfers with to hold their clubs. I of course have no plans of golfing, it's a boring sport. I wish I didn’t even have to use it but taking advantage of that clearance sale is a budget decision I have to live with now. Within this old bag is everything that makes me valuable currently as a magus, which of course isn’t a lot. I mainly got the thing when it proved to be a hassle to walk around openly with a sword in hand, even if it was the one made of wood for practice. At the very least it has proven to be a decent place to store talismans and the like. I even set aside a pocket for my favorite mystic code....My only mystic code.

“Hahaha…… I assume that means it’s not gonna be empty this time.”

“That happened once, let it go!”

“I will when it stops being funny.”

I groan but I’d rather just escape this talk by cutting to the chase and not banter further.

“Just tell me, what do you need to be exorcised?”

“Alright, alright. Just follow me.”

She tells me to follow her but then spends over a minute looking for somewhere to put out her cigarette. At least she doesn’t litter.
After finding some sort of public tray atop a trash can she motions for me to follow behind her. The outside of the Tesco was probably too busy for her to go and start discussing the supernatural where people could overhear her. I’ve asked before if she was worried about leaking the secrets of magecraft or something, but it turned out she just found the idea embarrassing. I suppose it would make her sound like a crazy person. She could have just invited me to somewhere more secluded to start, but for some reason she thinks Tesco is a good landmark. Like I can’t make my way around the city on my own at this point. It’s probably just an excuse to buy cigarettes.

It didn’t take her long to find a public bench where not too many people were around that she promptly plopped down onto. She sits there with one leg crossed, a hand along the back of the bench waiting for me to join her. While sitting down next to her she begins to search within her back pocket.

“The job is pretty simple this time. It’s purely reconnaissance, a quick in and out.” After rummaging through whatever junk she had in her pockets, Amelia reveals a slightly crumpled photo of a girl in a suit.

“This is Jess Blackwell, current head of the Blackwell family. They just so happen to be an American mafia organization with some ties to the association.”

Photo

“What does the association want with an American Mafia group?”

“It’s not an official partnership, there just happens to be plenty of noble types who like what they're selling. It helps that the group has been run by a mage family from the start.”

“I can't imagine what they sell is very good”

“Not at all. There’s lots of materials that you can’t get your hands on legally. And there are plenty of mages who engage in human experimentation. That all has to come from somewhere.”

For a quick in and out job I can’t say she’s selling me on the ease of it. She’s gotten big jobs before but the worst she brought me along for were petty criminals.

“Anyhow, supposedly she’s been trying to slow those sales down so perhaps she has a heart, if that helps those nerves of yours. Still a couple of days ago she completely cut ties with seemingly everyone and took a trip from New York to London. Our goal is to get a quick idea of what she is doing here. I just have to bypass the security and then we can get a few pictures of whatever's going down at her current base before leaving.”

“Oh great. What a fantastic job you invited me to. Does it come with free concrete shoes as well? What am I even coming for?”

Amelia just lets out an amused snort. Even against the mafia she seems quite fearless.

“They’ll try to give em to you but all you got to do is say no. I’m sure they take consent seriously. Anyways, I went over the available info and as a part of their security detail they brought along a bit of a weakness of mine. Which of course means it’s your most compatible match up.”

Amelia smirks at me in amusement.

“So they got this dude, didn’t give me a picture, but supposedly he has some kind of evil spirit under his control. They didn’t present him as very important, but my gut tells me he's probably gonna be annoying. Therefore, I’m gonna need your talismans to trap the thing. The spirit's greatest strength is its ability to travel quickly, so it can function easily as something like an alarm I imagine…. Assuming it isn’t trapped in a room or whatever you do.”

Amelia looks at me expectantly but I’m afraid I must let her down once more.

“No way am I gonna go in and fuck with the mafia. Most of your jobs are normal boring bullshit which is the best I can do, so I’m not willing to take the risk even if it pays well.”

“The pay is fine, buuuuttttttt….”

Amelia moves her arm off the bench and wraps it around my shoulder, pulling me close.

“What if it also came with a special prize? I happen to know a certain risqué place you keep wasting money at…. Surely a few all expense paid trips might be worth your while? I got a connection or two.”

Amelia smugly smirks at me, putting her thumb against her index finger forming that classic ok shape.

I just forcefully poke my finger into her chest in response.

“I am Not! That easy.”

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Location: Warehouse
Time: Afternoon
Overall Status: Normal

(BGM)

“I’m not that easy.”

I grumble to myself as I get in the car with Amelia.

It seems the allure of the word free has a powerful attraction. It's a siren song for sure and now I’m on my way to presumably get executed by the mafia.
I stare absentmindedly out the window, watching the city scenery blurrily pass by as we leave the busy streets and head to roads less traveled in order to find our destination.

Amelia simply taps her finger on the steering wheel, humming to whatever song was playing on the radio.
I kick an empty can by my feet to the side. I’ve rode in this hunk of junk a number of times so I’ve gotten fairly used to it all but would it kill her to clean the thing instead of throwing her trash all over the place. I’m sure she would call me a hypocrite though, she's seen my room before. I doubt it would improve the thing very much, the car is an ancient Mustang, and the interior is slowly falling apart. My chair is peeling like everything else, the color has faded and there's a stain on the back seat and she doesn’t even remember how it got there. Throw in a few tears and I’d say it's time to throw the thing away, but I imagine she is going to drive this thing until it breaks down.

Not much was said on the drive but there’s something pleasant about just basking in silence. Most of the car ride was spent preparing some talismans for use against whatever shows up. Compared to what my family can make these things are weak beyond measure. Amelia says it works wonders because most western magi know nothing about eastern magecraft and don’t expect it, but I don’t believe that means much when your spells are as pathetic as mine. It hasn’t gotten me killed yet at least.

Soon the car rolls to a stop. The bustling city streets have faded to an empty area close to London’s outskirts. It was an odd location. In the distance rests an old concrete building, I can even make out some construction equipment.

“There it is, Morton something of other. A warehouse that was never finished. Construction stopped a few months ago. There were some disturbances from deep inside that someone heard, based on their attempts at secrecy it was probably an accident. But that also means we will be heading inside. With a spirit around I imagine it’s good that I brought you.”

“Thanks but like.... Why would the mob set up here? I would have thought they would stay in some place a little fancier. And why London? That’s so close to the clock tower.”

“Beats me. They’re probably up to something though.”

“I never would have guessed.”

I step out of the passenger seat and head over to the trunk of the car, Amelia not far behind. It’s proving to be a little colder today than expected, I regret not wearing an extra layer.

“You don’t keep a spare jacket in this thing or something?”

“ I’d like to say yes…… No. You can huddle in front of my lighter if you want.”

Amelia removes her lighter from pocket and offers it to me.

“I would rather face the cold.”

“Suit yourself. I’m surprised someone with a fire element would have this problem.”

Seeing me reject her charity Amelia instead stops to light her second cigarette of the day, at least I hope that’s the second. Once she haphazardly shoved everything back into her pockets she finally got around to getting her keys and unlocking the trunk.

“Are you sure you don’t want to take any of this with you?”

Every time I see what’s in the back of her car, I always feel like her collection is getting bigger. I imagine It’s quite unsafe to just pile it all in there like she does.

“Not sure. It’s not like I really know how to use one anyhow.”

Next to my bag rests a probably very illegal collection of guns. I don't really have the knowledge to say anything other than they all look dangerous. Well at least I can tell that one is a shotgun. I think it’s new….. I’m just gonna get my bag.

“I’ll have to see about getting you lessons some time.”

“From where? You’re not gonna have me meet another one of your eccentric maniacs from the association cause you think that will save you money.”

“.....maybe you should just stick to your sword.”

Amelia reaches in and pulls out a handgun. I at least know what this one is. Mostly cause she talked my head off about it. Hopefully we won’t have to use it this trip. I had gone my entire life before meeting her having never heard gun fire in person, and I really wish that was still the case. Gun fights are way too terrifying, I would like to avoid one at all costs.
Along with her gun, Amelia pulls out a pair of binoculars which she points towards the building.

“I see, I see.”

Amelia rubs her chin while she scans the place.
“There are no guards on the outside but I also can’t see in the windows. They might be reliant entirely on magecraft for outside security to make the place seem abandoned. Too bad for them their bounded field didn’t go unnoticed. I'm pretty sure they will notice me breaking it, the fact that its day time will hopefully throw them off a bit and keep their antics contained. Even with the disadvantage of daylight I doubt they’ll know where we came in…”

Amelia keeps on muttering info while she thinks of a plan. I’m pretty sure she’s trying to tell me it all as well, but when she gets like this she never really speaks clearly.

“All right I think we got two ways to do this. It’s Impossible to tell where we will be able to get in, all the windows are closed and it’s hard to tell if they’re locked and I’m not using the front door. There’s some wilderness to the right side so we can hide in a bush or something and try to get in somewhere over there. If we’re lucky maybe Jess will be by a window, though I doubt it. Alternately we head in from the left. There’s a door there I might be able to pick it’s lock and slide in. There's no electricity going to this building so I imagine the only thing for security we will be worrying about is magic. Either way the worst case is that we are breaking something regardless which is noisy. If you got something that might make a good distraction alongside the breaking of the bounded field, I’d love to hear it.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Choice

1. Go for the windows. The ability to look insides from the cover of bushes gives us a better advantage towards scoping out where we sneak in
2. Go for the door. It's too risky to go in through the windows, it is after all, a two way street. There's also a greater chance of the door being able to open at all.
3. Write in

Optional Choices:
Suggest a distraction plan
Take a gun

[the god of world-0]

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