OOC: This thread is for the continuing adventures of Magnus, GMed by Mentat.  :)

Fifteen seconds earlier, in a darkened, blood-stained alleyway...

"Well, well, well," The big bald man cracked his knuckles over the body of the fallen man. Several dead and dying men were nearby, and the others were finally leaving the cover behind the trash cans, bins, barrels and everything  "You did your best, but nobody messes with us and lives. Say your prayers."
He raises his foot to stomp his target to death...

The present...
You arrive, Magnus, knocking over the man in front of you, and radiating light colors kaleidoscopically as you feel your connection to the universe becoming stronger. To an outsider, it would have looked rather absurd if it weren't for the fact that this outsider was also holding a very large and presently on fire sword, that was begging its master for fighting time.
You now have an eye to the future in regards to your new power source, and with that comes a vision of stone, wood and statues all weeping as a result of the stress your power will impose. You clearly see the wounded man in front of you, and you heard that conversation just as you arrived in the universe.
"What...in...the...hell..?" The bald man backs away from you, and scrambles to his feet, various colored light playing off of his face in a strobe.

OOC: Translation of paragraph #2, you will receive your backlash rolls for using your Akashic Magic, which has revealed its name to you as "Do," well in advance. You know exactly what the consequences for using it will be on the world around you, but it does not reveal the consequences of your use. (Right now, its telling you the brick walls will bleed. It does not tell you what will happen if you fight, talk, evade or whatever.)
This message was last edited by the player at 03:36, Thu 04 Feb 2016.

I'm... Seeing the backlash I'll get. Interesting.


I Shift my grip into an two handed fighting stance with the burning blade pointed towards the bald man.

"Surrender now or perish."

The bald man takes a step back, and then runs from you. Everyone else who was wounded follows suit.

You hear a pronounced curse of frustration from the prone figure behind you.

You also have time to take in your surroundings. This is apparently a rather impressive city. Your chi sense detects MASSIVE quantities of Black mana flowing through this city. It is intermingled with other types to be assured, but it is almost overpowering given that you rarely deal with this kind of power in this quantity.

On the plus side, apparently you can use holy powers again. On the down side, the world seems to be working against that idea. In fact, you have a feeling that high powered magic just won't work...unless you know the secret password, apparently.

I let the man run away.

I note the imbalance of black mana.

"Huh. Something is wrong with the geomancy of the city. Or it's corrupt as all get out."

I turn to the prone man.
"Are you ok? What's going on here? Why did that guy want to crush your skull? "

The hooded figure pulls her hood back, a cloth covering the lower half of her face, with her hair in a bob.  Her voice is clipped and controlled. "He wanted to crush my skull because I was stopping him from doing it to someone else."

She stood up and brushed off the dirt and muck of the city off of her grey robe, with body armor somewhat concealed underneath, then tips the palm of her left hand up to reveal a small grey ball. "He was going to fail, because I have surprises for people like that. I needed to question him about his boss, whom I've been tracking for some time."

She shrugged, although her eyes remained focused on you, and rather suspiciously, despite her tone. "No matter. My trick wasn't pierced, merely delayed. For now...who are you, and what are you? Never saw a person do that without something unusual in his corner. That's some high powered sorcery, and that usually means demonic."

I'll take a look with my chi sight at her and that sphere she is holding.

"Well since you saw me come in there is no point in lying. Although you probably wont believe me.
I'm a type of being called a Worldwalker or Verser. You saw me entering into this universe. Unfortunately in order to move between world I need to die. Hopefully that doesn't happen any time soon. I've already detected the block on high powered magic. But it feel like some things can get around it. Demonic beings apparently being one of them. Anyway something is Seriously wrong with the geomancy of the city. Black Mana is way stronger here than anywhere I have felt before. Which suggests something about this city is very corrupted.
Since I scared off the one you where questioning. I will help you with your investigation. My name is Magnus. It is a pleasure to met you."

She turns around and starts walking away, pulling a gun with a hook on the tip out from under her cloak. "Don't worry about the investigation, Magnus. I will take care of that."

She stops, thinking. "Actually, there IS something you might be able to help me with."

Turning around just as quickly as she had started to walk off, just walks back. "I am Carmilla. Like your own name, it is probably an alias. I was actually encouraged to be here, because my informant told me I would meet someone who would help me with a recent problem. Perhaps you are who he had in mind, not the other guy, and I am needing someone of direct force to help me with tomorrow night's problem. Will you lend a hand?"

"I'm not that good at investigation. But I'm much better at direct force. What do you need help with?"

I do catch that she named herself after a vampire. I'm curious as to why though.

Do I sense any other versers?

I assume that my chi sense didn't return anything unusual about her and her sphere.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:06, Fri 05 Feb 2016.

You detect no other versers. As for her chi, she's...alive and dead at the same time, like she is between both states. Not quite undead, either. Just borderline dead, although she looks fine barring superficial injuries. Her ball is just a standard pepper bomb.

At this point, your sword goes out and seems to be plain, you stop glowing, and you sense all the latent magic surrounding you from the prior world dissipating away. You also realize it is nighttime, and very cold here.

"Incidentally, brute force might be what I need. I'm looking for someone really nasty. I was trying to catch him before tomorrow night. Tomorrow is Christmas, and the Deliverance Army is doing a massive soup kitchen charity run in the Bricks tomorrow." She props an arm on her side. "...aaand you are not from here, and don't have a clue where that is, or why that matters."

She rolls her eyes, and sounds irritated. "I'll just show you where I'm talking about." She shifts to a more questioning tone. "How are you at navigating rooftops? I move really fast, and I'd like to know if you think you can keep up, before I just jump up."

"One learns to pick up on context when travelling the multiverse. Christmas was a holiday in my home world. I'm guessing that it is similar here. A Soup Kitchen is where they feed the poor with soup. Also something we had in my home world. The Deliverance Army is a charitable organization. We had a parallel in my home world. And I'm Guessing the Bricks are low income housing. Although I have no clue Where the Bricks are... Or why it's important to that guy you are talking about.
So yeah, You are right. I have no clue where that is or why it is important.

As for Navigating rooftops as you put it, I haven't done it before.
I can probably keep up using magic. But my magic has side effects.
I'll have to figure out the differences in magic here.
I could probably learn how to do it normally though.

There is something unusual about you though. Something I haven't seen before. It's like you are between Life and Death. But not undead."

She looks at you for a few seconds. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, given that you can see the flow of geomancy in this city. I am shinigami, an agent of the forces of death. I died, and then I got better. And you are right, Rime City has been going to hell for quite some time. And if it is literally doing that, no one who lives here would be surprised."

"And please don't use your magic for that. I haven't seen the use of magic go well. Either I don't notice they are using it, or it always somehow makes things worse. So, if you must use it, be very reserved. In fact..."

She aims her grappling gun straight up. "I need to introduce you to Mr. Chang. He's Tennin, works for the Celestial Courts. Different from me. Seems to pretty much know everything. Somehow, anyways, considering I never see him leave the shack or that junkyard of his."

She seems to be just looking at you now, holding the gun straight up.

"Huh. A Death God and a Heaven Person. Yes, I'll need to talk to Mr. Chang. I'll Need to learn some abilities that you take for granted. Like Running across rooftops. So how are we getting to Mr. Chang's? I would rather not use magic if I can help it. So are we walking or will you give me a lift to the roofs?"

She gives you an annoyed look, and her sarcastic tone reflects her eyes. "No, I am just doing an impersonation of the Statue of Liberty because I'm eager to welcome you to our country."

"And...don't get any ideas. I'm just helping you because you are clearly clueless. When we get up there, I'll show you how we will be getting there without you having to jump from rooftop to rooftop."

I chuckle a bit at her sarcasm.

"Sorry. I'm a bit of a dumbass when it comes to these things. I didn't want to take liberties with your generosity. And Thank you for your help. I really am rather clueless."

I'll walk next to her and try to decide how to best hold on to her. I rather awkward about this for obvious reasons. I've never done this before.

After a bit, I decide that an arm over her shoulder is probably best.

"Well, if you think that's secure. Hold on, this is thousand pound tested line. Let's hope the building holds up."

The roof gives a bit, causing both to stop halfway up. "Ugh, you are heavy. One moment." Her thumb fiddles with the gun, and then you continue going up the roof.

She climbs up the rest of the way, after suddenly shifting you in a controlled, non-painful throw. "Rime City is falling apart. Urban decay doesn't begin to cover it. The rope is thousand pound tested. I knew it could handle the two of us. One moment, and I'll show you my trick for rooftop navigation."

She pulls out a iPhone, and her voice becomes noticeably more cheerful. "Heeeeeey, Jeeves! I've gotten myself into a bit of a bind, in a lousy part of town. I don't even know how I got here, and I'm soooo lost..." There is apparently a voice replying, and judging from the fact that she is holding it a little away from her head means it is loud. "I'm old enough to drink a little, okay! I'm old enough to drink a lot, actually! The point is, I'm in real trouble this time. Send the chopper."

She holds the phone away from her head again before replying. "I don't care what the tabloids are going to say! In fact, just wait until they hear I'm bringing a guest with me for a private helicopter ride! Someone I picked up in the slums during my drunken bender I'm having."

This one you can hear, from a very concerned upper class British man. "YOU ARE BRINGING WHAT?!"

"Yup! He's coming home with me tonight and..." She holds the phone away. It's not clear, but the context seems clear, especially when she responds. "Well, I guess you'll just be leaving me here, aaaaaaall alone in a dangerous part of town. And I have no one else to lean on for support except this nice, brave, young strapping man..."

This time angrish comes through the line, then it seems to become something coherent. "Thanks, Jeeves! You are the absolute best!"

She hangs up, and returns to her cold voice. "We will be getting extraction shortly."

She takes the cowl off, and is wearing a black skirt with a white blouse covered in plastic. She takes the plastic cover off, and then folds it into a bag to put her cowl into. She looks like she just attended some kind of party, and is carrying dark clothing in a plastic bag. "I was at a get-together for rich kids with nothing better to do than be rich and spend their parent's money. Love these ivory towers in this city; easy to forget what it's built on."

I'll roll out of the throw with my sword to the side so I don't get cut up.

"Sorry about being so heavy."

I'll let her make the call.

"Wow. I feel sorry for Jeeves. And I have a feeling he isn't going to like me very much.
So Carmilla. How are we going to explain why I have two Zweihanders?
Oh. The Name of Magnus wont do when you introduce me to Jeeves. Just call me Eli Bumbalough."

She breathes a sigh of relief, and her voice no longer has that controlled quality to it. "I was just going to call you Ted. That helps a lot actually."

She adopts a thinking pose. "I'm thinking...you are a...weapons collector! No...a cosplayer of some kind? No...prepared for downtown? True though that may be, no..."

She looks at you with a look of frustration, wringing her hands together. "I don't know! Just make something up and stick with it. I'll play along. Jeeves is...well..."

Her eye contact drifts at this point. "He works for me, technically, but he's also the one who raised me when my parents were killed...and he's kind of my...daaaad?"

She seems uncertain how to phrase these things, and then she gets that clipped voice back all of a sudden. "He's my legal guardian. So, he's rather protective of me, even though I am no longer his ward. Ten years of habits continued five years later to this day."

You hear the sounds of a helicopter, and her voice falls between controlled and casual. "Remember, any injuries I have are from the car crash you pulled me from. I crashed a white Lamborghini earlier tonight into a telephone pole." She looks to you defensively. "You try fighting crime coming straight from a soiree, and tell me how sober you are."

A rope ladder is dropped from the helicopter, as the heli patiently hovers above you. She takes one step on it, looks down at her skirt, and then steps off. She gestures invitingly to you. "After you."

OOC: If you accept, I'm skipping to the landing at her residence.

"...I'll come up with something. Thank You for the ride."

I'll go ahead and climb up even with the extra difficulty of having a zweihander out. I really need to get a sheath for it.

I caught the reason why she is letting me go up first.

Once she calms the pilot down about an armed man climbing aboard the heli, you are on the way just outside of the city itself. You see the mansion and the forest surrounding it well before you land in the well lit landing zone. When it lands, you are met by a grey haired man with a pencil thin mustache. He is clearly quite annoyed with the both of you. He does a quick glance at the both of you, and you feel like this man can tell everything about you at a glance.

In exchange, you've noticed a few things too. For one, there are other people filling up the chopper, and you can tell that all of them seem to have a chi flow that indicates they understand basic hand-to-hand. The grey haired man's flow indicates that he is more proficient in fighting than the others, and has a very distinctive black and blue aura, although he is nowhere near Carmilla's degree of proficiency and power. Her aura, for the record, is also black and blue, just not as focused as his.

"Miss Laura Karnstein." Jeeves, at least you assume it is him, begins speaking sternly. "Are you sure you are old enough to not require parental supervision?"

"Relax, Jeeves, every-" She gets cut off by a combination of a razor sharp glare and a whip quick interruption. His voice was pure ice.

"I heard you stole Mister Troy's vehicle without an explanation, and that it was found near the Bricks wrapped around a telephone pole with multiple gunshots put into it, and stripped of several of its parts. You were found on a rooftop about an hour after I had called up several hospitals asking if they had any recent admissions that had been in a car accident, apparently just fine barring light injuries and with a complete stranger who is apparently armed with a pair of swords, an important detail you omitted."

"I will be requesting a more detailed account of tonight when we get indoors." He turned around quickly, pivoting on his heel. His voice softens for a moment. "For now, let's just get you inside."

It goes away as quickly as it came. "Your guest may come with, if he would like. I prepared cocoa for the both of you."

"Thanks, Jeeves. You are-" He glares back at her, and she changes her tune. "Thank you."

She turns to you, and is whispering. "Let's go inside. I do owe him an explanation, even if it is a false one."

Jeeves isn't lying, in her rather spacious dining room, there are two cups of hot cocoa prepared on a long table. Jeeves prepared them rather strong and sweet. Lots of quality chocolate. One is at the head of the table, which she goes for. The other is next to that. Jeeves is already seated opposite of where you will be sitting.

"So," Jeeves looks right at you, no personal feelings showing behind his faded blue eyes, although his voice is as cold as it has been. "Let's hear the story of how Miss Laura and yourself met."

Laura, as you've now learned she is called, begins talking. "Well-" He raises a hand in a stopping gesture to her, and she goes quiet. His eyes never leave you for a moment.

Well, It's a good thing I had an entire helicopter ride to think of a story. Too bad this guy can see right though lies. Still I remain calm and spin a tale.

"Thank you for the hot chocolate sir. Allow me to Introduce myself. I'm Eli Bumbalough. I teach Martial arts for a living. While I was walking home from training a student with my zweihanders I noticed Ms. Karnstein in a situation with some thugs. I ended up scaring them off and then Ms. Karnstein decided to call her helicopter."

Jeeves raises an eyebrow. "Thugs? Laura mentioned nothing about thugs." He shoots a look at her, and she gets noticeably uncomfortable. His voice retains the exact same tone. "So, you have a dojo that trains students in Scottish weaponry close to that part of town? One might have thought I would have heard of something this close to my home and so novel showing up in Rime City."

He doesn't seem surprised by anything you've said, but he is not an easy man to read.

"Actually. Zweihanders are German weapons. A Claymore is the Scotish two-handed sword. And I've just started out here. so... I don't actually have a dojo yet."

He is loosening his stance a bit, although his gaze is unchanged. His face momentarily cracks a smirk at his error. "So, let me get your story so far. You are new to town, fresh off of the boat, and you were training a sole student despite not possessing a dojo in the arts of wielding German anti-cavalry swords, when you happened to come across Miss Karstein being accosted by hoodlums, they were rightfully terrified of a man wielding such weapons, and..."

He stops a moment. "What were the two of you doing on the rooftop of a condemned building? Just waiting for the chopper to arrive, I suppose? Getting into the building would have been quite the effort, and going up the stairs would have been dangerous. Explain."

"That was my idea!" Laura interrupts at this point. He gives her his look, but she seems to be shrugging it off. "I wasn't quite thinking, and I figured those guys might have more friends, so I broke into the building and started going up in a panic after he ran them off. He followed after me, and nearly got us both killed going up. He's a bit heavier than me, and it nearly stopped our climb."

Jeeves just arcs an eyebrow at you, almost challenging you to back her statement.

In a bit of a deadpan I continue

"Yeah, I'm quite a bit heavier than I look. I ended up breaking quite a few boards on my way up. Collapsing a stairway isn't fun"

"I'm sure you did." He stood up, and just gave Laura a gentle look. "Don't scare me like that again, okay? I won't always be there for you, and you need to learn how to stand for yourself better."

His look goes back to that cold gaze when it falls on you. You realize, whether you already realized it or not, where she got the ability to switch personas so fast from. "Thank you for saving my adopted daughter. I'm certain at least one night of rest here is a start when it comes to acceptable thanks. Perhaps tomorrow we can help you with your dojo problem."

"For now, it is late. Two in the morning is not a time I like dealing with problems. Good night, Laura. Five in the morning is sooner than I would like." He gives a slight bow, and heads out of the room.

"Jeeves, you don-" She waits about ten seconds after he closes the double doors to the main hall behind him. "Odd. He's not waiting outside the doors. I figured he'd at least want to keep an ear on us."

She relaxes in her chair, almost slouching. "Whew! That was close. I've got to be more careful about this sort of thing in the future. I really should have just continued my investigation, but..."

She tips her head to the left when looking at you. "You are a different sort of problem. We'll visit Mister Chang tomorrow. At the very least, he'll be able to help us both out. And explain to me why I needed your help. He told me I'd find an unlikely ally in tomorrow's business, and I'd like to know how he knew about you. Among other questions."

She looks around, noting just how quiet it is. "Sooooo...you have any questions or things to say? I'm all ears."

After Jeeves leaves and she asks me that question.

I run my fingers though my shaggy hair. I need to get a haircut soon.

"I Don't have much to ask. Jeeves knows that I am lying though. Man I'm not good at that sort of thing.Anyway, Is there any particular time we are going to visit Mr. Chang?"

"Early. The sooner the better. The old coot starts work early in, and I'd like to get him before he gets going too much and decides it is time for meditation." She smiles. "And don't worry about Jeeves. He gives everyone that impression, but he really is quite clueless when it comes to me. Still...I am taking him for granted, and maybe I did go a little too far tonight. I'll have to give him tomorrow off. Maybe the rest of the month. He deserves that much."

She stands up. "I'm going to take a nap. The guest room is out the doors Jeeves went through, up to the second floor of the grand stairs, and three doors left. Right, and that takes you to Jeeves and myself. Don't go that way. Jeeves would blow a gasket, and I might hurl a stiletto at you out of reflex."

She thinks a second time. "Actually, I'll just help you to your room. Besides, I'd like to know where you are from. Tell me about it while we walk."

"If you say so about Jeeves. But would you believe that story if you where in his position?
Yeah. That stiletto would hurt."

I walk with her.

"Where I am from? Well I'm Originally from Tennessee in The United states of America. Guessing from  the Fact that this place has a Statue of Liberty, There is probably a parallel to Tennessee here. Although I haven't heard of a Rime City before.... Anyway, The Area of Tennessee I'm from is somewhat mountainous and full of deciduous forests. With Oaks, Maples, Hickories, and a few Birch trees. There are a few towns and cities around. But They are really small compared to Rime City. What else do you want to know?"

You are ascending the stairs when she replies. "It doesn't really matter what I would believe, it matters what he believes. Again, don't worry about him too much."

...past the doors on the left side. "And that explains your accent. This is New Jersey, on the Raritan River's north side, by the ocean. There is a Tennessee here in the United States, obviously, I just...really, don't hear anything about that place. Rime City rather makes it hard to see outside of its boundaries, you know?"

"So, you're a long ways from home, in more ways than one." She stops outside a door. "Well, this is your room. Feel free to let us know if you need anything. I'll...uh...see you later on. Good night."

She quickly walks away to her own room. The amount of gothic architecture in this house suddenly dawns on you as she leaves. While the house is black mana dominant, there are other types swirling throughout the house, and its while a bit unnerving and challenging, it isn't oppressive and outright hostile like Rime City is. It's also more organized, like it was designed to channel the energies of death and entropy to positive ends.

OOC: If you opt for sleep, you will have no unpleasant dreams. The house's geomancy kills nightmares, among other nasty things.

I'll stop her before she goes away.

"Hold on... I don't want to stink up your guest room. I've been though a few battles and worlds with out a chance to clean up. May I use a shower please?"

I assume she lets me and tell's me where one is.

I'll take a shower and note durring it that I don't have any clean cloths to change into. How do I always lose my things? I need to develop some sort of extradimensional  storage space like a bag of holding or something. Because this gets annoying. I look like a homeless person ... which technically I am... at least a homeless person would have a coat for winter in the northeast.  Man I hate the cold.but thw hot water feels nice.

I return to the guest room and go to bed. I need to get my sleep cycle attuned to this world.

She stops, and very slowly and politely directs you to the shower. It's a surprisingly modest room, not like the opulent structures. This one was clearly not meant for guests.

When you get out, you find a surprise outside of the bathroom door: a large, empty metal sheath with a small stylized heraldry on it, a shield with four images on it: a gripped quill, a griffin holding a sword, two winged swords crossed, and a man holding a zweihander. "Karnstein" is written above another griffin on the top of the shield, while "St. Mark" is written below it.

There is no blade inside it, but it was definitely meant for a weapon such as yours. It is not a precise fit for your weapon, but it has a latch at the top to secure the weapon when not in use, and with a flick of the thumb it can be opened and a weapon drawn with one quick motion.

Beyond that, no other surprises await you for four hours.

*BANG! BANG! BANG!* Someone can really hit that wooden door your room has. Which sounds like Laura with the next words. "Wake up, sleepyhead! The day starts early around here!"

The electronic clock in your room suggests that it is 0600, on the mark. Apparently it is set for military time.

Incoherent noise comes out of my mouth as I try to speak on too little sleep. I knew it was a bad idea to try to sleep. I stumble around and get dressed and then come out pretty much awake.

I'll go and find Laura

"Thank you for the sheath for my Zweihander. It looks like it has some history though. Anyway, Good Morning. I don't usually do only four hours of sleep."

My stomach growls on it's own at this point.

"Ah I guess it has been a bit since I ate. Breakfast perhaps before we go to Mr. Changs?"

She's right outside your door, dressed in solid white business suit and pants. You notice all of the injuries from a few hours ago are all gone. "Hiya!"

She looks to the sheath. "Huh. I didn't even remember we had that. Jeeves must have taken it out of the vault for you."

"That's...really odd of him. I guess...he was serious when he said he'd try to help...you?" She seems confused by this. "Oh, well. We do have the connections to help you with that. If you were serious about that dojo thing, anyway."

She cheerfully changes the topic. "Anyhow! Breakfast! The white suit will make it a challenge." She started walking away. "Here's the plan: I'm going to take you to Chang's Bang Up Shop after we eat. There we can talk to the evasive old duff, and after that, you are on your own. I've got a LOT of interviews today, and a lot of specials to help out in. I'll then meet you again tonight, and we can stop a terrible thing from happening."

Jeeves is not present in the dining room this time, but a still steaming meal is waiting for you both. Eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, glass of milk...it's a pretty high octane meal. "How does he DO that? He can always make it fresh, but I never see him leave or arrive when he does. I'm half convinced he just orders it, and doesn't want to tell me."

Meal eaten, corvette gotten into...

"So, how's it feel, meeting a real life superhero? I'll just tell you it's not what its cracked up to be in the comics. And so you know, I also have to dress like I'm going to a funeral, bought from Hot Topic, or am going to a death metal concert in order for the spirits to not get mad at me during the day. House has to be the same way, hence all the gothy stuff."

She's driving really fast, almost fifteen to twenty miles over the limits in several parts of town. She's managing it like a professional race car driver, but it still feels like you are on a Six Flags roller-coaster.

"So, how long have you been at the business of being a hero? I've been doing this since I was sixteen."

"I will need to thank Jeeves when I see him again. This is a really nice sheath. A Dojo would be nice as a source of income. It's been far too long since I got to do a normal job for actual money."

I Eat ravenously. I Haven't had enough to eat in a long time due to those people in the fallen cyberpunk would not having enough to feed me.

"I have no clue, But it is delicious! How long has it been? I don't remember. Months? that sounds about right. I'll need to thank him... that would mess with our story. I'll need to thank him. But hold back on the praise I want to give for this amazing meal."

I ride with her. My Fearlessness causing me to not care how dangerous she is driving

"It's interesting how you are similar to one of the comic book heroes from my home world. Is there a DC Comics that Publishes Batman? Still I'd imagine that it is pretty hard to be in your position. All in all, I'm glad I met you."

At her question I say

"How long have I been doing this? It's hard to say. My internal calender tends to get messed up from world hopping. Let's see. It Was the local year of 2009, I was a utterly normal boring nerd. Although I did like taking Martial arts. I Was attending ITT Tech In Nashville. A friend of mine asked me to set up Linux on his new computer. Something with the new 'Scriff Inside' in it. He spilled a drink on it and I got electrocuted. It hurt and I died.

I woke of in a Dungeon and Dragons Dungeon and ended up fighting Kobalts for my life. I discovered that I could channel chi to do magic. While fighting a troll I messed up and drew in all the chi around me. Killing everything around me. A Dragon Mind Controled me into releasing all the chi stored within me. I exploded. It hurt and I died.

Crazy stuff happened. It hurt and I died
I got shot while sleeping. It hurt and I died.

I was a unarmed gladiator on a space station. I fought Captain Kirk, Spock And Jack the Ripper. I was really stupid and pushed my magic too far.  I exploded. It hurt and I died.

I Organised a group to fight a type of plant that steals lifeforce at a distance. I was there about a year. Then I messed up in my magical research and development. I exploded. It hurt and I died.

I was another space gladiator. there was no magic here. I Fall to my death exploring some ruins. It hurt and I died.

I'm in a place called the Final Empire.It makes Rime city look like a day in the park. I integrate myself into a noble resistance movement. I ended up confused by a passage and talked with The Goddess Athena who directed me to another verser called Jhiaxus. Who I still owe Lessons in a Style of magic to. He Sent me to THe Plane of War. I did not in fact die.

The plane of war is an plain of indestructible iron that is a few light years across. I teamed up with Mario,Ryu and a girl with the power to teleport things. To fight Demon clowns and aztec prists and Rescue Galadriel from Lord of the Rings. We defended some hill and then got attacked by parakoopas's then a Balrog showed up and I had to fight it.I gathered more red mana than my soul could handle. Injuring it. I fused a thousand lighting bolts into a spear and stabed the balrog with it. he staped me with a sword of fire and darkness. It hurt and we both died.

I'm in a modern world with gods and demigods running around. Tried to teach some demigoddesses magic. They didn't listen to me and gathered enough red mana to level Alabama. I took it into myself and used it to stage a fireworks show.I'm surprised I didn't explode. This got the attention of the Greek Gods. They sealed my power with a torc that did the magical equivalent of tying both my hands behind my back. While they where doing this Titans kidnapped those two demigoddesses... I tried to save them. I went to hades and back. I punched out and out philosiphied a ubermensch wanabe. I Literally clawed my way down the throat of hydra so I could rip and tear into it's gut. Incidentally causing it to explode and sending me into hades in the first place. I stood up to Atlas without my the vast majority of my magical might. And it was all for nothing. at the last minute I messed up with my magic and those two and those that where these to help me died. The Dying didn't hurt that time. The weigh of my mistakes hurt.

An expy of France is being invaded by Muslim expy immigrants. And their government is too stupid to stop them. I ended up climbing Yggdrasil to get knowledge to help them. I died on my way up from poison from a dark elf. But continue due to a blessing from Hel. Being dead yet sill moving whule my organs undergo necrosis is rather unpleasant. being dead has some advantages, such as not needing to breath. Which helps since there is no air up there. near the top I am challenged by giants. I out wrestled Old Age. and I Nearly Beat Famine in a eating contest do to trickery. Butthe last thing he wanted me to eat was human flesh. This pissed me off so much that I called down Solar fire to cleanse Niflheim. I died a failure yet again.

A dark future where Cyberpunks overthrew the magacorporations. I stayed at a haven and used my intelect to recreate some of the comfort of the old world. It was nice I stayed there a few months. but I never got enough to eat. Then the ruling body pissed me off and I when of a quest to prevent them from getting what they want.I ended up doing things like surfing an avalanche of cars down. I just... no longer feared death. this stuff is fun. I got in contact with an AI that runs the water plant. But before I could help him I encounter a guy that needed to die. But he rigged up a ICBM with a nuke on it to attack his position when he died. I died.

A fantasy world with an insane amount of magic running though it. I fight off Fey. I met an alternate parallel verser version of a friend I had in my homeworld. Ed, Goes by Mentat now. He apparently picked up a smart girl during his time as a verser. I'm not sure how she is going with him. He notes that my aura is damaged and that is part of the reason I explode all the time. He broke the tork sealing my power. He teaches me Acashic Martial Arts so I have a style of magic that will let my aura heal. My Avatar beats more knowledge of magic into me. I fight fey yet again. and get ripped apart by pattern spiders. I didn't know I could be ripped apart in those ways.

My Last world. A world sized Battle ship that is also a Primordial called Autochton. I am captured by the Exalted, Superpowered beings with enough magi in them to destroy a sun. I scare them with my Acashic Martial Arts. but I talk with them and make deals to help them fight the foes that ran them out of the known universe. Other Primordials. They captured Mentat too and pissed him off by not listening to him. I diffused the situation by talking. I had a deal to talk with one of their diplomats...But Mentat died from the stress of what he was doing before that scared them.The diplomat wanted to help place me in their military the part I wanted to go into requires skill as a craftsmen. So I made My sword. I Stomped the ground to dislodge a Metal spirit and then Punched it continuously until it was in the shape of a sword then I purified it with red mana. Anyway. It turns out that the Diplomat was a Primordial Double Agent. and he attacked me accusing me of being a fey. I fought and caused him to show himself as an Akuma.
then he transformed into a great beast with many tentacles. I cut him in half and then he split into many clones to cause havoc in the city we where in. Straining my Acashic Martial Arts, I sheathed my sword in the concept of 'destruction' and then stabbed him with it. causing all the clones to explode. But I paradoxed hard. and caused the thing running the world to glich and stopped time.

Then My Avatar showed up again. Wanting to fight me. But I was told that fighting or using magic directly against your Avatar is a really bad Idea. So I try to bargan with it. that didn't work.
I didn't want to fight it there because there are innocent people around and a battle between us would rip the fabric of reality asunder... So I sacrificed Myself. and My desire to fight the Primordial creators of that reality. I let it kill me so those people would be save. Sigh. I could have done so much more if I stayed... But those peoples blood are not on my hands. and that was all I could do there.

So in total. I think I done this for two or three years. Sorry for the info dump. I'm not much of a hero. But hopefully I'll make a difference here before I die again.

The magic here wont let me do such absurd things. So I'm not as strong as I am normally"
This message was last edited by the player at 17:22, Wed 10 Feb 2016.

She pulls into a parking lot at high speeds and comes to abrupt, if safe, stop. She steps out of the car, smoothly sliding a pair of sunglasses on. "Wow. I'd call all of that crazy, but considering that I have come back from the dead, and receive orders from beings in charge of death, and that they really don't like that I keep using my old name butwhatdotheyknowIneededtodoitinordertobringdownmyparent'skillerandIcan'texactlyundoitwithoutbringingundoattentiontothemsonowtheyarealwaysangryatme..."

She takes a moment to stop, prop a hand on the car for support, and take a few deep breaths. "Anyways, I thought dying once was unpleasant. I can't imagine doing it over and over. And coming back someplace different each time? I can't tell if the shinigami court would like you or hate you."

The location you are at is a run down former cafe turned into a garage. There are several damaged cars outside of it, and a few that look like they could actually run.

You hear a old man's voice from inside the shop, deep, clear but raspy with age. "Hello again. I guess you found that ally of yours I mentioned. Figured you might go and make your own 'ally.' But you found one a real one instead of making a thug into an unwilling ally. Come in, come in, both of you. It's not every day I predict the actions of beings that have no fate. We have a lot to discuss and little time."

She goes right in, hand over the top of her face to stop the sun from getting to her. It isn't much of a walk to see the speaker, a short, old oriental man wearing oil and rust stained overalls. He is calmly spinning a tire iron in his hand. "Walter Chang, at your service. But I suspect she told you that, and you aren't here about a car, are you? What do you need to know?"

OOC: Depending on your inclination, she can ask a question or comment first, or you can. Let me know OOC.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:24, Wed 10 Feb 2016.

I reply to her statement.
"Well, It's better than the alternative of dying permanently. Knowing my luck they would think I'm somesort of abomination."

I raise an eyebrow at Mr. Chang know that I don't have a fate. I'll follow Laura in.
When he invites questioning I'll say.

"That is quite impressive Mr. Chang. Considering that even I can't predict where or when I'll show up in my next world. How did you do that? Actually a more important question would be 'What do you know about me?"

I'll take a look at Mr. Chang with my chi sight.

Chang's aura is rather odd. It's like he is here, and not present at the same time. He's like Laura in a way, but between reality and fiction. He has swirls of white and blue flowing in a smooth fashion around him.

He looks you right in the eyes. "You see me, don't you? Just as you can see her. I didn't so much predict your coming so much as I predicted something would appear where you were at, and it wouldn't be a demon. It wasn't removed from fate like a demon or a shinma, and its not outside of fate like shinigami. You have an aura that would confuse the uninitated for a god."

"Shorthand: Laura has no fate, because she has died. Her fate was realized, if ahead of schedule. A god, or a powerful spirit, actually has a powerful fate, because they are bound for a specific job in the universe. Whether they choose to do it or deny it, their role defines them one way or another. You are different. Your fate just doesn't end. It spirals into the great unknown, and just keeps going. It's actually rather unsettling to look at for a long time."

"Are you Incarna? I've been working for the Heavens for sixty years now, and I'd like my back pay for that time." He's half joking with you, judging from his tone and goofy smile.

Laura cuts off the ability to answer. "Chang just knows things, because he has spirit contacts everywhere. I'm on a bit of a time crunch, so I've got a question of my own: what exactly happens tonight, now that he is here?"

Chang loses the smile, and looks rather grim. "The vision is unchanged. The Bricks burn in a vast fire, many people die, and then...the monster is here. That's all my vision tells me. Then a lot of destinies end early. Nothing changes, because neither of you are a part of fate. It doesn't account for you intervening."

"Ugh!" Laura is not pleased with this. "Then why on earth did I search him out?! If nothing changes, what was the point? I invited this guy to my house, because I thought he might be the monster!"

"That..." Chang is clearly confused. "Doesn't make any sense."

Laura just throws up her hands in frustration, and yells again in fury. She breathes out calmly, and goes into cold voice mode. "I have an appointment. I'll be in the Bricks tonight. Make sure you are present. Chang won't go, because he has really stupid oaths. But you are not bound, and you might be a powerful ally."

She walks off going straight for her car at a brisk walk, and Chang just raises an eyebrow at you, inviting another question or action.

I call out to Laura
"I'll see you then! I'm Not bound by fate So maybe We can Change Fate together!"

I turn to Mr Chang
"While I can't see fate yet.Something about your aura is extremely odd. Like you are both real and fiction. Which is unsettling because I've seen fey before. What exactly are you? Laura said you are Tennin. But that doesn't mean much to me."

You hear her car starting up, and she drives off with her usual precision.

"Huh. Young people." He speaks this dismissively as he looks at her drive off. He then turns to you. "A few of us broke something in Heaven a long time ago. That was very stupid, whatever the intended reason may have been. Means normal folks have a hard time keeping us in mind. Makes it easy to be forgotten, but hard to be recalled. Arcane, is the word I have heard used for it. Annoying is mine. Makes business difficult to build up."

"Tennin is a term used to describe those who work for the architects of heaven, the Shinma. We don't get along with Shinigami normally, and we do not work together as a rule. They see Shinma as being just as meddling in the world as any demon, and they have a good point. I am neutral, these days."

"But the point is that we work for the Celestial Bureaucracy, and make sure overzealous demons die. In theory, anyways. Demons are the only thing I will fight, and while I can see their hand in the upcoming event, I don't think they are what will be driving it. Look for Black Dragon dealers during tonight's event. That drug is somehow important, but I don't know how."

"I see. Well then. I'll keep an eye out for that Black Dragon stuff.
Well. I have a few hours to try to figure out how to make my magic work with the world so I'm not ripped apart by pattern spiders again. "

"Pattern spiders, you say?" He props himself off the wall. "The only reason they would attack you at all is if you were somehow interfering with their job. Meaning...someone has taught you Do."

"Well, it is truly best you have found your way to me. Do is more than merely magic. It is likely the pinnicle of fighting craft. Not even the Breath of Heaven comes close, nor our own Celestial Ladder, although it most resembles the Ladder to me. I'm guessing you have learned the craft before you learned the discipline. For a normal person, this would be tantamount to suicide. The power of Do, without fail, kills or maddens its wielder eventually. It is the gift of the Shinigami, granting great knowledge at the cost of your life."

"I suspect death is not a problem for you, and madness is not something you have learned to fear. But death will still remove you from our world, and in some ways you are more fragile than we are. So, to use Do, you must learn control."

"If you are willing, I will teach you as much as I can before sundown. Then you must be gone, if you intend to fight. I personally think this is unwise, but if you are willing to take the consequences for such things, you should do what you feel is right. I simply cannot see how to stop such a force as I am seeing without doing its work. I can see why she might have thought you might be this monster. You radiate power. You just don't radiate that overwhelming sense of...nothing else. The monster is here." He says that last line like he wasn't quite paying attention.

"Don't panic yet. It's not here-here. Nor is it close. But it will be."

"Breath of Heaven? Celestial Ladder?... Anyway. You are right. Death just moves me to my next world. And without my magic I'm just a somewhat tough normal human.

Please teach me what you can. Restraint and control are not my strong suits."

"Good. Sit down, right where you are, and do absolutely nothing but sit there until the sun goes down. If you fail at this, I will look at you. That should be punishment enough. Succeed, and you will learn how to master your Do. I will return soon." He turns and leaves before waiting to see if you are even doing that.

"... Ok. I assume that thinking is included in doing nothing. Ok I can do nothing."

I sit down in a lotus position and start clearing my mind and enter no-mind.
And I sit there.

About five minutes later, he comes back in, toolbox in hand. "Excuse me, but I need you to move. I have a car to work on, and you are in the way of my business. Please move, young sir."

I continue to sit there.

He is clearly getting perturbed, although just a little. "I am aware I told you not to move. That order has been cancelled. Now, please, get out of my garage. I have work to do."

I continue to sit there.

He sighs. "I see. Well, I suppose I will simply work outside. If you are here in one hour, I am calling the police. Then you will leave."

He walks outside, and leaves you alone.

Your chi sense gives you some interesting knowledge about this place. There is a lot of red and blue power lines coming in here, mixing with white power lines. Oddly, Black mana seems to just skip over and around this shop. It is still in the city around you, but Chang's shop is an island in an ocean of darkness. There are also beings here...spirits within the latent tools and parts.

He returns after an hour. "Well, time is up. The police have been summoned. Get out of my shop. Now."

I continue to sit there.

He stands there, after a bit tapping his foot while looking at the entry way for incoming vehicles to his shop. The edges of your vision are beginning to play tricks on you here. You swear you see tiny beings moving in and out of the objects in his shop.

"The RCPD is notoriously slow to respond, you see. They are legendary in that respect, among other negative ones. So unfortunate. Perhaps if they were better, prophecies and fighters would not be needed to save the innocents that still exist in this city."

"Well, I cannot run you over with the car. I might have, in my youth. And while you are not mortal, I don't like testing my oaths. So, I guess you get to sit there, looking stupid, in the middle of my shop."

"I am going to the scrapyard. I will be back in two hours."

You are getting a bit uncomfortable. Especially when he comes back, after what feels like forever, with two large and glorious ham sandwiches, sits himself at a table close to you, and sets the other sandwich in front of an empty seat next to him. "As long as you are being a fool, you might as well be a fed one. Get up and eat."

Well ether I'm going crazy or I'm starting to gain enlightenment

My stomach growls at the smell of the ham sandwiches.

I continue to sit there.

He eats his ham sandwich calmly. "Now you are just being ridiculous. Now you are offending the little god in charge of the sandwich. Surely you are catching glimpses of the spirits in this place? You can likely see him, begging to fulfill his purpose in the cosmos, and provide you with the strength you will need tonight. Stand up, stop looking like a crazy person, and get some food in you."

You do actually think you see a small entity overlapping with the sandwich. It looks like a small ball with spidery legs, fading in and out of your vision.

I'm need to understand in order to fight tonight.
I continue to sit there Until I am enlightened.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:01, Thu 11 Feb 2016.

"No?" He finishes up. "Now that is just plain rude, on many levels. I will put the sandwich in my fridge. Perhaps a sane man will eat it later."

He walks out of the room, you hear a door opening and closing with a distinct plastic sealing noise. He returns.

"And that doesn't bother you." He puts a hand to his forehead. "You are really testing my patience today. In all seriousness. Get. Out. Of. My. Shop."

Am I enlightened yet? Yes or no?
...
No?
I continue to sit there.

You don't feel very enlightened, but he is very talented at making you wonder if you should really be here.

"Fine then. Perhaps when you pass out from deprivation, you will be open to being dragged out of here." He walks away.

There are no clocks in this room. You do not have a sense of time and passage, save the dim movements of shadow from a cloud covered sun.

You then notice something new. A high class charger style car pulls in, and five people pour out of the car. Four large bruisers of men, all wearing sunglasses and dressed in dark grey zoot suits, and one woman, wearing the same outfit but having a katana on her back.

"Chang! Get out here! We have words for you!" She is shouting it out. You don't see Chang anywhere.

"Say, boss." One of the heavyset men speaks and points to you. "Who is that?"

"Who cares." She replies, clearly being the boss in question. "I'm not here for another of his screw-up workers today. I'm here for him. And he'll show up."

"You think making one of his guys scream might speed him up?"

"No, Chang lets us do whatever we want to his workers, and doesn't give a damn." She adapts a mocking Chinese tone. 'Don fight back, give them whatever they wan," or something stupid like that. It's why nobody works for him. If you can't be protected in Rime City, you are prey."

I open my eyes. Is it dark yet?

It is not yet dark. You can also see what sort of power surrounds these newcomers. The four aren't very impressive to your sight, just hired thugs, from the looks of things. The woman, on the other hand, has a black and white swirling aura to rival or exceed Carmilla. She just radiates power and authority.

"You!" She now points directly at you. "Where is Chang? Speak, or we will beat the ans-!"

"Do you mind not harassing my guests?" Chang has just come in from the kitchen. "I was washing dishes, when you started screaming like an enraged eagle. What do you want?"

"Gang territory has changed again, old man." She glares at him with undisguised contempt. "You have fallen under our protection, and the cost of that is one-tenth of your monthly profits. Fork it over."

He chuckles. "Cat, you of all people know me better than that. Perhaps you should ask, 'what monthly profits' before you come demanding them."

"People pay you. You get money. You spend money."

"Ah, but you said, 'profit.' I make none. It goes to aiding my community. An idea you might want to try."

She walks up to him, inches from his face. "Don't test me, Walt. I've butchered subordinates on the spot for less backtalk then that. I actually DO something to protect my community."

"Besides extortion? That's news. Perhaps you would like to tell me what."

She draws her blade with rage in her eyes.

I watch, wanting to act...

She swings it at his face, stopping close enough in his face to draw blood from his nose, but only skin deep. He doesn't even flinch. You noticed her chi energy was not going into the sword, but to her eyes. This was not intended for any purpose but intimidation.

"And now, you have to clean my blood off of your shiny blade. A waste of your time, I would assume. Much like your trip out here."

"What about him?" She points to you. "He looks like he might have something we want. Those look like impressive weapons. Hey, big guy!" She's yelling to you now. "How'd you like to make some money?"

Chang speaks. "Do not bother. He is stupid and slow witted, and doesn't understand directions well. That is why he is being punished." He whispers something in her ear.

She looks at him, then to you, stunned. Then she starts laughing, a nasty evil sound that betrays her nature, like salt in an open wound. "Well, I suppose he'll leave here tonight anyways. Then the boys and I can talk about those fine weapons of his. In the meantime, watch your back, Chang. You pay in Rime City for the right to live, one way or the other."

"Take care, Cat. Perhaps one day you will retire and become a reasonable human being."

She spits at the ground in front of him. "Let's go, boys." They all get back in the car, and she drives out, sending a good chunk of the dirt and chert on this road directly to him.

"Ahhhhh. As pleasant as ever, I see." He pulls a shallow bandage out of his pocket. "She was not expected, but she should have been. I have been distracted with too many other things. And you. You did absolutely nothing. I hope you are proud of yourself. If you have anything at all to say in your defense, now is a good time."

It is not dark yet, if that still matters.

I close my eyes and continue to sit there.

"Nothing. That is what you are." He grabs his slightly wounded face, and breaths in ever so slightly.

"GET! OUT! OF! MY! GARAGE!" He is now screaming in rage. "Why do you not listen?! You want to move, you want to act, you want to eat, to drink, to actually do something that is surely more productive than sitting on your rear end! You want enlightenment, it is not in here, it is out there! With experience! Go and get it, and then meet up with your newfound friend!"

To be fair, when that gang left, the positive chi that filled in their wake actually rejuvenated you a bit. You feel like you could do this longer.

I smirk and continue to sit there.

He just walks off at this point.

It does get dark, although the sun hasn't fully set yet and when he comes back holding a rice ball the size of a grapefruit. "Congratulations. You have demonstrated that I need to teach you nothing, which is good for my oaths. You already grasp the concept of restraint. Now, technically, I could argue breathing, smirking, and antagonizing me would qualify as something...buuuut, that would be focusing on details over point. You already know how to restrain your Do on an intuitive level, and you wish to do it. This is enough."

"Now, eat half the rice ball now. Finish the rest when you arrive. I'm not sure if this will really be for the best, but I know what you think you should be doing."

He tosses a set of keys to you. "Your car is the small one. Yes, I know it is a Pinto. No, it will not explode if bumped. I have made sure of that. No, I do not expect it back. I have already made a new home for the god of the vehicle, and while he is not pleased, at least he won't be homeless."

He sighs. "I know I said sundown. If you do not go now, you WILL be late. Just remember a few things about your Do. One, a lot of other beings need to work very hard to make your actions possible. So, don't overwork them. Second, pleasant coincidence is your friend. Throwing a fireball will antagonize the gods. Nicking your sword on metal in a 'missed' strike that happens to set something on fire from the sparks of the impact? Unlikely, but it takes the universe as it is around you into account and will cause less carnage."

"Shorthand: do as little change as possible to make your Do possible, and you live happier and longer. Also, find a friend, make sure they know what you know about the world, and open up to them every now and then. That will slow the onset of madness, if not stop it. That's Miss Laura's problem: she has no one she can really relate to."

I listen to his explanation and start eating the rice ball when he offers it.

I smirk. So it's exactly what I was going to try anyway.
"I figured all of that was some sort of test. If I was actually in your way, you should have told me to move to a better spot beforehand."

I look surprised when he gives me the keys to the Pinto.

"Ok. I have one question that I need to ask. How do I get to the Bricks where laura will be? I'm not familiar with the city."

Before I go I say.
"Thanks for the advice to help stay sane. But any friends I make will stay here. Then I'll have to make new friends in my next world"
This message was last edited by the player at 17:49, Thu 11 Feb 2016.

He paused, realizing the implications of this. "One moment. I have a magic that will solve this."

He goes and then exits the kitchen with a map. "It is still good, despite its age. If you need, you can use your Do to 'anticipate the change.' That means it will help you, but only in Rime City."

"You are here." He point to a location close to the river. "You want to be here, and if this map is still good, I would say go...here." You notice his hand does not trace a straight line, but takes a crazy route. It does, however, leave a blue chi residue on the map.

"Good luck, move quickly, and just make friends wherever you go. Invest yourself in the world you visit, and stay sane. Your Do teacher was a nihilist. I can tell. And he is wrong; your actions do matter, even if you cannot see how."

"Thank you sir."

I'll get into the Pinto and drive off.
I'll follow the route that Mr Chang pointed out on the map.

You find that, oddly enough, all of the lights are green when you get to the intersections, and any traffic issues are not affecting you. You make it to the Bricks district, and find a car barreling beside you, cutting you off and doing a one-eighty into a parking space at a spot most people would just try to parallel park at.

You don't see anyone leave the vehicle, but you can probably guess who that is.

The streets are surprisingly clear, but you see a very large Christmas tree far down the road, and there is apparently an event of some kind.

I'll pull in next to her and then get my swords out of the back seat.
Then I'll lock the door of the Pinto. One might ask who would steal a Pinto, But I don't want to make it easy.

I wave to her.
"Hello Carmilla!"

She steps out from behind you. "You are terrible at stealth. You know that?"

She looks towards the Christmas tree. "That's were they are holding the special event for the homeless. A couple of people from out of town formed it. They haven't figured out that Rime City cannot be saved through kindness alone. Compassion is a weakness here."

"A bunch of drug dealers and peddlers of vice have gathered here too, mostly on the outskirts. My target, the one I was hunting, they've been tracking them down and killing them. Normally, I don't care about that sort of thing, but they also kill all witnesses to their actions. The murder weapon is always different, but this one is a ki user, like you and me. And it's demonic."

"We need to clear this ceremony out and get everyone to safety. I have personal bolt holes for emergencies, but we need to get everyone out of here, and those only hold a few people at once. Chang mentioned a fire, and if I were a murdering arsonist targeting the homeless, I'd burn the church they are in front of, their shelter for the night. That place will not be safe."

"You got any ideas?"

I say cheerfully in reply to Carmilla's first comment.
"Yeah. I know."

I listen to her then reply.

"I could make a freak thunderstorm. It is possible to form in Thirty minutes to an hour and not strain disbelief. Faster and I'll end up causing the Walls to Bleed."

She looks up at the cloud covered night. "Do it. We are coastal, the weather report is only right a third of the time anyways. Although, might I suggest snow, and lots of it? We are far north of your home."

"That will also put a damper on that fire business too. Good thinking." She pulls that gun of hers out. "I'm going to put an eye on the roof. You move ahead on the ground and mingle with the homeless. I'll be your spotter and look for anything unusual besides you."

"Oh, and one more thing." She reaches into her cloak, and pulls out another cloak. She tosses it to you. It is solid black, and well crafted. "Yes, I'm aware it makes you look scary and menacing. So does a large sword. That will hide your weapons as long as you keep the hood up. Need your sword? It will take an extra few seconds to draw, unfortunately, but just put the hood back and pull the handle. Take a few moments to put it on and get comfortable. I'll see you later."

She fires her weapon straight up, and flies up on her grapple. You see a few pieces of the rooftop fall down to the street below as she disappears again into shadow.

The cloak actually fits pretty well, if you wear it. The handle of your weapon is behind your head. You will have to leave one weapon behind if you go with her idea; you cannot hide both.

"Eh, I figured that most people just ignore snow up here. Nobody likes rain and thunder though.
I'm not willing to change the temperature on that large of scale though. So it's probably coming down as snow. This might take me a bit to get going."

I'll leave my normal zweihander in the Pinto in the back floorboard.

And I'll wear the cloak.

Well this is an interesting position. I know I can do this, But I have to figure out how.
Let's try it nicely first.

I sit down in a lotus and then try contacting the kami that in charge of costal rainstorms in this area.
Excuse me, I'm needing it to rain or snow within an hour. Would you go ahead and do that?

You manage to get in touch with such entities. So, you need a winter storm, do ya? No one ever just asks me outright for it. This voice sounds distressingly cheerful. We can get ya that. Of course, I'd be wanting some prayers directed my way. Let's see...how about thirty days of prayer from thirty people? Why they are doing it isn't something I really care about. I want O-sano - that would be myself - to be remembered. Deal?

You can actually bargain with this entity. It does want to make it snow, and snow big and fast, so you might be able to secure a good bargain with it.

I got a being with an o- in front of it's name. I contacted a big one.

Well the storm would end up saving a whole lot of people. If they figure out that the storm saved them I'm sure they would honor you for more than thirty days O-Sano. I can't control their actions though. But I Will remember your heroism for the rest of my existence. And as a Verser that is effectively forever.

There is a mental pause as you see a flicker of lightning in the distance, and a few seconds later, you hear a clap of thunder followed by the response. You make an interesting proposal, shinma-kin. I have a new deal that will be easier for both of us. I want you to give me gratitude every morning for thirty days. I am already on my way. Make this deal with me, Osano-Wo of the Heavenly Flaming Thunder, and I'll be there in less than an hour. Do we have a deal?

We have a deal Osano-Wo of the Heavenly Flaming Thunder. I Eli Bumbalough, Called Magnus, will give you Gratitude in the morning for Thirty days. How do you wish to receive your Gratitude?

I'll get up and start walking into the crowd.

The crowd parts on an instinctive level from you. You feel a cold wind coming in. Oh, I'm not picky. A prayer of thanks, given however you want, as long as it is sincere. Again, people don't really invite me to come in. Most say, 'stay away big guy!' Your approval is close enough to the shinma themselves that I can get this fast-tracked before anyone else up here can tell me not to do that. This should be good for a few years of being remembered, so it will be worth the diplomatic blizzard that will occur.

It looks like from down here, there is a long line just in front of the cathedral. It looked pretty humble from a distance, but that is a mighty structure, now that you are close to it. You see the chi in this area is conflicted, between the positive optimism these new guys are bringing, and the native power of this city, doing everything it can to drive this foreign invasion of happiness and hope out.

You feel a fleck of ice hit your face. At this point, one of the men begins to speak into a microphone. "As you can see, the weather itself disagrees with our mission. We will have to take this inside the chapel. There is plenty of space for everyone inside of here, and shelter against the storm to come."

There is much grumbling, but everything is being folded up and moved inside. You sense something odd at this point. Something over in a darker area near the edges of this charity meeting.

Thank you. This storm will help me out a lot.

I'll go and take a look in that darker area

You see two men in an alleyway. Both of them are under a green blanket crouched against the wall. One of them, a young man with black hair and a dragon tattoo on his face, is not awake, but the other one, with his long grey hair and dark eyes, seems to be shaking a bit.

"Your light..." He is whispering to you. "That light in the distance that flashes...it hurts each time...make it stop..."

This is odd and putting me on edge.

"A storm is coming. You need to get to a shelter."

What does my chi sight tell me about them?

Your chi sight tells you something terrible is going through the arm of the shaking man. Almost pure concentrated black mana, and its going fast to his heart. The chi of the man is equally dark, black as nightmares with swirls of chaos surging through it like bolts of lightning.

He looks up and whispers to you with a smile formed by cracked lips. "You would offer me shelter from the weather? You are most kind. Would you help me get to there? I used up all my strength getting myself and my friend here."

His friend does not appear to be alive.

I back into a defensive stance.

"What are you!? And why is that guy dead!?"

He looks at you calmly, and tilts his head to the side inquisitively. "What...am I? What an apt question. And my friend has finally succumbed to his wounds? How tragic."

The body next to him flies at you at high speeds, thrown with great force at you. It misses and smashes a window, causes shards of glass to slice into the man who threw it. The body is wrecked, partly lying in the window with a massive gash in the chest of the body. He doesn't react. You see the chi flowing through his arm reach his heart, and spread throughout his body.

He stands upright and straight, still whispering at you. His eyes go almost solid black. "I need this. Surely you understand. This Black Dragon, this rush, this feeling of immortality...I need it like you need food and drink. Show sympathy, stranger. I beg of you. Help me to the church."

He has open wounds, right? So I can punch the black mana out of him by punching the blood containing the drug out of him? It makes sense to me. And the blood I punch out just happens to contain a large concentration of that drug. So it's probably coincidental.

I'll channel my chi into my Iron Skin Technique.
(Right now saving people is more important than letting my aura heal. Although if I live though this,I'm going to forge a path within my soul to use that power without injuring my aura.)

I rush him with a quick jab,cross,uppercut combo to not give the monster time to think.

I'm forcing myself to move at the peak of human strength and speed. Which is within the realm of possibility so I shouldn't cause the wass to bleed.

I'm hitting so that blood spurts out of him following my logic that I can get the drug out that way. Which I help along as best I can without making it overt magic.

Obviously I'm striking with the intent to kill him. For he is now a monster in my eyes.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:23, Fri 12 Feb 2016.

The moment it takes you to set this up gives the entity in front of you time to react to you. The moment you throw your jab at him, the parries the first punch with his right arm, and then does a small jump up as you throw the cross, throwing himself away from you using your own force and through a wall.

He lands on his feet like a cat, his left arm still not moving. "So, you are like me. Special. The voice in my head calls you 'Mugen' with a hint of fear, but that's just a word that means nothing, like 'Akuma.' Both are just labels used by prey to describe their predators."

The street lights around you flicker out and die. You notice the iron holding the lamps up breaks down, causing them to fall over, and the latent chi transfers to your skin. You also realize once your stop moving so fast, you are going to HURT a lot. You are pushing yourself way too hard.

Thing are much darker now, save for two glints of blazing green in front of you where his eyes should be.

You also hear a voice behind you. "Hey, are you okay? What's going on here?"

You notice it is one of the priests from the Deliverance Army. The green glow shifts from you to him. The green eyes drop in height.

I should be able to see him well enough with my chi sight.

I intuitively realize that the monster will go for the easier prey by rushing it.

When it does, I will counter it by hitting it with the perfect punch that hits as hard as possible.

I'll say as I wait.
"Eyes on me Monster! Run now Prist! or if you are too stupid to run, pray that your God will protect you."

You see his poisonous chi flow along well practiced channels to what seems to be his hand. Green, red and black fire erupts from his hand, and this thing suddenly screams. "HELL SPITE BLAST!"

It flies towards the priest before either of you can react, incinerating the very confused and terrified priest. You see a swirl of blood red chi and life force flow back into this being you are fighting. His left arm twitches, and you realize he had been fighting with only one hand up to this point. He whispers again. "Whoops. Guess my aim needs work."

He smiles and take a few steps deeper into darkness behind him. Your chi sense loses him, and those eyes disappear.

Briefly I see red. I want to punch realty to force that fiend to appear before me so I can personally erase him from existance. But I restraint my power and anger. I will kill him but I will not tear reality asunder to do it.

I move out frantically looking for the fiend or Carmilla. I go into the church to see if the fiend is there.

It is at this point you hear several very close peals of thunder crack the air. You swear you faintly hear booming laughter in the thunder. Several buildings around this celebration are struck by lightning, and you see fires lighting up the rooftops. The snow picks up, and the wind becomes biting and sharp. Those fires are going to become a problem if not dealt with.

He is not at the church, but you encounter someone else at the church site. "Hold it!"

The speaker is some little kid dressed in a black cloak, almost like a miniature Carmilla. The speaker is speaking in a kids attempt at a deep heroic voice. "I heard there was a disturbance here. Bad guys are not allowed inside!"

You feel that poisonous chi maddeningly close by, but you cannot pinpoint it.

I look at the kid with my chi sight to make sure he isn't a Black Dragon user. (Unlikely but my chi sight is running all the time at this point.)

If he is not a Black Dragon user

Inspiration strikes me and I talk to the kid
"Just who I was looking for. I need your help young man. Do you see the fires there, there and there? I need someone to help me warn the people in the church and get everyone out to safety. Will you help me?"
After he responds I'll close my eyes and try to contact Carmillia mentally with Do.

Carmillia, do you hear me?

You don't sense any poisoned chi in the child. In fact, he looks like a potential martial artist of great power.

He looks over to the flames on the rooftops. "Those do look pretty serious. But wouldn't staying in the church be smarter? There is a storm coming, and the fires are all the way over there."

The telepathy causes the statues eyes around the church to start weeping blood. Still, you do establish a link with Carmilla. Somehow. I'm assuming you've made contact with the target. It's not the kid, is it? If it isn't, get him out of there! There is a bus not far from you. Just follow the flare.

Your vision of the future of your power is shrouded in darkness. You do not know what will happen the next time.

Your chi sense suddenly detects a surge of red flowing into the church, of chaos unleashed and made manifest. Screams start up in the church, the double doors open and people begin flooding out. "I'll take my chances out here" are just one of many variants of the same thing being yelled by people. Dark chi floods the church, despair overwhelming hope in a flash.

"Ready or not, here I come!" You here that voice coming from the building. You then notice a strange bright green mark form on the kid, a fleck of poisonous chi infecting his aura.

The wall behind you is destroyed, and bricks fly all around you as the man himself comes out, going straight for the kid. You notice, with some dismay, that he is now holding a large machete. You also feel your strength and speed ebb. While you do not feel a backlash, something about him is making your Do unravel.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:22, Fri 12 Feb 2016.

Of course something here naturally counters my reality warping Kung Fu. It is not like I'm at enough of a disadvantage by trying to make everything coincidental.

I'll react on instinct and punch the monster as hard as possible
I'm defending the kid on instinct but I can't defend him and purify him from the tainted chi at the same time.

I call out though the link and shout at the same time.
"Carmillia! Get down here Now! This is the Monster!"

OOC: In effect, short term Do usage will work. Enchantments and such, however, will unravel after a brief time around him without backlash. Also, as stated before, your next 'vulgar' spell will have a very nasty effect.

He takes a swing at you with that machete of his. It glances off of your skin, failing to kill his intended target. "I never fail to kill my marked prey. You see his death sign, don't you? You and I are the same, gods among bugs."

A snowball pelts him in the face, allowing your punch to connect, drawing blood. "Take that, jerkface! Justice always triumphs!"

Your chi sight sees something unexpected and new in the killer before you. There is now a great deal of green mingling with the black. His aura is flaying and grasping, seeming to want to escape from the person it is around.

I'll do what I can. The fire is dying, and it is controlled at the moment. How long remains to be seen. This storm is going to delay any incoming-get down!

At this point, you are all blindsided by snow and wind, whipping ice into the eyes of everyone. You hear a grunt of pain from your foe as he staggers back. You can barely see him even with the chi sight. Osano-Wo has arrived in force, and he is feeling very generous.

That kid just did with raw idealism what I have been trying to do all fight.

I rush him causing my fist to burst in Solar Flame by shouting my attack name "Blazing Solar Justice!"

Then I punch the monster.

The world pauses for a nanosecond, decides what you are doing is close enough to the Breath of Heaven to count, and your fists ignite with blazing golden fire. Your foe simply issues a fast and hard side kick into your ribs, sending you back into the snow. You immediately lose sight of him.

The kid runs up next to you. "Woah! You're a real life superhero!" He looks out in front of you at where the killer was. "Yeah, you run off, you big jerk!"

This snowstorm might make tracking this guy's movements pretty hard. Although it would make it harder for him to attack meaningfully against anyone you have rescued, it will make it harder to dispatch him in turn.

It is also making it hard to see whatever signal Carmilla left you.

I get up thinking
That worked without backlash... I can do this.

If I spot the Monster again, I'll do a double palm thrust like a Hadoken but shout out "Solar Flare Blast!" and  make the same solar fire come out in a blast.

I talk to the kid and examine that demonic mark on him.
"Something like that, kid. The Monster will be back though. I when he shows up I need you to keep me between You and him."

Martial artist in various media have been shown to be able to sense killing intent from others.
Therefore I should be able to. I'll open my mind to sense the killing intent form others and hopefully sense an attack against the kid before it is launched.

He just shakes his head in approval, and packs up another snowball. "If he takes a while, I'll make this one an iceball special. That'll show him!" He does get to your back, though.

You hear a loud horn honking, and you dimly see headlights from next to where the church should be at. You think you hear 'get in' being yelled, but its hard to hear over the storm, and the occasional thunder.

You open your mind to sense the desire to kill, and once you do that, it's pretty clear which direction he is in. You see the snowflakes, shifting in the air all focusing on the kid behind you. You then notice those particular snowflakes are moving from your back. He is behind you. "HELL SPITE BLAST!"

Which means you are not surprised when another of those multicolored blasts fire off behind you aimed at your new sidekick. You have very little time to react, though.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:08, Sun 14 Feb 2016.

I shove the kid out of the way and counter his fire blast with my own fire blast.
I double palm thrust shouting out "SOLAR FLARE BLAST!" and then Fire a blast of solar fire.


OOC:Let's have a Beam-o-War!
This message was last edited by the player at 03:10, Sun 14 Feb 2016.

The universe pauses again, and while the name isn't even close, it's already decided you know the basics of Breath of Heaven, shrugs lazily and allows it. Perhaps there is a spirit in charge of such things which doesn't like your opponent, and was discouraged from judging against you too harshly...

You do, however, sense the weight of the universe slightly tipping against you. Your projectile clashes with his own, blazing corona of gold, violet and white clashing against his sickly assault. "I will not become a memory! I will be the nightmare on the edge of the mind of all! I will-!"

He is interrupted by both your shot shattering his and hitting him, and a snowball hitting him immediately afterwards. "Take that, bad-!"

He is flying out of the snow at this kid, foot first, intent on murdering this small figure of defiance.

I move in the way and then smack him out the air with a roundhouse kick.

His snap kick has not even fully extended before your hit knocks him out of it, disrupting the flow of his attack. "Yeah! Kick his butt!" Another snowball is thrown, but this time the killer doesn't even react to it.

"Okay, hero. No more games." His eyes begin blazing green, and you see poisonous chi surging through his body. He is clearly preparing something.

I rush to him and strike with "BLAZING SOLAR JUSTICE!"
With fists writhed in solar fire.

"BLACK TIDE RISING!" Dark crimson power surges from his hands in front of him in a wave, crashing against your own aura, which is beginning to flicker golden. Violent energy crashes from the both of you as your fists collide. "I will BURN my legend into the memory of this city, and you will not stop me-!"

You both stagger backwards from the force of your impacts, and he gets hit with another snowball, as the kid sticks his tongue out at him. This distracts him from the church bus hits him full on, and he goes under the wheels.

The door opens in front of you. You see Carmilla yell to someone behind her. "Drive this thing out of here! This is my stop! You!" She points to the kid. "Get on the bus, now!"

He does so without thinking, and then starts talking. "You're the real hero, aren't ya, lady? Can I fight with-"

She pushes him into a seat. "Drive!"

She jumps out as the door closes and the bus starts moving carefully. "Did I kill him?"

You are having a hard time tracing him without the kid, although towards the end his killing intent was getting a little broad, like he was thinking of killing multiple targets. The church behind you erupts into fire as a direct result of bolts of lightning. Carmilla simply growls in anger at having more to do.

Is the body still there after the bus drives off?

"It wouldn't surprise me if he was still alive. We need to save the people in the church and get them out of here. Stopping the fire that my storm caused would also be nice."

In traditional horror movie style, there is one large bloodstain that trails off, but no body.

"Your storm?" Carmilla looks distressed. "What- never mind. Let's go! I know that building. There should be fire extinguishers and fire axes on the lower floors. Bring them up and tell people to stay calm. I'll deal with it at the source and try to buy you time!"

And with that, she goes straight up to the rooftop of the cathedral in front of you.

I'll go into the building and look for the fire axes, the fire extinguishers and the people.

The people are not hard to find, as they are around the door, and the fire axe and the extinguisher are in the same location; both behind glass.

One of them homeless, a large man with a long unkempt beard, tentatively approaches you. "Is...everyone okay? People are being killed in here and out there."

Another man, a thin man who looks sickly both in appearance and chi, yells out. "I'm telling you, the Rime City Ripper is behind all this! He has crawled out of hell itself once again to torment and kill us, and this church will not stop him! We are all going to die here!"

People are starting to cry in despair at this man's words. No one really knows how to rebuke him.

I radiat self conference and authority.
"You Are joing to die if you don't shut up and listen to me! This building is on fire and there is a killer on the loose. I've been fighting him but I can only do one thing at a time. I need your help to save the church. How many other people are in here? I'll defend all of you to the best of my abilities. So will you step up and change your fates or will you let the fire and killer get you?"

I'm keeping an eye oug for the Monster and for any signs of killing intent that would give him away.

You feel a tingle of backlash build, but not much. Apparently you are using Do whether you meant to or not, and it's helping. A priest in the back speaks up. "You heard the man. Apparently, the building is on fire, and we need to put it out. The fire department can't make it here in this weather, so it's up to us. Fill up buckets of water everyone! Use the soup pots!"

All they need is to be led to the fire above. The priest knows the way up the stairs. You hear crashing above, followed by lots of vigorous cursing. That pessimistic man from earlier comments again. "The devil itself is in the rafters, daring us to pursue."

An old lady retorts optimistically. "Perhaps he's frustrated?" There is some nervous laughter at this.

You think you know who that is swearing up a storm.

I point to the pessimistic man
"You, Pessimist! You are no longer allowed to talk. I recognise that cursing and it is no devil. Let's find the source of the fire up here."

I'm looking for a way outside with Carmillia or a way to the source of the fire.

You make your way up and solve both problems. You see Carmilla firing her grappling hook at chucks of the wall and ceiling in an attempt to make firebreaks. She is simply slinging the flaming embers off the rooftops into the streets below, where the wind and snow take them apart. She is covered in soot.

"You know..." she sounds very irritated, and when she turns to you and the crowd following you, her eyes are glowing red both from her own nature and the chi she is expending. "if this storm answers to you, why-"

She pauses as she notices the crowd. "...hi."

"Is it the killer?" It's that lady who spoke up earlier. A ripple of discord goes through the crowd.

This time it's the pessimist who answered. "Nah. This one is different. I know of the red-eyed savior of the streets, but I thought it was crazy talk. Never thought I'd meet the drinker of souls in person."

That doesn't really put anyone at ease, and they are wondering why HE is finally so much at ease. So, more confusion than panic. As for Carmilla, she looks back quickly and pulls another piece of the wall and ceiling out, launching it. "Fire. Now."

The fire is very quickly dealt with, between you keeping calm, the priest providing leadership, and Carmilla tearing everything apart. The snow getting in also helps.

Now everyone is tired, and rather awkward in awe as they are in the presence of...well, an urban legend.

After we put out the fire I say

"You know. I expected him to show up while we where taken care of this...Ok. We need to get everyone to safety somewhere else."

I walk over to Carmillia and whisper
"I'll explain about the storm later."

Her eyes dim out, and she nods her head. "Let's find this Rime City Killer impersonator. I say 'impersonator' because I know for a fact the real one died, and this one doesn't take trophies." She points to the pessimistic one. "Shut up, Karl. I already know your thoughts on the issue, and I know you are wrong."

Karl, as she called him, looks rather surprised at her. "You know who I am-?"

"I know a lot of things, not the least of which is the name of everyone in this building. Carmilla, remember?" She walks out of one of the holes she made into the howling wind. She shouts back to you. "I'm going down. I'll see you below. Handle things here, and we will pursue him together once we meet up again."

The others look from where she was back to you. They are too exhausted to think on their own, and to them, that was just too strange.

About how many people are with me?

"Ok. The other group of people left on a church bus. Do you have another bus you guys can use? If not maybe we can use the vehicles that the people from out of town came in on."

The priest looks at you. "We don't have another bus, although our supply trucks aren't far from here. They wouldn't be comfortable, but they would get us out of this weather." You hear creaking from the church. "And I don't think we should be in this building much longer anyways. Everyone, let's get out of here!"

Half of your formed crowd of thirty people had already left before the priest finished his speech. Below, you have around two hundred people left. With the supply trucks being close, organizing an effort to get everyone out is difficult, but not inhumanly so.

When you exit out the front, Carmilla is waiting not far. "He shouldn't be hard to track, even in this weather. We can follow the deaths right to him. And Magnus, draw your blade. I don't think fists and feet are going to hurt this guy much."

"Still, good work. Anyone else would probably be dead."

I draw my Zweihander.

"Thank you Carmillia. I'm sorry about the storm... I wasn't expecting the god I contacted to be so powerful or enthusiastic. Anyway let's go and find this Monster."

"You contacted one of the gods? I suppose I shouldn't be surprised." She draws a pair of knives. "Still, if you got one of the big ones, they have colossal egos. They really want mortal worship again, and often get a little out of hand doing it. This is why the Shinma and their bureaucracy can be just as bad as the demons. At least the demons don't pretend they-"

A massive explosion can be seen as an orange haze. At this point, the wind halts. The snow falls straight down, and you feel the strangest sensation of chi pulling itself towards a central point. The snowfall and wind change direction towards the explosion, and a powerful ripple of terror floods your mind. With you, it finds no purchase, but Carmilla screams, clutching her head in pain.

She sticks one of her hands at you palm out as she falls back against a wall, gasping. "Don't worry...get to...him...now! I'll...catch up. You...will need...my help. Just...stall."

I Charge towards the Explosion.

You notice something which should bother you a lot: the site you are charging towards is a wound in existence itself. All of the chi surrounding this site, magic, psychic, even physically remaining there for a prolonged time, it is poisonous to body and soul alike. Even without a backlash, any power usage is going to hurt you, although you are definitely able to take quite a few hits from this before it kills you.

When you make it to the site, you see the wreckage of a bus, crashed into a building as a twisted wreck, the fires having turned blue and faded out. These flames give no light, though. They are throwing shadows out, and the snow is flickering away in small puffs. You faintly hear the screams of tiny gods as they flee or die, and you hear faint, spiteful laughter on the wind blowing around you.

You then see the killer himself, wreathed in a shimmering aura of hateful venomous power. "So, hollow man, you come for me again. To avenge the brat, I presume? Spoke of justice right to the end."

He sneers at you. "What a stupid and dead child."

I see red when the child's death is apparent.
I charge with a spear like trust of my zwiehander. Followed by a low swing aimed at his legs.

He no longer has the machete, but he parries your blade strikes with the flat of his palm, calmly whispering to you. His voice now has a slight echo to it. "My power might be boosted by demons and drugs, but it is real enough without them, hollow man. I don't need to resort to cheap tricks, unlike you. You have no power that is truly your own, do you? I see the monstrous god that fuels your power, and he is a glorious beast."

He gives you a vicious forward kick to the chest as you try to go low on him, staggering you backwards and knocking the wind out of you with the power of his hit. "This will be fun. I've never killed a god before."

He takes a long step forward, and prepares to issue that kick to you that he tried to kill the child with earlier.

I Laugh out loud.
"You can't see anything can you?"

I rush past him cutting into him as I pass.

"Still. It doesn't matter if you can see or not. Because...
I Will KILL YOU!"

His strike glances off of your still reinforced flesh, and you slip past him, giving him a passing strike with your zweihander. It only grazes him, but it still draws a substantial amount of blood from him.

A knife flies out of the snow and he barely dodges it, slicing his forehead open in a shallow cut. "Hello, angel. That cowl can't hide who you are from me. It's been fifteen years, hasn't it?"

Carmilla draws another knife, and adopts a Wing Chun stance, awaiting your next move. "Can it. You aren't the real Rime City Killer, and we both know it. I saw him die in a botched execution, dying as nightmarishly as he lived."

He smiles. "It was beautiful, wasn't it?" He seems to ready an attack of his own, and the world draws in around him, pulling more power to him.

What does my chi sight see about him?

I surround my blade with 'Destruction' and 'Entropy'
And shout out "Void Blade Strike!"

Then I strike him with my sword.

You both move in on him from two directions, and he focuses on you. He steps into the arc of your strike with inhuman speed, catches your wrist and you suddenly find yourself hurling into the ground behind him, looking out from a crater with cracks in it in the shape of a serpentine dragon. Carmilla's attack misses, due to surprise at having to dodge you all of a sudden.

That hurt you, and you swear you felt something give out in your torso. Breathing hurts now, and the poisoned chi around him has made you feel a bit ill, throwing off your recovery.

"I'll never forget your eyes, angel. That look you gave me. Remember?"

She stops advancing, stunned as she seems to recall something as you get up. "You ARE Jack Sullivan. That's not possible."

He starts slipping away, and he give out another of those pulses which again causes her to double over in pain, although she glares at him this time. "I have a new game for us, angel. Try and catch me."

He runs while the two of you recover. She slams her fist into the ground, tears flowing. She staggers up, and offers you a knife-free hand.

On the plus side, this man will be easy to find. All you have to do is follow the dying chi.

I take her hand and get to my feet.

Edit: wait a minute I was already on my feet.

I'll help her to her feet.
Healing it outright is probably a bad idea. So I'm going to ignore the broken ribs and use Do so that the wound doesn't affect me.

"Let's get him. What can you tell me about this Jack Sullivan?"
This message was last edited by the player at 13:41, Mon 15 Feb 2016.

"Let's move and talk." She gets up with your help, and will match your pace. "He couldn't have had access to the things he said in the courtroom, unless he can access the transcripts. He's crazy. He plead not guilty to the murder of my parents, represented himself, took the stand, and then, in great and careful detail, proceeded to describe every single murder he had committed. The judge was not amused. But he seemd to have a real hangup with how I looked at him when he put a knife into my heart. It was the only thing he didn't elaborate on: he said they wouldn't appreciate it, that it was too subtle for them."

"He killed over forty people before he was caught and sentenced, and since he clearly survived that day...somehow...he's probably killed a lot more people since. Explains a lot of my stranger and unresolved cases though, if he's still around."

She looks after where she thinks he is. "As for what he IS, he is akuma. A man with the blood of a demon in him. I don't know if he made a deal, if he was born with it, or what. I don't know where he really came from. His record is almost blank, and I think he may have gone out of his way to destroy his past."

A troubling thought occurs to her. "Or someone is burying him. Although why anyone would want to help him is completely beyond me. He'd just kill them. The mob tried working with him, and that's what he did once he did whatever he wanted to do. That was before his execution."

While tracking Sullivan, you notice a man running from where you believe him to be in an awful hurry. The weather around Sullivan is dying out. Fate seems to be conspiring in a strange way, as one of the trucks from the church pulls up behind you and stops. One of the priests gets out of the bus. "Get onboard the bus! The storm is dying just ahead of us, we might get out of this yet!"

"Carmillia, Do you think we should stop that man there? He seems suspicious to me."

When the truck pulls up and the Priest gets out I turn and Glare at the Priest. Making my presence known as a very large man in a cowl with a two handed sword.
This Time I'm consciously radiating Authority and Terror

"If you continue this way, You and everyone on that truck Will die. So turn around and save yourselves. The Rime City Killer is in there. And I must fight him.  If you are Stupid enough to disregard my warnings... I will slash all of your tires and knock each and every one of you out."

The priest pauses for a moment as power forms around you, although he seems to be considering fighting you. On the edges of your vision, you see spiders climbing up the buildings to the rooftops, like they have a task in mind that will somehow involve you.

Carmilla steps forward. "What Magnus here is trying to say is that you want to turn back because the killer is in the eye of the storm, and he is moving with it. The storm is less dangerous than this man."

Another priest steps out of the vehicle, an older grey haired man. "Come on, let's turn back."

They both board the vehicle when another of those waves washes over the area. Everyone who isn't Carmilla and yourself at least flinches from this one, and several people are clearly on the verge of cracking and having a nervous breakdown. Carmilla is just getting coldly furious.

The eye of the storm falls on this area. "HELL SPITE BLAST!" The shot is not aimed at you, but at the panicked man. You have little time, and Carmilla seems to have suddenly disappeared.

Acting on instinct. I move into the way of the blast.
However. Instead of my usual of Meeting Force with Force. I'm going to try something different.
I'll catch the fireball with my hands using my knowledge of chi manipulation to compress it into a small ball and protect my hands from it. I'll use it's own momentum to redirect it around my body then launch back at the Monster with a double palm thrust.

This works only because of certain circumstances that have already been set by your prior actions. However, the crafters of reality are still a bit sore about you making them add a Shinigami technique to your arsenal, as well as your temerity in executing this particular Tennin move known by a name you don't know yet.

As a result, you catch the sickly projectile in mid-flight and return it to its source. The man you were trying to save scrambles to the truck, yelling 'wait for me!'

It is now in a split second you see what the spiders have been doing: they are chewing on the rooftops at his feet. Of course, they are doing this to all the rooftops around you.

The projectile actually dips a bit to hit the rooftop below him, causing a break in the rooftops as it explodes beneath him. He falls, and the explosion sends large fragmentation to the roofs above you, causing them to fall as well, and raining stone everywhere. You catch a glimpse of Carmilla behind him, sliding vertically down the side of the building to the best of her ability, one knife in hand.

You are hurt by the debris, but it is not nearly as bad as it could have been. Your arm hurts, your back hurts, and your orientation is not as reliable as it could be. The older priest is dead under several stones, having helped the others to safety. In a haze, you see Carmilla and Sullivan fighting. He gets up from the ground with astonishing speed, and grabs her while glowing with power. She gives him a fast stab to the chest in response, and gives his wrist a quick follow up strike, slipping his grip. He is furious, although whether he is fighting to escape or kill is impossible to tell with the enraged man.

One of those ripples of terror begins to gather in him.

On the plus side, you don't see pattern spiders forming on the edge of your vision anymore. They are not as angry now.

Sweet! I'm Still Alive. That Means that I can Fight more! and The pattern Spiders aren't as mad at me. And actually helped me out by getting The Monster down here.
Man I love that Iron Skin Technique!


I think entirely too cheerfully for someone that nearly got crushed in rubble.

I pick up my sword again after dropping it to perform that move.
Then I Charge the Monster, Surrounding my blade in Destruction and Entropy. Then I strike the monster Shouting "Void Blade Strike!"

He smirks at you, whispering quietly. "Goodbye, hero." He pulls a different move this time, channeling much of his poisonous chi into his hands, plunging his hands into the ground and tearing a portal straight to what looks like hell. His voice changes to a echoing roar. "OVERDRIVE: RAGING GALE!"

Carmilla for her part attempts to seize him and pull the breath right out of his body using her own powers, trying to stall him and weaken his power. The power of the blast detonates her away from him in a blast of black and scarlet chi winds that shred the landscape around him, as well as yourself...

At this point you get a message in your mind, a vision of you shifting your attack to something that doesn't result in a double hit, with you on the losing end. It doesn't really matter what you shift to, just as long as you do it, and with the knowledge this reversal will only work once this fight.

I take the opportunity I don't quite understand.
I rush through the gale right up to him, My aura of solar fire protesting me. I Shout "Purifining Solar Cross!"
Then I slash him two times in a cross pattern.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:27, Fri 19 Feb 2016.

There is a bit of holy power behind this strike, but the result is one that doesn't thoroughly wipe you out. You are smashed backwards by the colossal power unleashed, and you can feel the power through your iron skin, which actually shatters leaving several bleeding wounds on you. However, you are still standing and alive. Another of those pulses erupts off of him.

Carmilla doesn't look so good. She is not getting up at the moment.

"A pity." He is somewhat tired from that, but still standing too. "I was hoping she could personally see me kill off this city she loves so much. To kill you off, her ally. No matter."

He shifts into a basic Shotokan karate stance slowly. "Have no fear for her, though. I won't be killing her, not even to heal. I've already killed her once, and I don't do repeats. It would tarnish my legend, and she will make a fine teller of this day."

"Ready when you are." He is still drawing in power.

I shift my stance to a spear like grip with the zweihander. I'll then move up to him and start With a stab. Then stab upward into a overhead stance then come down on him like a bag of hammers in a downward slash.

He tries to slip past your attack technique and seize you, but you land several deep gashes into him. He recoils in pain, and you hear the first reaction out of him that you have actually hurt him: a yell of pain.

"You know what I saw in her eyes, hunter? Understanding." He grins while gasping his words out. "Most people, you see, when I kill them, it's always the same stupid expression of surprise, as if they cannot believe I  actually killing them. She knew exactly what was happening, and how much it would hurt. Like her fate was the end of my knife, and she knew it all along. She's my angel of death, my herald to the world."

At this point the ground shatters underneath the two of you from the energies you have unleashed from the fighting. A water reservoir on one of the damaged rooftops gives and flood the both of you with frigid water.

When it ends, once you cough the water out and stand up, you only know you are underground, it is dark, it is deathly cold, it smells awful, and he has once again slipped away. His chi, however, is leaving a clear trail for you to follow.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:15, Fri 19 Feb 2016.

I sheath my sword. It won't do me much good down here.
I can see well enough to navigate with my chi sight

I Take a bit of time to buff myself
First I redo my Iron Skin Technique.

This city's black mana is probably a result of the corruption in this city.
While Black Mana is an amoral force. I still need to be really careful with it.

Then I draw in a carefully measured amount of Black Mana from the city.
"Power Unrestrained by morals, Flow though me and Crush my enemies. Unholy Might!"

Then I'll go and hunt the Monster with my chi sight.

OOC: You know what Unholy Might does, Mentat. But for the benefit of those who don't play MtG.
Basically it increases how hard you can hit by a lot. and your ability to take a hit by a decent amount.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:42, Fri 19 Feb 2016.

While the tunnel around you doesn't collapse, several pipes around you rupture and burst as the metal transfers to your skin. You hear the walls and ceiling around you groaning as your entropic power courses into them. Then you draw into the madness that pervades this city, and you get a lot of power. Enough that you are pretty sure your opponent will not be surviving a rematch with you.

Your senses seem enhanced towards hunting this man now. You feel yourself moving straight towards the poisoned chi, almost like you aren't completely running the show right now. You find the hole you went down, and leap out of it. Ahead, you can sense the source of that poisonous chi, and you see a lost and unimportant little girl staggering around the streets through the snowstorm, asking for...something.

Is she the source of the poisonous Chi?
If not, the one I'm Hunting Will attack her soon.
So I will draw my sword and Hide. Waiting to ambush the one I'm hunting.
Once he shows himself he is going to kill that girl. then I'll strike and cut him in half with raw strength.

Edit: as I wait, an amusing thought occurs to my deranged mind. Showing him that he is nothing before my might. It fills my heart with sadistic glee. Therefore I will attack him as soon as he shows himself.

OOC: This is why I hate using black mana. The mental state needed to control it doesn't leave me very heroic.  For example OOC I want to protect that little girl. But I can't justify it while maintaining control of the black mana spell.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:44, Fri 19 Feb 2016.

OOC: Actually, you have more self-control then you think...it's just tied to the power.

You hear a mental voice as you move into position. You know, as long as we are being complete and utter bastards among humans, why not just put me on and do it correctly? I can focus the power of this place like a lens, and while this world suppressed a lot of my strength, I am attuned to the energies of this city. I can make you a god among mortals, we can take this city over, and we can make it however we want it to be.

Or maybe you just don't have the guts to embrace what you really are.

The little girl is crying out for her mom, you can make that out. You see an blue fireball erupt through the haze of snow further up the street. All that is coming from that area is darkness inter-playing where light should be.

My reflexive hatred of using the Ring almost snaps me out of the proper mindset to use black mana. But it does have a point.

Was I really about to use a little girl as bait? That is sooooo Pathetic and WEAK!

I am now angry with myself for even thinking such a WEAK thought.

I start laughing at how pathetic that was.

No matter.  I don't need her anymore. I Know where the one I'm Hunting is
As for putting you on, I would consider it if you didn't make me a damn COWARD and unable to properly Enjoy the Battle.

I walk to the Little Girl. Unable to truly feel concern for her but still wanting to deny my Prey the oppertunity to heal from her.

"Little Girl. Go and hide out of the storm. There are Monsters prowling tonight."

I'll start walking into the Darkness.

You actually sense perverse pleasure from the ring, like it wanted this reaction out of you. Long as you do what YOU want, "master," I get what I want in the end. Regardless of how foolish your ideas may be.

She starts following you. "Have you seen my mom? Our house for the night was destroyed, and she went out to look for help, and she didn't come back, and I just found you. Have you seen her? Mr. Bear is very concerned for her, and he's scared."

"Where did you go?" She loses track of you.

"I'm right here, little girl. Just take my hand." You hear Sullivan behind you. You can almost sense the smile in this man's voice.

I'm rather annoyed at the little girl for not obeying me. When She starts talking to me I consider stopping and telling her That I'm a Monster and she should go run and Hide.
Once she loses track of me , I am relieved. She was making me lose the proper mindset to control my spell. My nature was fighting against gust leaving her there.

I turn around weapon ready. In a split second I take note of two things. Is the Prey in range? Is the Little Girl out of range?

(I would rather not sully my blade with someone innocent like her. A proper Weapon of War like my sword shouldn't be used to kill something that can't even properly fight back)

I'll leap towards him and bring my sword down into an overhand swing.
Hopefully I get to him before she does.

He thrusts a kick at you, missing you but evading the worst of your airborne strike due to body position, although you do draw blood from his leg, and quite a bit of it. You do hear an unnerving clang noise, like you hit metal, and now that your chi sight isn't getting any interference, you see he's added a new color to his insane aura. The only one he seems to be missing is white. He even has the signature of objects going through him, strangely enough.

"I am so close to ascension. But you are far more fun than what they want." He steps away, and seems to be readying something. His voice still isn't raising, so something's got him at ease. "But I'm curious: my voices and your actions now tell me you are kin in a strange way. Have you finally given in to the reality of Rime City?"

You can feel his power trying to throw your sword away from him. It's like reality itself is trying to run from him.

The girl is close, but she has run away for now at least.

"Purifing Solar Cross"
Again I do a double slash with my sword sheathed in Solar Fire.

"Shut up and DIE!"

Your Unholy Strength enchantment wavers a bit, but it holds. He leaps back to you with a kick that lands between the two blows, sending you sprawling, although not with as much power as previously. He lands roughly on the leg you injured, drawing a small hiss of pain from him.

"I'm going to be back." He turns to leave. "You are a high-calorie workout, and I need a buffet."

Oddly, he is NOT going for the little girl. He is simply sprinting away from you.

Huh. note to self. This isn't MtG. Using Holy effects while an unholy effect is active can break the unholy effect.

I get up and Rush to him. Shouting "Shadow Lighting Slash!"
For a brief moment I move as fast as Shadow Lighting and rush past him. Slashing his hamstrings as I pass.

Not only is that not the correct name for what you are doing, but it's also not something you are technically not supposed to be capable of. You begin to feel that familiar feeling of anger again.

On the plus side, all that happens is that he evades you as you both slip out of the darkness and ice. At this point, your chi sense is all that is allowing you to keep up with him, as all of the street lights have been taken out between his destructive aura and the storm. You are slowed by the injuries you have sustained, but he's moving with a bit of a limp too.

So it is with some surprise that you are both blinded by a pair of bright lights in front of you. While it takes out your vision, the effects on Sullivan are devastating, as he collapses, screaming in pain and fury. You hear the sounds of a large vehicle slowly moving towards away from you, and you hear a *kurchunk* noise, of a grapple being fired. Sullivan is roaring in anger, and your chi sight sees him grabbing something like a rope as he is being dragged.

"Kill him!" Carmilla's haggard yell somehow cuts through Sullivan's rage filled curses.

Time to Finish this.

I raise my sword up in imitation of Saber and Excalibur. Golden Essence forming around my blade as I pour my essence into it along with what holy essence I can gather.

"OVERDRIVE: SWORD OF PROMISED VICTORY"

Then I swing and fire off a HUGE Beam of Holy Destructive Magic at the Monster.
A pale imitation of Excalibur. But it will do for now.

(Obviously Destruction is more important that holy in this. If I can't gather enough Holy. Then Any Destructive energy will do.)

You are able to barely summon the power you need from the people on board the truck. The name, again, is wrong, but since this is more acceptable to the universe, it's allowed.

You fire a man-sized sun directly at Sullivan. He breaks the rope with his mental powers just in time to attempt to counter your attack with his own. "HELL SP-!"

You can't really hear the rest over the sound of the explosion. Your hearing goes out for a moment, and you have to get yourself up from the ground. Understand this, human. This is not the Ring, but something else talking, with a deeper, more authoritative voice. Your choice regarding the girl wasn't weak because you were using her as bait. It was weak because it was foolish. I speak to you only because I'm announcing my price now.

This thing merits investigation. I'm taking this. Your hand reaches into your pocket and hurls the Ring into a sewer grate. Now, if you need me again, go to the dark places in the earth, and just ask for Octavian. You are a fine warrior, and it will be a privilege to break you in half for this affront to our cause, half-breed. Fare thee well.

Your strength leaves you, and you realize just how tired you are. You can barely make out Sullivan, burned and bleeding to death on a charred wall. "I...won't truly...die..." He crawls to the sewer grate slowly. "I'll...make...them...wonder..."

"I...will...live...forever..."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:40, Mon 22 Feb 2016.

Well great. I lost the ring for now. But first thing first.

I force myself to my feet and walk over to Sulivan. And then I start Stabbing him. Over and Over Again and Again.

He is just over the sewer grate when you run him through. Repeatedly. His blood isn't even red anymore, it's black, it's green, it's yellow, depending on where you stabbed him, apparently.

You feel a hand on your shoulder. "He's...really...dead..."

Carmilla gasps for breath. "Let...let it...go..."

The snowstorm begins picking up in earnest again, without Sullivan's unnatural powers to suppress it. Sullivan's body will likely be underneath six feet of snow by the morning, if he is left here, the only funeral he'd be likely to get in Rime City.

I stop stabbing him. Satisfied that he is dead.

"Can I sleep at your house tonight? I'm tired. So very Tired. And when my adrenalin goes away. I'm going to feel everything I did to myself to win."

She smirks as she tries to stay in character. "I...have...no...house...save...the shadows...of evil men..."

She passes out herself, collapsing in a heap. The grapple retracts to her gun as she does.

Two more people run past this unusually interesting sight, ignoring it for the truck. Parts of this district are beginning to fall apart, and you are feeling this sharply cold weather now. You have to get out, do something, or you will die of exposure and cold.

I grab her phone and call up Jevees
"Hello Jevees Sir. This is Eli. We ran into a bit of a problem with the storm. Can you send something to pick us up?"

The reception's pretty good considering the weather. A long period of silence answers you before he speaks, which is clearly measured and controlled fury, as he speaks very deliberately. "There is a hurricane that came out of nowhere and started battering the city. It's loud where you are, so I'm assuming you noticed."

"Get her into shelter. Now. Tell me where you are, and I will find a location that won't get you killed."

She has several fractures and deep gashes on her. She will probably live, but she will need a few weeks from the looks of those wounds. You realize you might need some time too. Your everything is starting to hurt.

I'll pick Carmillia up and carry her. Then I'll find some street signs and relay them to Jevees

He pauses a bit longer, presumably trying to figure out where you are. "What were you doing there..? Unimportant. There should be a small bolt-hole that she uses in her Carmilla identity not far from where you are. Go directly ahead two streets, and take a left into the alley between E Block and F Block. Slip behind the blue trash compactor, and there should be a brick behind it. Hang up this phone, and dial 555-2100 directly next to the brick. That should send a signal to open it."

"Do not tell her I know what she does. Learning that was a abuse of her trust in me. Now, do you need anything else?"

"Thank you Jevees. We are pretty hurt. It looks like we will need a few weeks to recover. I'll do what I can as First aid. See you later, I won't mention it.."

I follow his directions to her bolt hole
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 14:57, Mon 22 Feb 2016.

You have a hard time finding it, with visibility being disabled by the storm. However, after what feels like forever as you feel the cold moving in on you, you find the compactor he mentioned. It takes some time for the code to work, as you don't know exactly which brick to do this in front of, but it does work. The wall slides open to reveal a closet sized room with food, water, a comfortable looking coffin, and, most importantly, a heater, a change of clothes, and healing supplies.

You are sure there is more to the room, but you and consciousness are not having a good relationship. There is a button on the inside next to the door which says 'close.' Your chi sense notices the black mana here in this closet becoming sedate and controlled again, although only barely and with great reluctance.

First I close the door. Then I turn on the heater. Then I wait for a bit so the room gets some heat in it. Then I'll remove her soaking wet cloths down to her undergarments. I'll treat the wounds that I can with the healing supplies. Which is mostly putting antiseptic in the wounds and then wrapping them in bandages and splinting some of the fractures. Then I'll put the clean cloths on her and then put her into the coffin to rest.

Then I treat what I can on myself before I pass out.

You sleep fairly soundly. No dreams, save one: your avatar is before you, roaring with pride. "All good, barring that demon-thing, anyways! I hate competition!"

The other head speaks. "We don't really have a plan, but I'm guessing there is much to do here. We have a lot of work ahead of us. Chang..."

The large head interjects. "Screw the pacifist! We have enough power..." The dream fades out and becomes disjointed here, as spiders dismantle the dream, eating it for nourishment. You gave them quite a workout.

You wake up with her looking down on you. She's leaning inside the coffin, propped as it is on a wall. "There's not a whole lot of room in here, big guy. I can't really leave without you being up first."

She looks around. "Where are we, anyways? I recognize my own work, but I don't know which one..." She looks at you in surprise. "How did you find this anyways? I didn't have time to show you where I hid these."

I get up. My everything hurting.

"I asked a god of secrets. He told me where it is and how to get in... Speaking of which. It's probably morning. So I need to do something."

I pray to OSano-wo with both my hands together.

Thank you Osano-Wo of the Heavenly Flaming Thunder. For the Storm you sent to me and helped me save lives with.

"Ok, I'm done."

I press the button to open the door.

"No, wait-!" When you open the door, you see nothing but snow. It is blocking the door. Laura seems relieved, though. "Whew. At least it is compact instead of the loose stuff. Now, can you please close it? It's cold out there."

It is at this point you realize you are wearing a stylized white tiger fur coat and pink baggy sweat pants.

"I...I wasn't the only one in need of medical attention." She turns red. "And given you also got a nice look at me, you don't get to judge me."

I close the door once I realize that the snow is piled next to the door.

I blush at the memory.
"You are right. I saw more than you would have liked treating your wounds. Anyway. Thank You for treating my wounds. I think I passed out when I started on them."

She grins at you like a cat. "More than you would have liked? What does that mean?"

She doesn't wait for an answer before laughing. "Don't worry about it. I got a good look at you too."

"And with that in mind, you don't have many deep wounds on you, but you have a lot of nasty bruises and bone cracks. You might actually need a hospital. Not all of the wounds are obvious."

My blush grows brighter.
"...Anything I say will just dig me deeper into a hole."

"Anyway. I'm lucky I had my defensive magic up. It turned blows that would have pulped my organs into mere nasty bruises.
Still, unless I use magic to do it, this is going to take a while to heal... Going to a hospital might be a good idea. That way I can make sure the bones are regrowing straight.

... You heal faster than normal, correct? Your injuries from the night you met me are all healed up. So are you better from last night?"

"Not quite. The energy of Yomi Wan is something else. Everything else is quickly closing up, but those gashes I had to sew shut myself. Those bandages weren't cutting it." There is an impressive stack of bloodied bandages next to her.

"I'm really glad on hindsight Drake made me take up sewing and first aid." She started thinking. "I wonder if he knew I might need those skills one day. I wonder...no, that's crazy thinking. He doesn't even know what I've been doing for the past seven years. So why he'd help me train is crazy."

"Anyway, now that we big children are finished playing doctor with each other, let's get out of here. Get some winter gear assembled, prepare to freeze, and we likely need blood transfers. I'm going to have a hard time justifying this one..."

She looks at you with a smile. "If you have an idea, let's hear it. If it isn't good, we are doing mine. I'll just need you to roll with whatever I'm saying."

"Drake? Is that Jeeves last name?
Anyway you saw how well I did coming up with a story before. What are you thinking of going with as an explanation?"

"That's his first name, actually. Hates it when you use it. So don't use it in an attempt to get chummy with him. He'll start grilling me, asking why I'm tipping his name to people like it's some kind of national secret." She rolls her eyes. "He gets really sensitive about letting people know things. So, when he tells anybody anything, I kind of pay attention, because there is always a reason he is tipping his hand. That, or he's just really good at pretending he intended to do something."

"Anyhow, your idea will be better. I'm pretty sure of this. Let's review it so that we aren't tripping over each other."

Sigh
"ok. We where in another car wreck... No. that is overused now. We fought looting gangsters. no that would be admitting you where fighting. And most gangsters wouldn't be stupid enough to go into that...ok what he hell could have reasonable beat the hell out of me and you?"

"Well, I was going to suggest you went to one of the gay bars in town for a little...Christmas celebration, which is why you are wearing that, and I tried helping you out a fight with some skinheads, because I owed you one. Big mistake for me! In over my head again, but you are a really nice guy, and you deserved to be helped after what you risked on my behalf."

"So, how's it sound?" She looks rather hopeful that her idea is actually good.

"No, just no. It would be a good lie, But I refuse to use it. But it does give me an Idea.
Instead of a gay bay it was a Dominatrix bar... or just a Dominatrix who got a little too enthusiastic with me. Which explains why I am so hurt. Then I as I was walking well.. limping somewhere I found you in some sort of trouble and charged in again.
Or I was getting mugged because of how hurt I looked and you came and helped me."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:34, Wed 24 Feb 2016.

"I'll go with helping you instead of needing rescue again." She seemed annoyed over something. "Really, I'm hoping Jeeves doesn't grill you on the nature of the establishment you went to. I mean, are we talking S&M or D&S? And clearly she went WAY too far, and should not be operating..."

She realizes something, it would seem. "Not...that I really know a great deal about this sort of thing. Just thinking you might want to...look it up on the iPhone before making that story..."

She pulls her phone out in a hurry, turns it on, and notices something. "Odd, there's an outgoing call to Jeeves. What...um...what did you call him for?"

I raise my eyebrow at her knowledge of such things.

"I tried calling him for help getting us out of the storm. Unfortunately the weather was too much for the reception on that phone. And the call ended before I got to telling him where we are. Then I had to contact a god of Secrets to find this place"

"You know, that contact could be really handy. Let me know you can do that next time, and let me ask the questions." She leans again the wall, thinking. "So, you went out for fun, you got drunk, walked into a bad alley and needed rescuing. Still doesn't explain your choice in clothing, though. We might need to find an open store and buy a change of clothes."

She snapped her fingers. "That's perfect! We just need to get out of the door. And I have the-" She had just grabbed her grapple gun and noticed the busted line poking out of the front of it where the hook used to be. "Right. I don't have my all-solving hammer. I will need a new one."

"So-hey, Eli, are you okay?" At this point, you notice yourself drifting out of your own body, and getting a good look at yourself staring at her. Then you see yourself collapse in front of her. "Eli! What's wrong?!"

You see a ghostly, mechanical spider nibbling on something on your body, then it starts to go straight through the door.

I charge the spider.
"Get Back Here NOW!"

You follow it through the wall, into the snow, but your chi sight detects it quickly enough. It is holding something, which you recognize as the tether holding your soul and body together. It finishes eating it, but you realize it is something you will eventually get back.

It just chatters at you inquisitively, wondering what you are doing.

"Sigh. Please ask me before you eat something like that off me. You made me think that you ate something that would be hard for me to grow back. Anyway. Thank you for your help last night. I couldn't have done it without You and all the Pattern Spiders hard work."

I bow to the Pattern Spider and then return to my body.

I'll try to possess it like I did before when I partially died climbing Yggdrasil.

You succeed, and the last thing you see is her struggling to pick you up, while pushing the button to open the door. "Dear God, you are heavy. What messed up circumstances have me dragging you..?"

You wake up in a hospital bed, with an IV drip going into you, and a TV playing news in front of you. "The city is still largely paralyzed from the sudden snow storm, and the National Guard's response has been decisive and quick. Both Graham Pharmaceuticals and Karnstein International have endorsed drives to aid the needy and restore the city back to power. Miss Laura Karstein, celebrity owner of KI, has not been available for comment, since admitting a friend to Jacob Graham Hospital this afternoon. We wish her and her friend the best of luck."

You feel a bit woozy, but otherwise better, and you feel you can move around. You have a lot of bandages, and apparently your head is also covered up.

Does the tether between my body and soul feel like it's grown back?

I call out
"Hello? Is Anyone there?"

Well, since you aren't disconnected from your body, you are clearly doing better.

Laura herself walks in, real quietly. "Well, I'm glad to see you are okay." She seems to be in good spirits. Jeeves comes in right behind her, standing at the doorway like a shadow.

"You should be making a full recovery soon. In fact, I can probably get you signed out within the hour, if you'd like." She has a seat across from you. "I'm just glad we got out."

Jeeves speaks up."The road we will be using has been cleared at great expense. We will have to write this one off as a tax loss this year. Worth it, however, for the civil aid and good publicity."

"Sorry to worry you like that. Apparently I was hurt worst than I though.

How long has it been? Anyway it would be nice to get going."

"Less than a day." Jeeves was the speaker. "And I would advise making your stay as short as possible, given your lack of verifiable legal records, Mr. Bumbalough. We should discuss this on the way back. I have a few questions of my own for you, and I do not believe Ms. Karnstein has been forthcoming."

"Whatever happened to your 'no prying' policy?" Laura is asking this in a irritated tone.

"Two answers, I will give you. The first answer is thus: that only applies to you. I am not on his payroll. Second, this is the second time the two of you have interacted, and both of you have combat related injuries. I can tell the difference between a car crash and a kick to the face. I can also tell the difference between a knife wound and an explosion endured at close range, although of what nature I can't tell, due to the lack of burns or shrapnel."

He steps in and glares down at you. "You are likely a very criminal man, Mr. Bumbalough, and regardless of my employer's wishes, you will answer my questions when I ask them. This has become a safety issue."

Laura doesn't seem to know how to answer that. You can tell she's holding back from saying something, though.

"I told you he didn't believe us, Laura."

I turn my attention back to Jeeves and smile at him.

"Perceptive, Very Perceptive Mr. Jeeves. You are a very smart and well trained man. Since you can read men like an open book. I wont even bother trying to lie. There are two problems with this though. One: it is obvious that there are some things that Ms. Karnstein wants to keep secret. And I will not tell them without her permission. Two: You probably will not believe me when I'm telling the truth. Or you will believe that I'm crazy. Doesn't matter too much to me. Anyway, we are getting into things we need to discuss in the car. Shall we get going?"

"So you discussed this idea of deceiving me in advance?" He looked to Laura. "I'd be upset at this, but it does mean you're thinking ahead. Do that more often, both of you."

He pointed to a package in a chair by the doorway. "There is a change of clothes in there that should fit you, and help you look respectable. Once you put them on, we can leave, and you can realize when you talk to me in the car, that I already doubt the sanity of a man who wanders the worst part of Rime City armed with a two-handed sword like he hasn't realized the invention of something called a 'gun.'"

"Hey! This loon saved my life!" Laura is definitely objecting to something at this point, even if she isn't sure what.

"I await hearing this story. I'll warm up the limo for you both." Jeeves is leaving without further discussion.

"Excuse me. Jeeves and I need to talk for a moment." Laura leaves as well, in a bit of a hurry.

The change of clothes is a plain black suit that when assembled make you wonder if you are about to defend the earth and wipe people's memories. It's a bit large, the pant's legs need to be rolled up a bit, and you need the belt that was included, but he's otherwise rather close to your size. The shoes are also spot on, a set of high durability dress shoes, should you choose to wear them. The tie is a snap-on tie that conceals that it is not supposed to attach like that.

You also have a new vision: everyone around you going mad with rage, attacking whatever they don't like with reckless abandon.

Your way out of the hospital seems clear enough, with the usual cheerful 'good-bye' coming from the nurses, doctors, and assorted orderlies. The security here is sparse. And, as promised, the limo will be ready when you are.

I'll enter the limo and say
"Agent B reporting for duty. Where is my Neuralizer and Noisy Cricket? "

After the joke I'll say
"So Mr. Jeeves. What is your first question? "

Jeeves starts up the vehicle, but keeps the window separating himself from the two of you down. "Well, before we begin, Ms. Karnstein has informed me I may have been out of line in the hospital. It will not happen twice. Personal insults and implications will stop unless invited. You did get her out of a dangerous situation on two occasions by my count, and I am grateful for that."

She tipped her head. "Two? I got him out of last night's mess, not the other way around."

Jeeves doesn't address his slip. "With that in mind, you may have your neuralizer and noisy cricket when you grow up."

He asks his question at the first stop light he encounters. "Who are you? Your records under your established name do not exist, but you speak with such ease about who you are."

"Heh. Sorry about the joke. I couldn't resist once I saw the suit. This is a very nice suit by the way. I can't ever find one that fits me."

I reply to his question with

"So you didn't find anyone by my Name in Tennessee near the area of Livingston with the social security number of " I give him my SSN.
"Well that makes some sense. With all the differences here like Rime City,your company, that other company and all the unrealistic unscientific things running around: it is possible that a divergent of me was never born. Anyway, my real name is Eli Ray Bumbalough. Sometimes I am called Magnus. And the reason you couldn't find anything on me is because I didn't exist here two or three days ago."

Jeeves absorbs what you were saying. "I already knew you were from out of town. Perhaps you could elaborate on, 'didn't exist.' Unless that's the crazy part. Are you about to tell me you were born fully grown in Graham Pharmaceuticals' laboratories?"

"Jeeves. Personal insults, remember?" Laura's still sore about the morning, and has been cross armed the entire time.

"I'm not insulting him. I simply wouldn't be surprised. I know more about Graham's black programs then you do. That I don't know more is what bothers me about them."

Laura leaned in towards the front. "Wait, are you serious about this?"

Jeeves did not respond, awaiting an answer.

"It is the crazy part. Oh how I would like to go with your story of 'Actually a clone made by Graham Pharmaceuticals.' It would be much more believable than the truth.  Anyway. I'm actually an interdimensional traveller called a verser. Whenever I'm Killed I wake up in another universe. But there is no way to prove it. Unless you want to put a gun to my head and fire."

"A tempting thought, and more entertaining then it should be, but I would not really have a just reason for it. Nothing the two of you have done is anything she would not have come up with on her own. So, I cannot say you are a bad influence with any measure of honesty."

He looks in the rear view mirror, but not at you. "Ms. Karnstein, is there any shocking revelation you would like to give me, since I am to believe your friend is an extra-dimensional being?"

"Umm..." She fidgets. "Well, that does sound about as crazy as me being a vigilantethatposesasavampirenamedCarmillaandmoonlightsasafamouscelebritybyday, whichwouldbeabsolutelycrazyforapersontodoright?"

She laughs nervously, and then casts a stern gaze at you. "I think he's being serious in wanting to know where you came from."

Jeeves has a small smile. "Don't worry about it, Ms. Karnstein. I will drop my line of questioning for now. It just gives me something extra to take into account. Is there anything else you would like to drop on me?"

"He already thinks I'm crazy. Because my existence doesn't fit into a modern rational world view.
Then again, A lot of things here don't fit into a modern rational world view.
I could demonstrate. But it would blow up in my face."

"I have the strange feeling you are discussing a rash action." Jeeves seems rather calm about it, though. "Which is odd, because your weapons are up here with me, and I know you have no explosives concealed on you, unless you made them in the hospital while changing."

Laura just grabs your arm and shakes her head no.

Jeeves glanced at you through the rear-view mirror. "I've seen things that might make another question their own sanity, so I'm more open than you think. Ms. Karnstein has never asked about my past before service to her family, because she trusts me, and her parents never asked either, because they already knew, and they were satisfied with my resume, flaws and all."

"I've had a troubled past myself, sir. And I've got my share of secrets, too. You do not need to reveal all of yours to me."

Laura herself looks surprised at his words, momentarily speechless.

I raise an eyebrow at his words.
"Thank you Jeeves for not dismissing me out of hand.
I have a few secrets myself. I don't really like keeping them. But I understand the necessity.
So I won't do my rash action. It didn't involve explosives by the way.
Oh. Did you get all my weapons? There should have been a gun-like thing that looks like a toy. But is far too heavy to be a mere toy."

after the conversation dies off.
I'll take a moment to pray to Osano-Wo
Thank you for the storm that helped me save those people.

"I did see that." He glances to his side, to the seat next to him. "Looks like a sci-fi gun, straightforward enough, but the tech doesn't make sense or work. However, that's not what is odd about it to me. What's odd is the meticulous level of detail put into it, like the craftsman had a clear idea of what they were making, and they believed it should work. I wouldn't trust my life with this thing even if it did work. In fact, I've read that while guns are very effective weapons, they are niche ones; almost useless in a close range fight on flat ground. Make liberal use of the terrain, or use extreme distances to pick them off. Make it hard for them to close before you use it. If you don't..."

The vehicle came to a stop, and you realized that you had arrived at her manor. "That's just my inner armchair general talking, anyways. All British people think they understand war, so feel free to ignore my advice as that of a butler who never partook in battle. We are home, Miss Karnstein, and the sun is setting. So not a moment too soon. Tomorrow is going to be extremely busy. This hurricane means a busy schedule for us."

"Yeah." She didn't sound too thrilled at that. She gave you a concerned look. "Hey, Eli. When you get settled down and whatnot, make sure to chat with me before you go to sleep for the night. I need to ask you a few questions."

"Jeeves. If we have time later, I would like to hear your thoughts on guns.
I'm curious about that 'If you don't'

Laura, after I set my things in that room, Let's walk around and have a chat then. What do you want to talk about?"

Jeeves replies before leaving the vehicle. "Apparently, they close with you and you lose. I guess people are bad aims under pressure against charging people. Never fully understood it, myself. Again, ask a professional soldier. There will be plenty tomorrow, as the National Guard should still be in town."

Laura stepped out and stretched out, while Jeeves gave her a raised eyebrow that she deliberately ignored. "This and that. Mostly about events, and your plans."

"That... Is odd. Something is up with that. Yes, I'll need to talk to the National Guard.

I'll met up with you soon then Laura."

I'll take my things to the room where I slept before then I'll go and find Laura.

You actually have no idea where she is, so you just end up wandering the hallways of her home for some time. You end up passing a room where you hear Jeeves repeating sentences from a device, saying things like "the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain."

Laura you can hear before you find her. Apparently she is working out frustration on a heavy leather object.

Which will you interact with?

I'll go and talk to Laura first.

You've walked into a gymnasium, on that is set up with a small Le Parkour course, several wooden targets, a meditation pad, among other things, like the punching bag she is working on. She doesn't turn to you as she talks, focused as she is.

"First, thank you. Seriously, I owe you for that. It might not have been personal to you, but Sullivan meant a lot to me. So don't take anything I'm about to say wrong."

She is making that bag pay for the past couple of nights. "I'd simply spar with you right now to answer a question that has been bugging me, namely what is wrong with me? I don't need help as a rule. I've been doing this for six years, I know how to fight someone. Did I seriously just choke the moment I get to the very thing that is the reason I am what I am?"

She is hitting the bag at an increased rate, and it's moving a lot more than it should be for someone of her frame. "So what then? Am I simply incompetent the moment I have a guy hanging around me for an extended period of time? WHY COULDN'T I KILL HIM?!"

At this point her fist goes through the bag, causing sand to pour out at her feet. She starts pouring a scream of curses out as she tears her fist from the bag. She whirls to you, fury on her face.

"See that?" She gestures to the now destroyed bag, and she's starting to tear up in rage. "That's without ki! I'm not even channeling my shinigami nature into this! What happened last night? I should have literally been able to tear his heart out!"

"Well. Normally I would love to spar with you. But at the moment I'm still very hurt from the fight. and I'm guessing those wounds are not closed yet. And two, You would beat the tar out of me if I didn't use my magic.

Also Sulivan was apparently a lot stronger that he was normally. I think I counted like five demons within him. So he was cheating as much as I was.

If he was at his normal power, You would have beat him on your own.

I'm blind-sided by things a lot stronger than me all the time."

"That's WHY I'm irritated that I can't spar." She starts pacing around the room. "If you somehow win, you beat me with wounds, and if you lose, you can always blame the injuries. It wouldn't be a good fight, and it wouldn't answer my question."

She walks over to a bar hanging up, and begins doing pull-ups. "I. Am. Not. Weak. I am stronger than this. And it wasn't him having a bunch of demons in him. Something else was going on, something off. It had to have been."

She stops her routine, and just hangs from the bar for a moment. "Let me catch my breath and my mind. I've still got something I want to talk about, but hang with me for a few, okay?"

"Just...pick a topic. Don't care, just talk about something. Talk about last night for all I care, but just talk about something so I can think."

OOC: Forgot to mention, your character was released from the hospital AMA (Against Medical Advice) for multiple injuries that still haven't fully recovered yet.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:08, Mon 29 Feb 2016.

"I could heal my injuries right now. But the effect would be vulgar as hell and cause a paradox that would send everyone around me into a berserker rage and attack someone they don't like. Or I could heal with my other style of magic. but the backlash is unpredictable. I you want to risk it, it's up to you. But I would like to hold off on antagonising the Pattern Spiders.

Oh. Speaking of which. I'm sorry about last night. A Pattern Spider decided that the tether that holds my body to my soul looked tasty and ate it. I gave it a stern talking to. But I was unable to posses my body enough to help you.

Ok any topic... What is Yomi Wan? Something to do with demons?"

"I've only heard of Do. You're the first person I've ever seen use it. Some kind of ultimate martial arts that kills or destroys most of its practitioners. Sounds counterproductive to me." She's back at the exercise. "And don't worry. One, I rather enjoyed the chance to return the rescue, and two, I just had to make an improvised sled to drag you. No biggie."

She stops the pull ups, and flips her legs over the bar, doing hanging sit-ups while chatting. "Yomi Wan is the land of the demons. Their power is pretty strong in this city. You'd think I could find it, but the source is surprisingly slippery. I really want to say it is Graham's business, but the problem is he produces medicine and engages in a lot of effort. He's one of two reasons this city hasn't completely fallen apart. I'm the other."

"Lots of stuff that comes from their is generally bad for us. Yomi Wan runs a zero-sum game. Everything has a price to them. They work like this: the Yamajin run the show. The demons serve under them. Everything else is under the demons, except the Tennin, who the Yamajin for some reason, and the Shinigami, who are apparently upstarts who have no business in their perfect order. Those above owe those below nothing. Those below serve those above."

She stops to look at you, upside down with a smile. "Sounds like a lovely system, doesn't it? Can't wait to sign up and swear your allegiance to the forces of Hell, can you?"

"It's already killed me twice. Operating at the fundamental nature of reality doesn't forgive mistakes. or overuse.

Makes me want to punch their faces in. Which apparently I'm going to be doing after I recover.
I lost something last night that I'm not comfortable letting them have. It's an artifact of great power and evil that I was working on a way to destroy."

Sigh.

"It was entirely my fault that I lost it. I drew on the power of the city to give myself enough of an edge to kill Sullivan. But I ended up drawing too much power for the world to accept. I ended up drawing a demon within me. At the end of the fight with Sullivan it forced me to throw the Ring into the sewers. The Demon's name was Octavian.

I'm sorry I'm so stupid. That Ring is a danger to your entire world."

"Ring?" She dismounts, flipping to her feet. "Don't know what you are talking about, but I don't think it's going to be as big of a problem as you think, if it is some kind of artifact of power. I think the Yamajin will probably be too busy killing one another over it to really threaten anyone with it. And I want to say I've met this Octavian demon before, but I can't really pin the name down. Chang, of course, would know."

"Anyways, I have a favor to ask of you. I'm going to be busy for a few days, maybe a few weeks. I won't have time for my usual nightly routines. I've already put an inquiry down to the location of Sullivan's body. I want you to think about that for a moment, that I haven't found it."

"If it doesn't turn up when I'm done playing the good Samaritan, I'd like you to help me find him, and if needs be, to finish the job. I do not want to fight that...thing...again fifteen years from now."

She seemed to think about something. "We really need to get you a routine of your own. Jeeves might be able to help, or you could ask Chang. Useless though Chang often is. Jeeves will probably land you a better paying job. Chang will just make you feel good, which doesn't go very far in Rime City."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:11, Mon 29 Feb 2016.

"It's something that I can't outright destroy. Theoretically I could blow up Alabama or Rip the fabric of reality asunder. Destruction is my nature. And I haven't figured out how to destroy it yet.
That ring is very dangerous. I wore it once and was able to defy it for some reason. I don't think others will be as lucky.
Anyway, In a few weeks I'll be healed enough to go looking for it. It's not too much more effort to look for Sullivan's body.

I'll talk to Jeeves about a job. But I'll need to talk to Chang about a few things tomorrow,"
This message was last edited by the player at 05:24, Mon 29 Feb 2016.

"I suppose we can look for that, as well as Sullivan, should it be needed. Sullivan comes first, though." She looks concerned. "You don't think- no. I'm just jumping at shadows now. I'll get you to Chang's tomorrow, you can talk to Jeeves tonight, which is best, because the man is good at insuring he won't have time to talk otherwise unless spoken to the night before."

"Anyhow, thanks for the chat, and...hey." She runs a hand through her hair, and averts eye contact. "How do you think Jeeves would react if I told him...you know. He doesn't really like Carmilla, I'm not going to lie. Do you think I should just tell him?"

"Ok, I'll talk to Jeeves tonight about a job.

I believe he'll understand the reason you needed to be Carmillia in addition to Laura.
The man raised you like his daughter. One doesn't do that without caring deeply for them.
I believe you would make things easier on yourself if you told him. You might be surprised how well he takes it.
It's no problem talking to you. People like us need to find people to talk to in order to remain sane. See you later."

I'll go and find Jeeves.

She simply nods at you. "I'll do that. Get some rest, we rise early around here." She walks over to an area that looks like it holds a broom and cleaning supplies.

As for you, you find your way to Jeeves, still speaking. You don't even knock and he replies. "Come in, sir. I'm simply trying to continue speaking proper English, instead of that mockery you Americans use. It would not do for the Miss to have a butler speak as if he is in 'Joisey' now, would it?"

He turns the soundtrack on his phone off. "How may I help you?"

"True, There has been considerable linguistic drift for American English. Why my accent probably sounds like butchering English to your ears.

Anyway. I was advised by Laura to talk to you about finding a job. I don't want to take advantage of your or Laura's good nature."

Jeeves smirked. "You may have heard this, but there is a fable about a bull that had a gnat land on it's horns. After several minutes, the gnat asked the bull if it was being overburdened. The bull replied that it didn't even notice the gnat until it spoke up."

"Economically speaking, you are that gnat. We could probably support you indefinitely and until tax time, we would not notice you." He simply stood in place at a stance of attention, hands behind his back. "So, you do not need a job as long as you are a guest. I suspect you want one, though. How are you at general swordplay?"

"I see. I would say that I am fair with most swords. I was taught some basics with other blades when I was taught the zweihander."

"Ah. A shame. If you had any real skill with a foil, I might have work for you." He thought a bit. "Perhaps you could let me know what you think you are good at, so that I can give a recommendation."

"Ah no. I haven't used a foil before.I could Probably pick it up fairly easily.  oh well.
There is the zweihander but you already know about that. I've been studying Unarmed Martial arts for a long while and I'm very good now. I'm a decent shot with most guns but that is not my specialty. I am very good with a computer. I was learning how to program them. but circumstances beyond my control but a stop to that. I worked as a handyman before. building and fixing things for people.  I picked up some trapping once. I was also a Yardman for a while. mowing lawns, Trimming brush and bushes. cutting down trees. Sorry there isn't much to work with. I haven't had a chance to learn much that would be useful."

"Yardsman..." Jeeves smiles. "I doubt it was quite the job you were seeking, but we do have quite the large estate, and workers come and go all the time. It will also eliminate pesky questions such as 'what is he doing here?'"

"If you are interested, I can fast track you into the position. Hours are quite generous, and absences will be understood. Is there anything else that was on your mind?"

"I was a yardman for five years. So that will be good. I can always learn some useful skill and move up to something else.

Yes. there Is something else on my mind. The idea of being a nonexistent person according to the law doesn't sit well with me. Is there something we can do to establish an identity for me here?"
This message was last edited by the player at 06:33, Tue 01 Mar 2016.

"That could cause issues for us. I will be contacting some friends of mine on this issue. It will take a bit of time to arrive though. I don't trust the ones in this city. So my advice to you would be to keep your profile as low as possible."

His next look has just a hint of irritation. "Karnstein and Graham are both involved in a shadow war regarding the police. Graham frustrates our efforts at reform by lobbying in..."

He takes a look at you, and a small smile momentarily appears. "The police are owned, and not by us. Be more careful, both of you."

"I see. I will try to keep a low profile. I'd think that Graham is already looking into me. I would if the owner of a rival company brought a friend over to my hospital and he doesn't have proper papers. There is not much I can do about that though...

I'm curious. What kind of job would you have offered if I was good at fencing?"

"Don't have too high of an opinion of yourself. Right now, you are just a curiosity at best to the powerful of this city. Likely, they assume Miss Karnstein and yourself are engaged in a relationship. You are beneath their radar right now. And...Mister Graham himself hasn't been seen in public for over forty years. Not for a lack of trying on my part." He sounds a bit annoyed at that last.

"If you knew how to fence, I would test you, then if you were adequate, you could find work training young men and women who have too much money how to compete in the sport. That is in more demand then swinging slabs of steel."

"I see about myself being a mere curiosity.

That would have been a good job. Too bad I don't know fencing. Although I always wanted to learn fencing... Oh well.

Thank you for your time Jeeves. Is there anything else we need to discuss?"

"None that need to be raised immediately. Miss Karstein has probably already informed you she will be busy most of tomorrow, pretending to be a shallow but well-meaning airhead. Don't know entirely why she puts up that atrocious front, but it seems to work out for her." He interacts with his phone for a moment, then halts.

"Ah," He was simply looking absentmindedly at the walls right now. "There is that thing. You've managed to secure yourself into quite the position of informational leverage. There is one thing I haven't quite gotten: for three years, Miss Karnstein hasn't knowingly tipped knowledge of her hobby to anyone, and yet here you are. Do you have a theory on this?"

"As for why she uses that front, I don't know for certain. But I'm under the impression that she is using Obfuscating Stupidity. One, No one would guess her other identity from her main identity. Two. It will confuse your company's competition. They will attribute the smart moves to... whoever else runs your company. I don't actually know how your company is set up.

As for your other question... I don't know why she Let me know about both her identities. I first met while she was doing her 'hobby'. Then I offered to help her with something major and pulled through giving her that aid.

I'm not sure I like the term informational leverage. Sure both of you have tipped knowledge to me that would hurt you if it got out. But the idea of using it or letting it get out makes me sick to my stomach. Honestly I would force myself to go to my next world than let this out. Heh. There I go sounding insane again. Sigh."

"As I said, I've seen some strange things in my lifetime. You don't sound that crazy to me. Odd, to be certain, but not crazy. Don't overthink that. Just know what you have, and its value." He showed absolutely no emotion as he was speaking of this.

"And I'm assuming your 'something major' required you both to go into gale force winds and fight someone heavily armed." He seemed to get rather cold, like he was piecing together a report for an official of some kind. "I've been able to piece together a criminal that had enough physical strength and training to beat a subject to death quickly. He also made heavy use of military grade incendiary weapons, but the burn area is too small, just one body. There is less collateral damage than their should have been. I'm familiar with cremations: the heat required to do the damage that was done is nothing short of incredible. I know of no weapons capable of this."

He gave a look that expressed concern. "I'm going to be straight with you: the last time I witnessed a case like this was what made me convinced the world was a stranger place than most think it is. What exactly where you up against?"

"Your world is a Strange Place. Sure, It appears mundane on it's surface. But there are gods, demons and other strange things below it's surface. Your would is quite magical. Even if it Limits the amount of power I can tap.

Anyway, What we fought was called an Akuma. Apparently here, Akuma are people that are ether born with the blood of demons in their veins or they bargained with demons for power.

This one was cheating even more though. I felt four or five demons within him.

His strikes where strong enough to pulp organs. If I didn't take measures to protect myself. Well... I wouldn't be here. You saw the injuries I got despite the protection I used.

He wasn't armed though. Well, except for that machete he picked up for a while. Anyway, That sounds like his 'Hell Spite Blast' technique. From what I gathered during our fight and afterwards, It's basically a fireball that uses the energy of Yomi Wan. This world's hell... I managed to avoid getting hit with it. But I messed up and he hit an innocent man with it right in front of me. It killed him instantly.

It was predicted that this Monster would slaughter the innocent in the Bricks and cause a massive fire that would kill more. We stopped him. Everyone didn't get away... But we saved who we could.
All I can hope is that we cut down the number of people who died to a small fraction of who was going to die...sigh.

Hopefully he is gone. I stabbed him repeatably after we finished the fight to make sure he was dead. I though that would be sufficient. I should have destroyed the body myself just to be absolutely sure. How foolish of me. Her contacts haven't found the body. I know how things go when you don't find the body."

I face palm
"...I've probably said too much. I'm really not good at this subterfuge stuff.
I can see the need to keep some secrets. But is's against my nature You saw how bad I was at lying..."

He takes a few seconds to take it in before replying. "Don't worry. This actually explains a few things. You've been talking with Walter Chang, haven't you? He seems to know everything, but he insists on this pseudo-mysticism nonsense. Rather like yours, I might add. I'm guessing he was your source of information, which he likely called 'prophecy.'"

He actually sighs at the thought, rubbing his head like a headache. "Mister Chang does wear on my patience, for a lot of reasons."

"Still, you witnessed this energy coming from seemingly nothing? Could have just been sleight of hand, but that is interesting."

"So, exactly what measures did you take to protect yourself? Let me judge what I believe and what I do not."

Science, Technology and working with Natural Laws have their place in the Multiverse. Just like Magic and Mysticism have their place too. You stated yourself that no modern weapon has the characteristics of cremating just one person with little collateral damage to the surrounding area. I suppose He could have been an hyper advanced cyborg with an equally advanced weapon integrated into his arm and set to fire when he shouts "Hell Spite Blast'. Of course I would have immediately notice the differences in such a being with my senses. Or I would have noticed when I stabbed him.

So no sleight of hand was possible. Technology always involves using tools one way or another.
And he had nothing in his hand or in his arm when he was doing this.

Anyway the means I used to protect myself is a technique I call Iron Skin Technique. It involves reinforcing my skin with chi or magic so that it resists damage as if it was made of iron. For some reason here it has a side effect of damaging all the iron in the area. Must be the World taking a more literal approach to manifesting that power. I would demonstrate but I'm not sure what this mansion's support structure is made of. And I do not wish to damage anything here.

Yes, We did talk to Mr. Chang. He did predict that the monster would show up there"

"I see." Jeeves suddenly and briskly walks to the door, brushing extremely close by you as he does, to the point where you can feel the air passage of his movements.

He locks the door with a swift and well practiced movement, and points your proton accelerator at you immediately afterwards. "An incendiary weapon unlike anything I've ever seen before. I have a theory of my own as to what is going on. I've noticed both times you have associated with my adopted daughter, that she has gotten hurt, and you have helped her. She couldn't have actually seen the killer dispatch anyone because there was too much wind and snow."

"The Rime Street Killer died of lethal injection, one of many of Graham Pharmaceuticals more pleasant services." He gives a hollow smile to you. "It was botched, and he and several other guards died horrifically, but die he did. I think you hired a double, and he did his research well. This is known as the 'doomed spy' by Sun-Tzu. You sacrifice an agent without his knowledge to achieve a higher end. In this case, earning the trust of my adopted daughter and myself. Excellent work."

The smile was gone, and your chi sight notices very generic but noticeable killing intent pointing at you. "Unfortunately, you crossed the wrong butler. Now, I'm going to ask you some questions, and the moment I think you are lying to me or evading me, I assume you are stalling for time, and I kill you here and now. Am I clear?"

I raise my hands up.
"An excellent theory you have there. It's fit's into your view nicely.
It's also pointless for me to deny it. Because that would just confirm your theory in your mind.
Anyway you are crystal clear. What would you like to ask?"

"If I were to shoot you with this, what would happen to you?" His face is blank as he asks.

"If you hit me with that, I would die and disappear. It would be very painful I might add."

"Rather akin to the victims killed, I don't doubt." He didn't avert his gaze. "The weapon seems to dispose of most of the evidence of the deed, if my theory is right, so 'the law' will not avenge its victims, even if they could be persuaded to care. So now that we on the same page, explain to me any holes in my theory, and why I should not kill you with your own weapon."

"Unfortunately there is nothing I can say that would convince you to not shoot me. Because anything I say would sound like a lie. Honestly, I'm not competent enough to pull that gambit. Has anything I've done suggested that I am a competent spy? My lies are third rate. And My backstory is just full of crazy.

Still I do not fear death. It will be a shame to die so early here. So go ahead and kill the first real friend your Daughter has had in who knows how long."

I stare at him without fear.

He looks at you for what feels like forever. He sets the weapon on the table next to him. His face shows noticeable distress. "You are either running the finest bluff I have ever seen, or you are telling the truth. I don't kill the innocent, and I simply do not have enough evidence to kill you with. Just circumstances, and it is absolutely as insane as this..."

He waves a hand to the pistol. "This THING actually working. I tried firing it in a quiet place. Same with the longer weapon. Neither of them work. Some of the mechanisms just are not functioning, which causes the whole thing to simply not fire. But you actually think it is dangerous. You believe every word you are saying."

"And you have me. You are right. I can't kill her friend. You know exactly where you stand with her, and it wasn't for a lack of trying on my part to talk her into opening up a little. I tried to help with this, but she was..."

He quickly recovered himself and his stony demeanor. He spoke crisply and abruptly. "You can ask her yourself if it has meaning to you." He walked away from the door and back to a table, looking at an something on the table. "Take your toy...your weapon, and please excuse yourself, sir."

I wasn't sure that it would work here but I wasn't going to take a chance with it.

I walk over to my pistol and pick it up.

I walk to the door.
"Thank you for not killing me. I... don't get many friends myself. I rarely stay long enough to make true friends..."

I walk out and to the room they prepared for me. I'll take a shower. Then meditate for about an hour. I'm focusing on aligning the chi flow in my body to promote healing. Nothing too fast. But something to help me recover from the bruising and cracked bones.

Then I'll go to sleep unless something interrupts me

You sleep well that night. When you wake up, your wounds are well tended too. The house's energy cannot accelerate healing, but it can eliminate pain, infection...basically it helps get rid of things that make a wound bad. Your own energy, on the other hand...

You wake up, your sheets drenched in sweat, and smelling awful all over again, but feeling a lot better. Your wounds haven't fully healed, but you do feel better by far. And the bruising does seem to be going down a bit.

As usual, Jeeves and Laura seem to be up and eager to see you. Well, she is, anyhow. Jeeves is as readable as ever. "Anyhow, Jeeves and myself were just talking."

"I." Jeeves speaks almost reflexively, without any real tone behind it.

"Annnnnd..." She glances at him with a smile. "Apparently if there are secrets left in this house, at least my hobbies are not among them, even if he disapproves."

"Please do not consider this a blank check to worry me constantly." Jeeves was not moving his eyes from his work. "I hold to my stance, even in front of the guest: you should really get a new hobby."

She seems bothered by this. "It's a public service! Until the police get shored up, at least."

He gives his reply matter of factly. "Or until martial law is declared. Graham has been pushing a bill through the House and the Senate again: one that would effectively privatize law enforcement."

"Again? And on American soil, no less? They are really insistent on this bill."

I take another shower when I wake up because I'm sure they don't want to smell me when I'm like that. I'll make it a quick one.

After they say that I say.

"I'm glad you two talked about that. It makes things a lot easier for me.

But that bill is very worrying. It's sad that it's gotten to a point where that has a chance to pass. How many Senators and Congressmen are actually aboard this one?"

"Not enough to pass yet." Laura spun her fork around idly between bites. "Mostly the more extreme elements in there. You know, the guys who think every nation is secretly an enemy of the US, and anyone not native to the country is an economic burden."

"You might be surprised, and sometimes they are." Jeeves is pouring himself a glass of orange juice while talking.

"The point," She glares a Jeeves, but she is still smiling as she speaks. "is those are the main backers. Something more serious than recent events would have to occur for that to happen. But its strange they'd push for it now. It's a nasty mini-hurricane we just had, but it's too cold for civil disorder."

"Perhaps they are anticipating something. They may know of something we do not." He's now looking at her right back.

"Yeah, but how would that help them? They're a business. You'd think they would move assets out if something like that was coming."

"Insurance claims?"

"Maybe..." She looks at you. "There is something seriously off about this. Sullivan's reappearance, this political move, just the timing of these things. Annnnnd...I'm got word from my superiors this morning that I am now to formally cut ties with my identity. Again. This is a very stressful morning. Also, I got a message from Walter via pigeon. He should really get a cell phone already. The man still uses a ring-dial phone, for God's sake."

"Normally I shoot the birds off the property. I must be getting sloppy." Jeeves seems annoyed, and it looks like it isn't just about the bird.

"Don't worry about it. Point is, Walter wrote 'I want to speak with your friend. ASAP.'" You notice she's been eating really fast between talking.

"Could you savor this meal that I lovingly prepared for you?" Jeeves has a hint of a smile on his face.

"I am. Really quickly." There's a code going on between them, but you aren't quite in on it.

I eat fairly quickly too. But I'm enjoying the food.

"I agree. Something Bad is going to happen and they are going to use it to push that bill though...

Well, Once you two are done taking in code. I'll need to go and see what Mr. Chang want's."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:54, Thu 10 Mar 2016.

She had already finished up, and started heading out. "Done now! Whenever you are ready, I'll be at the garage. Jeeves, will you be show him where that is?"

"Of course." He was eating at a much slower pace, and he seemed to be reading both a newspaper and texting something on his phone at the same time.

Jeeves had pulled out the stops to this breakfast, or so it would look. Pancakes, sausage, biscuits, cheese omelet, orange juice and a basket of assorted fruits in the middle of the table. It didn't...'look' like an aristocrat's meal at all.

He doesn't look up, but he doesn't speak when he is eating. "Before you ask, if you care, I'm indulging a Twitter account. It is one of my few genuine outlets. And even it sometimes becomes business again against my will. When you are ready, I'll set aside this frivolity and get you on your way."

...What's Twitter? oh well.

I continue to eat.
"Everyone needs a hobby. I'm not sure what Twitter is... Oh well. Thank you for the breakfast. It's been so long since I've had anything this good. I also need to thank you for the sheath. I was needing to get one for my new sword.

Well. I'm ready when you are."

Small interlude later...

The drive to Chang's...is not as fast as she wanted. She has to slow down a few times on account of the large deposits of smow, and once gets stuck in a traffic jam, where you learn several Russian and Polish profanities from her on top of the usual American ones.

But you do make it. Chang's shop is covered in snow, and so are most of his vehicles. His driveway seems clear enough, and there is evidence of a bulldozer being used.

You hear him faintly from his shop, yelling out. "We are closed for today, and not accepting any new vehicles! If you have a vehicle here, I will continue fixing it as circumstances permit!"

Laura yells back. "Chang, you senile old geezer, you asked us to come here!"

"I asked him to come here, but otherwise yes! Come inside! It's too cold for me right now!"

I walk in.
"What did you want to talk about Mr. Chang?

His shop has a strong smell of numerous incenses all burning at the same time, and he is drinking a cup of coffee from a plain white mug. "Welcome back. Laura, I am certain you are very busy. Could you leave your friend here while I talk to him?"

"I really don't have anything better to do today. I don't really see why I would leave."

"Okay." Chang set his mug down. "My discussion with him is of a private nature. Could you leave your friend here while I talk to him?"

She looks at you. "You good with this idea? Something feels wrong to me."

Your chi sense doesn't notice anything except what you have come to understand as normal in Chang's shop, aside from the abundance of blue and white energy flooding the place as a result of the winter.

"I'm ok with the idea. Mind I don't think I have anything that private.
I have I feeling he wants to talk about where I messed up the other night."

Chang doesn't reply to you, and Laura offers hers. "Well, okay. I guess I'll see you when you get out. Give me a call or something, once you are done here." She hands you a business card, and heads out.

She heads out to the car, starts it up, and heads off. "Now, to business." He sits down. "Have a seat. What do you wish to drink?"

"Coffee please. What did you want to talk about?"

He pours a cup of coffee from you in the same type of mug he has. "Now," He sets it right in front of you. "Why don't you tell me what you were thinking when you called the Heavenly Thunder down to 'defend' the area against a single man?"

"I'm not familiar with the local ranking of gods. So I did not know that I call someone so powerful or enthusiastic. I was just trying to help prevent the fire...

How many people died as a result of the storm? As opposed to How many would have died if I did nothing?"

"Both at present unknown." He sips his coffee. You've noticed he likes a really strong cup of coffee. You wonder if he just upended the whole can into a filter and poured a pot from there. "Right now, the toll is in the couple hundreds across the city. As for a raging fire, who knows what that would have done. I suppose the storm was a preferable alternative to wide-scale and deliberate arson. We will never really know. That is how these things work."

He takes a second sip. "But...I read the paperwork that Osano-Wo processed cheerfully in. Why didn't you ask for stronger terms, greater restrictions in what he could or could not do?"

I droop upon hearing that.

"That was the first time I asked a god to do something like that. Generally I do the magic myself. So I have fairly Direct control over how much power I put into it. I didn't know that he was that strong... And because Of my inexperience those people died."

"Well...yes. That is exactly what happened." Chang seems fairly calm about this. He takes another sip. "So, my question. Why didn't you ask for tighter terms? Any god would take a blank check to do what they want to do in exchange for thirty days of prayer aimed at them. Normally he asks for harder terms, but it seems your...signature...has a bit of weight up there. Which is why you could have asked for more. Or less, in this case. So, why didn't you?"

"At first he asked for thirty days of prayer from thirty people... But once he found out I was a verser he reduced it down to a prayer a day from me for thirty days. He also called me something. Shinma-Kin. That is not the first time I've been called something like that. But I don't know what it means... Anyway, I reduced the amount of prayer needed and he was going to do what I wanted. I thought I made a good deal. Only to realize later that I needed to add restrictions on what he could do so that he doesn't bring in a hurricane...Hindsight is 20/20...I know it's not much consolidation for the people that died... What should I do?"

"Well, at this point there is not much you can do. The damage has been done. We will be going there tomorrow, and I do mean we." He smiles as he stands up, walks over to you, and kneels. "The exact terms of my oath prohibit the fighting, slaying, or training of any mortal or Exalted being. Since you are none of the above, Steel Fist Chang is before you now, for the first time in years."

He gives a lightning fast eagle's claw to your chest, taking the wind out of you. It doesn't hurt beyond that, but you feel something strange about yourself. He quickly slides back away from you into a defensive stance akin to a Mantis. "Training begins now. The alternative is me killing you. Do you accept, or do I send you on?"

I Get up and analyse the strange feeling. What can I tell about it?

"There is no point in me rolling over and dying. I will accept your training."

I bow while keeping my eye on him. Then I move to my fighting stance.

"How shall we begin?"

"First, get some rest. You are no good to me while your bones are still healing." He drops his stance, grabs a white five-gallon bucket, and slides it to you. "You might need that in a moment. I have blocked your chakra. That is what we call the unique chi that makes Do possible, as opposed to the typical chi that is used by most. This will likely also plug that other leak of yours, making that out of the question too. It won't last forever, mind you. It's rather like a splint; it will fall off when it is ready. In addition to that nasty little destruction air you radiated, it was now doubling as a backdoor for a demon."

"So, you are welcome." The room does start spinning, and your chi sense overloads momentarily. You don't feel the urge to throw up, but the desire to sit down before falling is quite real. "Today is a day for resting. Laura will not be pleased, but you are needed elsewhere then her mansion."

I sit down.

"... Thanks. How long do you think the block will last? Will it also work on healing my bones? Are you taking me to Heaven tomorrow?"

"Heaven?" He chuckles. "I wouldn't call downtown 'Heaven' by any definition of the word. Most people consider Rime City the worst place in the world, and while they would be wrong, few places on Earth compare. And it won't help any physical injuries you possess heal. It is also part of your training in the Way of the Adamant Fist. I will do my best to make you wish I would just kill you already, which is why I need you at your best. Rest up."

He sits back down at his seat, realizes he knocked over his coffee, and goes for a towel. "I am getting rusty."

"...Way of the Adamant Fist? What is that? And what did O-Sano-wo mean by Shinma-kin?"

"You have a spirit signature that is close to the Shinma. All spirits and demons will notice this about you, so be careful. I caught wind of your deal with Octavian; tread carefully with that one. He's ronin, but still a demon, and still very dangerous."

Chang poured himself another cup of coffee. "The Way of the Adamant Fist is one of the most brutal martial arts regiments in the world. Those who follow it come out very formidable. Those who do not...well, their fates are never consistent. Some live, some die, some have happy lives, some do not. Most are still very gifted martial artists. But I am one of those that passed, and the first lessons are thus: when NOT to use magic. You are expected to be extremely formidable without Do. With it, you are expected to fight physical Gods made manifest."

"Thus, you are cut off from your Do, until you are ready."

"Who is this Octavian anyway?

When will we start then?"

"Octavian is the demon you made a deal with. We will begin when you finish healing. I have taken the liberty of setting up a humble cot for you. It is warm, and has what you should need to survive. I needed to dust it off a bit, as it has been some time since I've had a disciple. She was quite a bit smaller than you."

Chang gets up from his seat, coffee mug in hand. "This stuff is terrible. I should get something more acceptable for guests."

"That tells me what I already know about Octavian.
What will we do while I heal?"

"Do?" Chang smiles. "You aren't used to the procedure of healing. You don't DO anything while healing. You heal. That is all. It is very boring. Might I suggest a hobby or something you want to do while healing. I am sparse on entertainment, but not completely lacking. If you want television, I don't have one. It rots your brain."

"I guess that we should use this time for something useful.
I'm rather ignorant of your world. Maybe you could tell me about the important things here. The gods, Your Celestial Bureaucracy, The Demons, What is a Shinma. What is the Breath of Heaven? What is your Celestial Ladder? I guess I just want to talk."

"I suppose I don't have anything better to do." Chang pulled the bucket away from you, and sat back down. "Let's go for history. First, the world existed. No one knew who made it. The demons say they did, the okami and the ryu say they found it. Man lived in the shadows, from moment to moment in fear of his dark gods. Then the shinma arrived. They waged war on the demons for the future of man. They made a truce with both sides, stating man would be left alone, and the surviving demons could flee to Yami Wan and stay there forever. The Shinma set up the Celestial Bureaucracy as you and I know it today."

"That's where the gods of the heavens do their thing. They make sure we mortals have what we should have in its proper proportions. We give them prayer and gratitude in return. Normally a good arrangement. Sometimes they do their job badly and get curses for their failure; also a good arrangement."

"As for the Demons, they swore that if the Shinma were so attached to mankind, they would do everything they could to take the Shinma's new favorite things from them. They have been a relentless enemy of mankind since the beginning. They honor the treaties, but they will corrupt, subvert, enslave and, when allowed, directly assault and destroy mankind whenever and wherever they can. There are over fifty Yami Kings and Queens, but only a handful are of real concern."

"Once, powerful warriors called Mugen wielded a mortal martial art called the Breath of Heaven. The shinma claim to have taught it, but I do not think this to be true. My art is of the Shinma, the Devil Judgement. The Breath of Heaven is different, it is mortal and yet not. It is everything that makes mankind great and terrible. It is the power of the sun, stolen by mortal hands to tame the darkness and slay the monsters."

"Alas, these warriors have only recently returned. At this point, the only thing keeping the Yami Kings from escaping is how much they have all come to hate each other. The Demon Emperor continues to insist on his right to rule, the Endless Desert believes her word to be uncontested law, the Pyrian Flame believes no one should have free will, the Scarlet Wind goes where she chooses and kills at whim, the Marching Sea broods and nurses her hatred against all who ever wronged her, and as for the Shadow of All Things? Contempt of that one may be the only thing they all agree on, which may be the wisest policy they have."

"On the Shinma, they are otherworldly beings. Think aliens, only...not quite and you have the idea. Perhaps 'angel' might be a close analogue, but don't assume they are necessarily on your side. They have sided against humanity's right to live once or twice, and wrought great cataclysms when they did."

"Gods are...well, they are of the same race as demons, actually. So the rules that apply to one apply to the other with one exception: demons are bound by a set of surrender oaths that stop them from just running down the street whenever they feel like it. Gods are not; they have a different set of rules stopping them."

"And the Celestial Ladder is a martial art structure. Don't worry about that last. It likely will not apply to you."

"I've heard of beings like those Yama Kings you mentioned. The Pyrian Flame and the Shadow of All Things... In my previous world they where called Primordials. and the Exalted host was fighting them with the aid of the rouge Primordial Autochton. I didn't get to do much there. I fought their version of an Akuma. Which was an Solar Exalted converted to serving the Primortials. He used acid and tentacles. But I overextended myself with my do. And caused a glitch that froze time for everyone in a city. Then My Avatar decided it would be a perfect time to test me. But I refused to fight there. The last time we fought we nearly broke reality near where we was fighting. Anyway, another practitioner of Do advised me not to fight my Avatar. So I let it kill me. And solved the problem of the stopped time. and here I am...

Anyway those two sound like the two that was explicitly mentioned to me. They also said that The Primordials where worlds onto themselves. That Akuma called me Shinma-Spawn. Although that Might have meant something different there. The smartest solar there seemed to think that I was some sort of proto-primordial. Whatever that is.

It seems like there is interesting parallels between my last few worlds.

Anyway, What are Okami and Ryu?"
This message was last edited by the player at 22:56, Sat 19 Mar 2016.

"Well, I suppose that is how they were there." Chang shrugs. "Here, the Yama Kings are powerful, but they can be beaten by mortals. Two things tips the scales in the favor of the mortal against a spirit. One, a pure heart or spirit. It does not matter what the heart is pure in, be it virtue, evil, determination or what may have you. It is a savage force multiplier."

"Two, and this one is a little different. The treaty the Shinma and the Yokai signed generally makes any weapon more sophisticated than a Chinese repeating crossbow far less effective against themselves or other of a martial art inclination." Chang gave a sigh at this point. "This part is so stupid. If the Shinma wanted us to stand for ourselves, why take mankind's greatest strength from them? I am not privy to all of the treaty terms, but I have most of it, I think. That's just one of the stranger articles in the treaty."

"It works like this: if you walk into a gunfight with your fists, you will probably die. But! If they start a fight with a gun, and you have your fists, you will probably win. As long as you give that man with the firearm proper respect, you will, in all likelihood, live."

He smiled. "I have drifted, like a log in a river. When you get sixty-eight, you let me know how your concentration is. Shinma-spawn...sounds right. You appear to a spirit what an Akuma appears to you, a fusion between man and spirit."

"Okami are animal spirits, charged with guarding the Earth. They are usually assigned a sacred spot, and told 'don't let anything mess it up. There are two that I know of still here in Rime City, Mother-of-Flocks and the Rat. The first is a recluse, the second...well, don't go into the sewers unless you have a very good reason. He doesn't like intruders, which is everyone not himself or a maintenance worker. Still, he has fought the demons for some time, so if you need advice on them, and I don't have the answer, he would."

"Ryu are just what their name implies: dragons. There are five of them, and they hold up the pillars of existence itself. Fire, Wind, Water, Metal and Wood. Their bloodline has intermingled with humanity's and created the Ryuujin, who are usually ghost hunters but will often branch off into whatever they choose. They are usually masters of an element."

Chang seems to be turning an idea over in his mind. "They did not find your monster's body, did they?"

I tilt my head to to side at that list of elements. It's mostly the Chinese list but wind shouldn't be in there. oh well. different world might have different elemental lists.

"No, They haven't yet. I thought I made sure he was dead. But apparently I needed to destroy the body absolutely. In a week or two Laura was planning on going into the sewers with me to look for him and finish him off... And Help me look for the thing I lost to Octavian. I hope that is a good enough reason for Rat.

I don't think I'm that pure. But I guess I don't count as a mortal anymore.
And I don't think I'll be fighting them soon, Oh well.

I've heard about that weirdness with guns from someone outside the occult world. I was meaning to figure out why that was the case... That actually helps me out. But it is unfair to the other humans..."

I turn away a bit.
"give me fifty or a hundred years and I'll probably be like that."

"Don't look at the future. Only puffs of smoke and the certainty of death are there. Look at the present. The Rime City Killer's corpse is missing, you need healing, and Octavian has something you want back. I doubt Rat will care, unless he agrees with you. That is the hardest part, getting him to talk without ripping your limbs off. He likes doing that. Rat was bullied often before the Okami fusion, so he revels in the sheer power of his beast form. He is a vicious creature filled with hatred for humanity, only exceeded by his hatred for the demons, so tread carefully."

He drains his cup and sets it down carefully. "The world is not fair. Accept that. It is largely unfair in your favor, to be honest. Use it while it lasts, because it is also not consistent."

"Finding out what you are pure in is the point of Adamant Fist. You will be expected to fight a spirit without Do, among other things. This is possible, and that is all you need to know. The point of Adamant Fist is discovering what you need Do for, and what you do not need it for, which will surprise you how many things you don't need it for."

"Yes you are right. no point worrying about it now. I have other thinks to keep my mind on.

Who was your previous disciple?"

"Kat. She is also the reason I retired from the business you are in." Chang shook his head. "I fought, trained and mentored since I was thirteen. In all that time, I have yet to see my methods work. I have fought, and I fought hard against the city's slide. I do not know how it will be done, but I do not believe force will honestly help. She simply took my training, and proceeded to become a new problem."

"So, I am out of this business, until now. And that is only to stop you from being someone else's problem."

I flinch at has words.

"I... I see. I am a problem to a lot of people. I try to help but I always overdo it...
The black mana inbalance the geomancy here runs very deep. Just fighting the surface problems wont help. Correct? We need to find the root cause of the imbalance of the Geomancy.
Of couse you already knew that though."

"It's okay. Humility is step one. The rest of them are made up as we go. I've always suspected Graham or Karnstein as housing the source, but every time I tried to investigate either one of them, something always went wrong. Besides, you would be surprised at how effective the law happens to be around those places. Whoever, or whatever, the problem is, simply fighting it will not work. Or at least it hasn't so far. It's elusive, refusing to show its face or overplay its hand. It is also well informed, having an ear on nearly every wall."

"I don't know what kind of prize it would take to flush this being into a rash and open action. Not sure if I would want to, given the number of people that might get caught between it and it's goals. I don't even know what it wants, aside from Yomi Wan on earth, and I do not see how that would aid it. It's a bunch of contradictions, and whatever the source is it is maddening.

Chang seems to be lost in old thoughts. "Controlled pursuit of misery for all? What manner of being with such a mind would pursue such a thing? Even demons value order. Well, except the Wind and the Shadow's servants, and even the Scarlet Wind respects it to a point. And the Shadow of All is still in Yomi Wan, he is accounted for, slippery though he is."

"I have a feeling it's in the upper management of Graham. Hmmm... Yomi Wan on Earth. That... is an unusual goal to go after. How are Demons typically organized? "

"It is something called the Descending Hierarchy. Those below them pay homage to the higher ones, and the higher ones owe those beneath them nothing. Most demons, as a rule, are very caste oriented, organized in ranks they call Circles. At the top you have the Yami Kings themselves. Then you have the Third Circles. They speak and act for the Yami Kings, and are the top dogs of Hell outside of the Kings. The Second Circle are those beneath the Thirds, serving a similar role. And finally you have the First Circles, the rank and file of Yomi Wan. No one cares about them, but you should, because they have a wide range of forms and abilities. Normally, when a person runs into a demon, they run into one of these guys.'

"Octavian is a Second Circle of the Ravine of Whispers, who is a Third Circle of the Pyrian Flame. He is a Defining Demon, which is to say his actions define the Ravine. Last I checked, he was 'officially,'" Chang uses air quotes at this point. "ronin. Whether that is true or not is up for grabs, as he still has his title, even if he doesn't use it. The politics of Yomi Wan are treacherous. If we are lucky, he just wants this ring for himself, to throw into his trophy room."

"Demons work like this in a fight: kill the leader. The rest are often conscripted, and will then do as they please. This is NOT always true, so be careful. Demon apes in particular are well organized, and do not care what you do to their commander."

"They also value strength. To them, power is the right of the strong to do with as they feel to the weak. Protect them, kill them, to the demon there is no difference save whim and result. So," Chang leans back. "keep away from demons if you can, and be very careful if you can't. Even the weakest of them is a match for any mortal."

"I think I see where you are going with your logic, and I offer advice. If you decide you want to trespass on Graham Pharmaceutical's private property, know what you are looking for. If you don't, escape will be a stroke of good fortune for you."

"I see. The are organized like the Primordials of my previous world. Are the Second Circle and Third Circle Demons somehow a part of the Yama Kings?

I'm not planning on going into their Private Property without a plan. That would be very stupid."

"An odd question, but no. All demons are independent entities with a few exceptions. With that in mind, the stronger ones are less humanoid and often take the forms of forces of nature, like the Ravine I mentioned. That one is a literal cliff that just swallows his foes up. The Yami Kings themselves often adopt a mortal form, but they do not need to."

He smiles. "It is funny you should say that. Rime City has gotten so bad, parts of the sewers count as being in Yomi Wan. So, recall this conversation well when you are down there searching for a specific body. I recommend strong antiseptics."

"I'm not looking foward to going down there.

I wonder how a Second Circle define a Third circle without being a part of it. Oh well."

"It is a cultural thing. If you care to, ask them." Chang stands up and walks to one of the doors that leads to the junkyard behind him. "I have already set you up a room, so feel free to make yourself comfortable. Again, if you need something to help while you heal, find me and let me know. After you are back in shape, you will need no hobbies."

"I doubt they would answer.
I guess I need to talk to Laura. She is going to be angry as you said. I I think I need this training. May I use your phone?"

"By all means. The storm didn't knock my lines out, so that is something else good, I suppose." Chang leaves, grabbing a toolbox on his way out to the junkyard.

Laura does pick up. "Laura Karnstein speaking."

"Hey Laura. It's Eli. Chang insists on giving me training to improve my control... He thinks that I'm too dangerous to leave untrained. I actually agree with him on this. I'm sorry about springing this on you..."

"Chang's actually training you?" She isn't angry, but she's surprised. "I thought the old guy was out of this business. Guess you fall under the rule of exceptions for him. Still...be careful about this. As his student, anything you do will reflect on him. If he's training you, that means anything you do without control he thinks is worse than anything you could do with it. That's...kinda scary, actually, given his last student. Again, be careful."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:10, Mon 14 Mar 2016.

I remember that woman that Chang called Kat...I see.

"Yes. I will be careful. He believes that I'm too dangerous to be let loose without his training. I need to learn Control. and Wisdom. And... Sorry The implications of what I did are weighing heavily on me."

"Well, try not to get hurt. I don't know what Chang is like as a trainer." She seems rather apprehensive. "Heard stories, but I've got no proof. He only took a handful of students for personal training. Only Kat is still in Rime City. Tough girl, too. We've tussled a few times. She knows Breath of Heaven, which did not make fighting her much fun."

"Anyways, if you need anything, give me a ring. If he tries to cut you off from the phone or something silly like that, just use the payphone down the street."

"I'll try my best to not get hurt. Come and visit when you have the time. It would be nice to see you. See you later"

Chang mostly just leaves you alone, only occasionally entering the store. Resting is easy, you can barely feel your cracked ribs. You suspect it's because of the carefully crafted chi channels that run though the store. Either way, your are feeling better just from being here.

OOC: So, how do you want to play this out? Time skip, or further questioning?

I can't think of any useful questions at the moment. So a time-skip is probably appropriate.

Your wounds heal within a week. Chang claims incense, feng shui, herbs that he added to the food...who knows. The point is that your wounds which should not have healed that fast have healed. Cheng seems optimistic about it. "You recover quickly. That's good. You will need all of your strength for what I have in mind. This will be...a series of harsh lessons. Since you are cut off from your Do, we will have to be careful. Remember, you will not be able to simply walk off an injury. People heal faster here, recover faster, and that is your edge. Use it well."

Chang has made a point of serving balanced breakfasts, but today, he's has brought a large one. "Hope you like pancakes."

When you finish eating, Chang gives your first assignment. "There is a rusted crane in the back. I want you to find it, climb to the top, then shimmy down the hook. Questions?"

"What should I do after I get onto the hook?"

After his answer I'll go and look for the Crane.

"You get off the hook, and that is the beginning of the day's training."

The crane he speaks of is simple enough to find, but it looks to be about fifty feet high. And it's still biting cold out here. The wind feels like it could be extremely dangerous at a heightened elevation.

I'll carefully climb the crane. Trying to make sure I maintain three points of contact on it. Then I'll shimmy down the wire to the hook. How high is the hook off the ground?

When you are halfway up, you notice Chang below out of the corner of your eye. He has a stack of something metallic under his arm, and he is shouting up at you. "As of this moment, you are climbing as if you have a man trying to kill you. Climb as you would in battle. Let me help you understand this spirit."

He grabs one of the strips of metal and hurls it up at you, sticking out of the crane about a yard from you, blade side up. You realize at this range he just flung a used lawnmower blade at you. "Climb like you are in danger. Go!"

He throws a second one at you, this one closer than the first.

I laugh. This will be fun.

I go up much faster to dodge the blades. There is literally a guy throwing lawnmower blades at me.
While I don't actually feel fear. It makes me act like I'm in combat.

When you are going down the ropes, one of Cheng's blades gashes your arm open, forcing an early and rough fall from about fifteen feet up. Thankfully, the metal sheet you landed on has some bounce under it.

Chang runs over to you, and climbs up the heap you landed on with ease, gauze already unrolled. He has an expression of genuine concern. "I was a better aim once. No matter." He starts to clean and patch the wound with practiced precision. "Don't move too much. Let's see...only hit flesh, nasty cut though. Will make the next part harder."

He leaps down off the pile. "Well, we are burning daylight. You will not bleed out, and perhaps this will lend real urgency to your actions when you realize that this training is designed to wash people out. I need you face down in front of me. The scene: you are bleeding out from your arm, and need to get up. One hundred push ups, with a wounded arm. You may do them one handed if it helps. When you get here, begin."

I don't really care about the injured arm. So I get up and come down in-front of him. Ignoring the injury like I've done countless time in battle.

then I do the 100 push up with both arms. Pushing the pain out of my mind.

When you get to ninety-eight, Chang speaks again. The snow is still falling around you. "Stop. Your arm is injured. It needs rest."

"Now roll over onto your back. Sit ups. One hundred. Begin."

I'll do as he says this time and switch to doing a hundred sit-ups.

He waits until you are finished. "Good. Now you still have an enemy in pursuit. On your feet. Six and one half mile run. Around the junkyard. Choose a route. Begin."

As you begin, he speaks. "This will be how we start every single day. Warm-up, push ups, sit ups, run. You must be stronger than you are, and you must be conditioned. You come in, you are a diamond in the rough. You leave, you will be able to look at these 'Special Ops' as equals."

"Once we are done, we will truly begin the exorcises of the day."

I start running around the outer edge of the junk yard.

You make it the distance before he speaks again. "You are exhausted. On your belly. Two push-ups, one finger. Begin."

I try to do it with all my remaining energy. No... I'll put out more than what I got. I'll need at least that much to do that.

You fall several times before learning the trick is balance before power. With that in mind, several of your fingers now hurt a lot.

"You know, it is moments like this I wish I was training a group. I could introduce you to the log: a punishment given to squads that fall behind. I cannot, but I can do this instead."

He sets a five-gallon metal bucket of paint down. "Pick this up. We must visit the city. Come. We are leaving the junkyard, and going for a walk. We are visiting downtown."

I get up, Pick up the paint and follow him.

Te bucket has a strap attachment. "Until the day ends, the bucket is your friend. It is your constant companion. Give it a name."

You draw more than a few stares as the two of you begin the fifteen mile jog downtown. It occurs to you that you are literally running a marathon. He doesn't stop but he does put a water bottle with a straw into an open hand.

You make it, extremely tired, to the section of town you fought Sullivan in. Parts of it are still sealed off.

"Lots of poisoned chi was channeled here. Enough to summon demons outright. And look." He points to the cathedral that was centerpiece to all of this. "It stands, despite the arson attempt."

"Good work. Time to march back. We walk, this time."

You get back after sundown ready to die.

I name the bucket Mr. Bob Wilson.  Because that sounds like a decent name.

I smile a bit at the cathedral and follow him back.

I ask when we get back.
"Sir, may I rest? Or are we continuing the training?"

"You are done with physical lessons for today." You can tell he's tired too. "I have to manage my time better. Now I teach philosophy. You are encouraged to pursue your own studies. In fact..."

He slowly moves to what you presume is his room. You hear a latch open, and a few minutes later he has stacks of books on auto repair and heavy machinery. "I want the crane working again. So, read up. I will give you the first creed of the Adamants if you have no questions."

I'll pick up the books on mechanics and machinery and put them on a table and sit down.
"What is the First Creed of the Adamants?"

How to repair machinery is something I actually want to learn. So I'll dive into the books after the lesson.

"First creed: Existence is war." Chang leans back in his chair partly out of exhaustion, and partly to prepare for what he was going to say next. "I think you can already see what made Kat the wonderful person she is today."

"But unfortunately, it is also true. Everything can be distilled to a force of opposites. Now, this is not mere brute force against brute force. Sometimes a weaker force can, due to positioning, become the stronger. Strategy is important, and you will learn that too, if I have the time."

"Three ideas to consider with the first creed: your opposition defines you. Through what you fight, you learn what you are, and what you are not. Through your battles, you will discover yourself. Not just physical ones, but day to day living will hone you. If you want to manipulate something, strengthen it, or weaken what it opposes. Watch its aggression do the rest. This applies to you as well, so be careful."

"Second idea: if power is not opposed, it will destroy itself. A fire will spread until it runs out of fuel and dies, people die of diseases borne of excess, warriors without foes exchange their skills for useless crafts and become lesser men for it. Nature has several checks and balances carefully designed into it to stop opposing forces from dying out. Power under such conditions does not expand, but it refines itself."

"Third idea: power obeys strategy. If existence is war, than the war is perfectly efficient. All sides of a battle seeks elegance, a state where they can do the most, with the least effort. Look for that point of elegance, and either bring it about or smash it if it is to your advantage to do so. This has implications as well. Sometimes, rival forces can have the same goals. Power also responds best to things that allow it to express itself. Redirect the laws of the world, instead of crushing them with raw power. Be the strategist."

Chang reaches over for a used mug, and pours an empty pot in dismay. "I need to buy more. I don't know how much of that made sense, or how much of that is rambling. Again, I cannot blame Kat for all of her actions. I empowered her and let her loose with these ideas in her head. So, I wait for Rime City to correct itself."

"I think I've heard of something like this before...But I was young and didn't go deep into the philosophy.
It makes sense to me. I agree with those ideas. I just have to internalize them.
...I'm not sure Rime City will correct itself. The power that is causing the problem is opposed... But it is weak opposition... Ok I got nothing. I'm going to have to meditate on that second idea. It make sense but it feels like there is an addendum to it. I guess nothing stops that power from doing what it wants until it burns it's self out..."

"Probably that Nietzsche writer." Chang shook his head. "Good ideas, but they got co-opted by people he would have considered hooligans and taken out of context. I don't know if he understood his context some of the time."

He started rummaging around his small kitchen looking for coffee. "Most people do not like conflict, and I do not blame them. But, if you intend to fight in the front, you cannot afford a passive view. We really do not have that luxury, even if it looks otherwise."

"Don't worry about internalizing anything. Keep your mind open to ideas. If these ideas are wrong, point them out."

"Something like that, I've read about his writing before. I guess it doesn't matter too much.

I think I see what you are going for. Ideas must be in conflict too or they will stagnant and stop reflecting the world.

I'll poke at your ideas to test them and try to break them. Anything that breaks needs to be reworked into something syronger."
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 23:46, Mon 14 Mar 2016.

"That is the correct spirit. My own trainers have informed me in no uncertain terms that my 'pacifism,'" He airquotes again. "is unwanted among their membership. Pah! Perhaps they should try it, then talk to me about conflict and struggle."

He raids his fridge for a pound of hamburger, and pulls some honey out from an upper shelf. "This is going to push my budget past its breaking point. Perhaps I need to...hmm..."

He's lost in thought, before returning. "Forgive an old man. Just thinking aloud." He sets everything he is holding down, then turns on an electric stove. "You will probably begin to have dreams tonight about a very furious avatar trying to break out. There will be other images too, but those are personal. Sometimes the past, present, future or any combination roll into the mind of a person pursuing the Adamant path. Sometimes they are clear, and sometimes they are only recognizable on hindsight. Other times, it is just your brain getting worked up over nothing."

"Is there something I can do to help ease the strain on your budget? I know that I'm not cheap to feed...

You are right. I'd imagine that both heads of my Avatar are going to be very angry about this. They don't like restraint. In any form.
I hope that seal you put on my Do stops them from manifesting. I'm not very familiar with the metaphysics involved with Avatars."

"Don't worry about them. Eventually, the Avatar goes away and just merges with you." Chang begins cooking. "I suspect yours will show up whenever you think you might need killing, or whenever you aren't sure about what to do next. Who knows, though. It's your avatar, and these things are always rather personal. No two are quite the same."

"And you can rebuild that crane." He points to the books. "That gets done, and I have vastly increased income when things actually get done around here. Once I'm done here, I have some cars to fix."

"I see. I never was that familiar with Avatars so I don't know what to expect.

Would you like me to help you fix your cars?"