Apocalypse World: Bonesaw is ready IC

[Vonwalt]

And we are live!

It's a cold day in Junktown. Big surprise, right? Snow's falling, just a little gray; not too much ash in the atmo today, but enough to make you want to stay inside. The Lonely House, where Cackle's wife Sapphire works, is doing a booming business.

Sean's trailer froze up, so he's been in the Red Piston garage all day complaining to anyone who'll listen. Moscow, you and Buick have been getting an earful, and Stummick's hammer-boy Danley has been getting it worse. He had the misfortune to be sitting close to the door.

Lily and Smiling Jack, you're both there too, talking about cult stuff or whatever. Ember you're over at the Lonely House with Cackle, entertaining or being entertained.

Smiling Jack, roll Fortune for your cult. Then things'll start happening when Beef Hand comes through the wall of the Lonely House.

[Obscurejones]

"I don't suppose you've given any thought to inviting Ember to a service or two? I know I'd love a chance to talk to her about our beliefs. And I know you and her are... Well in any case I know she's close to you."
Jack smiles warmly at Lily. Granted he smiles warmly at everyone. He does it so often it's welded itself to his given name.
Fourtune[roll0]

[Vonwalt]

All right, Smiling Jack. Looks like you've got your surplus: 1 barter worth of scented cedar firewood, and your clan is partying pretty hard, each in their own way. But you gotta choose a want: Judgement? Or savagery?

[Obscurejones]

Things have been good the last few days. But Jack can feel the wheel turning and the critical eye of his congregation. Any boon comes with some bane. They seek Judgement now, to punish for their good fortune.

[Vonwalt]

Nice. Good to know.

[Vonwalt]

So Sean is in your cult, right, Jack, and so is Buick. Now Buick isn't that into it, so he's pretty much just quietly drinking, but Sean keeps looking over at you. He stinks of booze and weed and something less pleasant, and he's complaining deliberately loud, like he's trying to get you to notice.

Just, you know, FYI while you're going on with your convo with Lily.

[Plerumque]

Ember's sitting at a table at the Lonely House, drinking alone for once. He's dressed casually, in flannel and denim, jacket hung on the back of a chair where it can puddle snowmelt on the floor. The coffee has a taste reminiscent of the ashfall outside, but most people realize the appeal of the place isn't so much Old Gavin's cooking. Fortunately, it's early yet and for most, the less savory kinds of transaction are yet to get started. Still, as a professional interest, maybe he should find out what's going on tonight, though he's confident it won't be able to hold a candle to him. Ember stands and pushes past the curtain, threading his way through a maze of ropes to the kitchen, where he sets down the mug and leans on the bar. "Morning, Karla," he yawns to the hawk-eyed owner. "The clientele keeping you amused as ever?"

[Anubis Dread]

The bad thing about having a wife who had an illustrious career of her own was that you often had situations where you had a day off you wanted to spend with her and she was off doing her own thing. Cackle loves Sapphire, but there were a lot of times where he couldn't get her in bed because she was warming someone else's. Not that was was bitter about that mind. He was just in a mood where he wished he could spend some time with his wife.

Instead Cackle was consoling himself by steaming in the sauna, a beautiful lady of the hour wrapped under each arm. Though spending time relaxing with a whore or two was still a consolation prize, it was still pretty f***ing awesome. But as it stood he couldn't really keep it up for much longer. Funds were pretty low, and Cackle was pretty sure he'd almost reached the limit of the amount he'd paid off to the Lonely House in advanced for his patronage. He needed more money. And the only way he was going to get it was to leave this sauna and these ladies, armor up and wreak some havoc for money. He had the whole day ahead, and Sapphire would be working during most of it. It was the perfect chance to earn some barter... once he'd finished consoling himself. Which could take a little bit longer. Just a liiiittle bit longer before he got up and put some clothes on.

[Eonas]

Lily's lying down on his stomach on the floor in front of Jack, propped up on his elbows, bare feet dangling in the air. He hasn't got his surgeon's-wear on today, just a pair of white (now brownish-grey from the filth of Junktown) trousers. He doesn't seem to notice the cold. He never does.

"He's not... he hasn't expressed interest." he answers, in a high-pitched, nasal voice. "Not right now. I can make him interested, if I asssssk very nicely, but then... why would I want to do that? I am devoted to you, of course, but you know how very, very, very much I like my little boy. It's better if he sssspends time with me, not with... other people."

Lily lifts himself from prone to a crouching position directly at Smiling Jack's feet, and lowers his voice to a conspiratorial tone as he looks up at the cult leader. "You understand... I wouldn't want my precious Ember being all... ssssexually liberated, and sssssssh**. So tell me then... how much do you reeeeally want to induct my pretty?"

[Vonwalt]

Karla smiles at you, Ember. Her teeth are stained blue with something.

"Everything's entertaining, now that you're here," she says. "But I think I got one up on you, entertaining wise." She pulls what looks like a stick of blue gum or piece of taffy out of a pouch she's holding, and takes a bite. "You wanna try some Blue? It'll mess you up just right."

As for you, Cackle, you're back there in the sauna with Vikki and Treema, and they're kind of talking quietly to each other and giggling. Something about Beef Hand, who used to be one of the hammer-boys. He's out now, and he's banned from the Lonely House, you hear them say.

[Anubis Dread]

Banned from the Lonely House? "Wow, this d*** must be both an a**hole AND an idiot," Cackle noted. "Who the f*** would risk having to give all this up?" He emphasized his point by giving both girls an affectionate squeeze. Company was a lot more pleasant when all parties were naked and pressed up against each other.

Alright, he needed to get to work. "Spending time with you two lovely ladies has been great, but if I don't get some work soon I won't be able to do so again anytime soon," Cackle notes with a grin. "I don't suppose either of you lovely ladies have heard anything about someone needing a hired gun lately, have you? Like this Meat Head guy, nobody needs him offed or anything right?" Vikki and Treema seemed pretty well informed and inclined to gossip. They might save him some time wandering around town.

[Vonwalt]

Vikki pouts. "Leaving already? I was gonna share some Blue with you!"

Treema rolls her eyes, grabs a sheepskin towel, and wraps herself in it. "Pay her no mind," she says. "Karla got her hooked on that stuff. As far as jobs go, I hear tell Stummick's gettin' real worried about the Howlers, up in ravine country. Don't think nobody'd pay you to go after Beef Hand, but nobody'd cry if he was gone, either."

[Anubis Dread]

"Howlers eh? Thanks for the tip sexy," Cackle thanked her, giving her an affectionate slap on the rear as she got up. Cackle himself better get moving too. Stepping up and out of the steamiest part of the sauna to start drying up, Cackle paused a moment before looking back at the girls.

"So uh, what exactly did Meat Fist do to get banned?" he asked. "I figured it was just being rowdy, but if he hurt one of you girls I'd probably hunt him down and f***ing kill him just to make a point." Sapphire worked here, and all the girls were friendly. He couldn't let some a**hole hurt one of them and get away with it.

[Vonwalt]

Cackle: (Hope that's the right color)

Treema shrugs. Behind you, Vikki is chewing loudly on something blue. Blue juice is dribbling out of the corners of her mouth onto the floor of the sauna.

"Dunno what he did. Karla didn't ban him, though. Stummick did."

Lily:

So Lily, you can't really tell what's the deal with Jack, but you see something out of the corner of your eye. Sean's got a knife out, a piece of volcanic rock wrapped in a t-shirt fragment. He's waving it around, getting real excited. Danley is just watching the knife, wide-eyed, not even listening to Sean talk.
"He's supposed to keep us on the good side, you know? Now, things ain't been so bad, but he's been slippin', and if he falls, we go down with him, and we gotta make sure he don't fall. Right, Buick?"
Buick shrugs.

What do y'all do?

[Anubis Dread]

"Probably a good sign. If Stummick kicked him he probably didn't f*** around with any of the whores. I mean, aside from how you're supposed to," Cackled corrected with a shrug. He was kind of concerned that Vikki was on the blue, but she was a big girl who could make her own decisions. It wasn't any of his business until it started f***ing up Sapphire's life somehow.

Stepping out of the sauna, Cackle got dressed and armored up. F*** he loved his armor. He was way too big a dumb a** to build something like this himself, but thanks to sleeping with a brilliant woman he had a nice set of bad a** custom made armor. He'd probably do this job just for an excuse to wear the s*** out of it. Checking his guns over to make sure they were fully loaded he holstered them. Now the only question was if he should check in with Stummick right away or f*** around in town first for any other jobs. ...f*** it, he wanted to be back home by the time Sapphire was done for the day. Stummick it was.

[Plerumque]

Ember flashes teeth at the owner. "No thanks, sweetheart. I got a few friends who could use some loosening up, though. Mind if I borrow that?" He needs no false highs, when the words that whisper through his mind are intoxicating enough, but there are uses for such things. "Besides, comparing me to Blue is like comparing Vaclav to the two-bit magician doing tricks on the street. I can see how well my talent is appreciated in this establishment." Ember holds a haughty pose for a few moments, nose in the air, then chuckles. "So what's going on tonight, Karla?"

[Vonwalt]

Ember, sounds like you're tying to manipulate her into giving you some of the drug. Would you like to roll +Hot?

Also, Cackle, it's right about now that you come out into the front part of the Lonely House and see Ember talking to Karla.

[Anubis Dread]

If there was one golden rule you did not f*** with when it came to whores it was this - don't f*** with them when they were working a client. As much as Cackle would love to have a good, long conversation and perhaps more with Ember, he was clearly busy playing some kind of game. Getting in the way would be a f***ing s*** thing to do. Maybe he'd swing back around later though. Ember was pretty hot. Enough so Cackle was tempted to see if he was interested in anything a little more serious than a night long f***ing.

[Obscurejones]

"This is how I can tell you haven't been paying proper attention to the less... Vigorous parts of our services, Lily. It's not about what I want. It's about God."
Looking up from his prone companion Jack's smile falters as he sees the knife being waved around.
"If you will excuse me, I think I see another parishioner in need of the same lesson."
Slipping from his seat Jack moves at a brisk pace, nearly running by the time he reaches Sean. His voice springs forth, stumbling out of his grin.
"And how may I help you today, you poor lost soul? You foolish hind? So quick to draw a blade, so soon to speak beyond your lessons? Perhaps you forget that it is not my place to keep you in your line, to bring you to the truth. The truth lies within you, yes even you, Sean."
His grin begins to twist until it is not quite a smile any longer, but simply showing his teeth, his words barked and clipped, the fire of the truth burning in Jack's eyes.
"But I bring to you a message Sean, and if you are too dull to see it then should I find fault with you? No, you do not blame a child for their ignorance, not even when they seek to harm themselves in their infirmity. You punish the teacher who could not drag them from the wild and bring the spark of knowledge to the kindling of their soul."
Grabbing Sean by the wrist Jack drags his knife up and over Jack's heart.
"So are you so ignorant, Sean? Should your teacher be punished?"
Rolling +Weird to Manipulate Sean into dropping his knife. [roll0]

[Vonwalt]

Sean falters and lets go of the knife. It clatters to the ground.
"Yeah. Yeah," he stammers. "You're right. You've been doin' a good job and all. I just want, I just need, someplace to stay, is all."

[Obscurejones]

"...If you don't mind a rooming with a preacher you can stay in the chapel. At least until we find a better place."
Reaching down Jack grabs the knife and flips it around to offer the handle to Sean again.
"Never lash out with violence against your fellows, Sean. They are no more or less then yourself. One in God's love and one in his creation. Only take up arms to deffend your brothers from the iniquities of evil men, those who would callously unmake creations. Understood?"

[Vonwalt]

"Yeah, all right," Sean mutters. He sits back down and goes back to drinking whatever foul liquid he likes to put in his body, but at least he's shut up. Danley gives you a thumbs up.

Over at the Lonely House, the door has just opened. Ember and Cackle, you see a big, hulking figure wrapped all in shapeless furs and scarves that cover their face. a blast of cold air comes in with them before they close the door, and then sit down in a chair by themself.

Cackle, Sapphire comes out from one of the back rooms, blows you a kiss, and walks over to sit with the hulking figure...

[Anubis Dread]

Cackle grinned as Sapphire blew him a kiss. She was a real sweetheart. Though that guy she was meeting with seems kind of dangerous. Well he trusted Sapphire. She knew this business better than anyone. She wouldn't get into a situation she couldn't handle.

...still it wasn't like Cackle was actually doing anything right now. Sitting down and giving Ember a chance to finish what he was doing so Cackle could go flirt with him might be nice. And if Sapphire's meeting went quickly enough they might be able to have some lunch before she went to her next client. Cackle certainly wasn't worried about... alright yes he was, f*** it. That guy was f***ing creepy and Sapphire was his wife. Able to handle herself or not he wanted to keep an eye on the situation.


Reading a Sitch. [roll0]

What should I be on the lookout for?

[Vonwalt]

You should be on the lookout for Crunch, a hammer-boy. He was kissing somebody (R.V.? Melter?) in a dark corner, but as soon as the large person came in, he turned around and grabbed his sledgehammer. His knuckles are white on it. You think he's going to start something.

[Eonas]

Lily watches the exchange with a strange glow in his eyes. If Smiling Jack could do that to his followers, make them drop their weapons just like that... suddenly he was nervous imagining what Smiling Jack could do to Ember if Ember were to be indoctrinated. He stands up, slowly, and walks towards Smiling Jack with an uneven, unsteady loping gait. Now Lily's less than six inches away from Jack, his face practically pressed directly against Jack's face, and his pale blue eyes are staring directly into the cult leader's, unblinking, like a fish.

"Sssso tell me, then..." Lily begins, placing a single long-nailed finger on Jack's chest, right over his heart, where a dagger was pressed just a moment ago. He presses on his chest, gently urging Jack to back up towards his seat. "Teeeeell me... how much do you want what God wants? Nothing in thissss... this s***hole comes for free, you know... we must all make... sssssacrificesss." He says this last word slowly, in a sing-songy fashion, but the sss sounds in rise in sibilancy so dramatically and quickly that Lily's tongue literally pops out of his mouth at the end of the word, darting towards Jack's face and immediately slithering back into its mouth-cave.

"For a new faithful - such a very faithful brain like Ember's - how much are you willing to sacrifice?"

[Anubis Dread]

You should be on the lookout for Crunch, a hammer-boy. He was kissing somebody (R.V.? Melter?) in a dark corner, but as soon as the large person came in, he turned around and grabbed his sledgehammer. His knuckles are white on it. You think he's going to start something.

Yep, he was going to cause trouble alright. Cackle unholsters his assault rife and was about to level it at the man before pausing. ...nah. He'd get in trouble if he shot the d*** before he did anything. He might as well prepare just in case though. A few bullets never hurt a situation. People yes, situations no.

[Obscurejones]

"It's not about what I'm willing to sacrifice. It's about what I'm going to. My life, Lily."
Looking over the Brainer's shoulder he smiles gratefully at Sean and Danley.
"Could you boys do me the favor of a private conversation? Lily is in need of a consultation on the nature of a holy man."

[Vonwalt]

Lily, Jack: Sean kind of nods nervously. "Yeah. Yeah. Of course. I'll head on back to the chapel, see you there."
Danley, though, raises one thick eyebrow at you, flips his hammer into the air and catches it.
"You tryna tell me what to do, weirdo?"

[Vonwalt]

So Cackle, you get your gun hand ready, but you're not pointing it at anyone just yet. Crunch doesn't notice. He stands up, six feet of fat and muscle (and you see it was Melter he was kissing, incidentally) and starts walking across the room, dragging his hammer behind him.

He's headed straight for the large person, who is now talking quietly to Sapphire.
What do you do?

[Anubis Dread]

"Hey, a**hole!" Cackle called out, raising his rifle and pointing it at the hammer wielding jacka**. "No weapons aloud! So drop the f***ing hammer or I'll shoot you up a new a**hole!" Wait... Cackle was holding a weapon right now. "...shut up," he warns in advance.


Going Aggro. [roll0]

[Vonwalt]

"Hey, hey, woah, be cool," says Crunch, backing away from you, one hand up. "Only that's Beef Hand there. He's banned. Stummick said."

The large person looks up sharply, but doesn't do anything just yet. Most people are looking at you, Cackle.

[Anubis Dread]

"Reeeeeeally," Cackle notes with a raised eyebrow. Looking over at Sapphire and nudging his head a little. If she needed help, she'd signal back. If she thought she could handle it, well he'd be an a**hole for sticking his face into her private business.

[Obscurejones]

"Just making a polite request. If you were to refuse I suppose Lily and I would be forced to go for a walk to have our conversation."
Jack shrugs his shoulders and tips his head just a little to the side.
"So, should I take a walk?"

[Vonwalt]

Cackle, Sapphire raises her eyebrows and shrugs. She's just doing her job, greeting a new arrival in the House. She doesn't know the guy. Crunch watches you look, and then coughs.
"Yeah. Really. So are you gonna let me do my job, or am I gonna have to tell Stummick that somebody's tryin' to stick their nose where it ain't belong?"

As for you, Smilin' Jack:
Danley looks at you with kind of a half-grin. "Could be enticed to join you on a walk, I suppose."

[Anubis Dread]

Cackle, Sapphire raises her eyebrows and shrugs. She's just doing her job, greeting a new arrival in the House. She doesn't know the guy. Crunch watches you look, and then coughs.
"Yeah. Really. So are you gonna let me do my job, or am I gonna have to tell Stummick that somebody's tryin' to stick their nose where it ain't belong?"

"Hey, I'm not going to f***ing let you swing your f***ing hammer around where my precious jewel is!" Cackle snapped. "Since it's her involved I'll take care of it myself, alright a**hole?" That and having him take care of it when he'd already forced him out of it would be f***ing embarrassing.

"Oi, you, D*** Hands or whatever. Get the f*** out of here," Cackle turned and pointed his gun at the trespasser, cocking his head to indicate he should vamoose.


Going Aggro: [roll0]

[Plerumque]

Ember sighs as Karla offers her ultimatum. "Talk to me tonight," he offers noncommittally, slipping the piece of Blue into his hand and strolling through the restaurant over to Sapphire. "Afternoon, sir," he says, smiling brightly. Dropping his voice to a near-whisper, he says, "Seems these gents aren't too fond of you at the moment. Now, never let it be said that the Lonely House ain't hospitable, but I think it'd help if you could perhaps conduct your business outside? I'd be happy to bring out anything you need, but last time we had a shoot-out in here the curtains got all tore up, and you know how much it costs to replace 'em. How about it?"

I'm guessing this counts as Manipulate, so [roll0].

[Eonas]

A look of annoyance crosses Lily's expression and he turns around to bound towards Danley, pulling a glove from his pocket onto his left hand. It's a semitranslucent black, rubbery/latexy-looking, like a regular hospital glove but with little needle-pricks at the fingertips. It fits over his hand very tightly, almost as if there wasn't a glove at all. As Lily puts it on, it becomes readily apparent that the glove doesn't cover his ring and pinky fingers: there's just an opening where the fingers should go. The glove, now that it's stretched over Lily's hand, seems to be covered with a sort of diagram, as if it's a cross section of the muscles and bones on a human hand.

Lily lays his gloved hand on Danley's cheek, needles resting on his skin but not puncturing it. Then the needles scrape against skin, gently, and Lily shivers and shudders, as if in pleasure or pain. "Get... to the chapel," he whispers slowly, staring into the man's eyes. "And ****ing stay there until I give you permission."

[roll0]

The gloves look sort of like this, only there's a pin-prick on the end of the thumb, fore and middle fingers, and the drawings on the glove look much more like a cross section of the human hand, as stated.
https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcScBoBMIXt-2QB_wpgoIbWE_dAvkbXSIccR5T05XJ5m6wLMGVhw

[Vonwalt]

So when you fail a roll, right, I can do something in response. In this case, it's give you a choice: either you can take some harm, but get thrown to the ground away from Beef Hand, or you can be grabbed by him but unhurt (for now) as he uses you as a human shield. Your choice.

So Beef Hand is going to suck it up and take whatever you can dish out, and probably try something else as well. How much harm does your assault rifle do? Is it AP?

[Vonwalt]

So Lily, you can't get a real good hold on Danley. He hates brainer stuff, almost as much as he hates - Stummick? His dad? - you can't quite tell, and he fights you hard.
He doesn't know how good your hold is, though, and he practically sprints out the door, dropping his hammer in his haste.

Moscow and Buick are still there, although Buick is already getting up to go into his office/machineshop.

[Eonas]

Lily turns back towards Jack, kicking the hammer outside and then shutting the door behind him.

"Well..." he says quietly, loping towards the cult leader. His glove's still on, and that hand looks tense, as if waiting for another go. But it's the right index finger, not the left, that gets pressed onto Jack's chest once again, gently pushing him backwards. "I've given you your private audience. I would be... dissssappointed if your offer would turn out to be... uninteresting."

[Obscurejones]

Jack laughs, a bright clear sound.
"You don't listen, Lily. I'm not going to offer you anything. I won't bribe you, I won't threaten or cajole. I want to help Ember. And I think Ember could help a lot of people here in our little corner of the broken world. And I want you to want Ember to be saved. Because I think it's part of the path to saving your own soul."
Reaching out, Jack places his hand over Lily's heart, skin to skin.
"You can be better then you know, Lily. You've been given so many wonderful gifts. And I hope I get to see you become everything you can be before I pass from the world. But perhaps you think I'm trying to trick you. That I want Ember for myself, or that my concern is a front for my own self interest. So I invite you. Use your gifts. Search my soul. If you wish."

[Eonas]

Lily shakes his head with with a bit of an irritated snarl. He pushes Jack right down onto the chair with his forefinger and sits down on him, straddling his lap. Jack feels Lily's heart beating quicker now, either from excitement or... something else. "You ssssaid... you said you'd be willing to offer me your f*****g life, not kind thoughts. And I went to the trouble of getting us here all alone..." Lily suddenly titters under his breath, and his teeth begin to chatter, but not from the cold.

"There are sacrifices to make with everything... I sssssacrifice my pretty little Ember to you, you ssssacrifice something else, tit for tat... it's like sharing balloons, you sssssee? I pop one, you pop one... I pop one, you pop one... I pop one, and if you don't pop yours... I pop your skull. See?" He punctuates this last word with a light flick to Jack's head with his gloved left hand. For an instant, Jack thinks he can hear something whispering in his ear, but then it passes so quickly that it must have just been his imagination.

"Now, as it happens... you can keep your balloon. All you have to do, when I talk to Ember about this... fraternity, is... let me be your left hand boy. You know how much I adore you... I jussst want to lead your little worms alongside you. But beneath you still. Of course."

With his right hand Lily paws at Jack's chest affectionately, submissively. "You know me... I like to sssstay underneath."

This is... a ssssstupid idea, but what the hell. I'm Manipulating Jack: let me be a second-in-command in return for Ember's mEmbership in the cult. [roll0]

HA! Second natural 9 in a row. Fortune favors the sssssstupid, apparently. So I'll give Jack the carrot: if he agrees and promotes Lily to right-hand-man (the deacon?) of the cult, he marks an expee.

[Obscurejones]

"... I think I can agree to that. If. You agree to serve alongside Ember. Equal in your service. You and he."
Reaching up, Jack lovingly strokes Lily's cheek.
"Fair?"

[Vonwalt]

So I think at this point is when you folks over at the Red Piston hear a long, sustained brrrrrrraaap of gunfire from down the street, followed by shouting and screaming.

Sounds like it's coming from down the street, over near the Lonely House...

As soon as we hear back from Ember, we'll see exactly what's going on over there

[Eonas]

Lily shudders at Jack's touch and grins, displaying a full array of sharklike jagged yellow teeth, and a tongue that quivers in midair between both sets. He lowers his head until he's at Jack's eye level, close enough that their noses are just a hair's breadth away from each other. "Sssssplendid." he whispers, and then scrambles off Jack's lap and towards the door to open it - just a crack - and peek at what's going on outside.

[Vonwalt]

So here's what goes down in the Lonely House: Beef Hand snarls at you, Ember, and hits you with his meaty fist, knocking you to the ground. You take one-harm, AP, as your head connects with a table leg. Beef Hand turns around, Sapphire dives for cover, and Cackle, you shoot his chest full of holes.

Beef Hand goes down, his furs falling away from him, his blood a strange, almost purplish color. There's silence for a second, and then the audible click of someone cocking a revolver.

"Please, take your gun and your fresh meat out of my establishment," says Karla.

What do you do?

[Anubis Dread]

"HOLY S***! He just exploded like a f***ing pinata! That is f***ing awesome!" Cackle laughed his a** off. "Oh uh, sorry sweetie, hope none of that got on you," he eventually managed to calm down and apologize to Sapphire, still snorting as she holsters his gun.

"Sure thing sexy. I made the mess, it's only fair I clean up," Cackle agrees to Karla's demands. "Besides, he probably has some cool s*** on him. His teeth has to be worth something at least right? Eh who gives a s***, I'll work it out," he shrugs, walking over to the purple blood soaked body, grabbing an arm and beginning to drag the meat out. "I'll be back later okay? I needed to talk to Stummick about a job or some s***. Unless this guy is loaded I guess, in which case I'll be back to dump some dough," he shrugged.

[kdtompos]

Rather apathetically, Moscow had pulled himself up from where he was reclining and followed Buick to the man's office. He wasn't invited, but the man has become accustomed to simply assuming he can do whatever he wants around Buick's shop and tends to treat it like his own. Just inside he pulls a chair scraping from where it was leaning against the wall and plops down into it with a sigh. It's quiet for a moment before he finally poses a question: "So how much of Jack's bulls*** do you actually buy into?" he asks without even making eye-contact. "I mean, I like the theory and all, but sometimes I..."

A flurry of gunfire quickly interrupts the monologue. "Wager a drink that's Cackle?" he offers Buick, an eyebrow raised but not a semblance of alarm on his face.

[Vonwalt]

Buick takes a long drink of liquor before replying. "So what, you give me a drink if it's that laughing bastard? Sounds good to me." He takes another drink. Buick, in his own somber way, seems to be partying just as hard as the rest of the cult. His eyes are a little unfocused as he goes on:
"The cult gives me certainty, and it gives me someone to blame. It's as real as anything else is, I believe. And here's what I believe: Smiling Jack done wrong, spiritual wrong, for all that we're in the good now. I ain't gonna take a knife to him like Sean did, though." He finishes his drink and sways a little.
"So what you wanna do, Moscow? Should we go settle this bet, or you wanna help me in the shop, or what?"

[Vonwalt]

So Lily, Smiling Jack, you look outside and see the glare of the sun on the snow, and down the road a little bit, you see Cackle, dragging a body behind him out of the door of the Lonely House. You can also see clouds moving in from over the mountain to the west, slowly starting to build up over Junktown. Looks like there might be snow comin', big surprise.

Cackle, Crunch is following you at a respectful distance. He doesn't try and stop you when you go through Beef Hand's pockets, comin' up with a little dried meat and a huge knife: a real one, too, made of steel or something.

[Anubis Dread]

Alright, that was far enough. Cackle let the body drop, dusting his hands off as he began stripping it down. Alright, these clothes were kind of s***, but they had to be worth something right? He had to have something valuable seeing as he was in the Lonely House and all. Maybe he even had a weapon or two? That would be pretty sweet.

After stripping the corpse of everything valuable, Cackle briefly considered prying the teeth out just in case before deciding to just f*** it and leaving the corpose in the middle of the street for some other a**hole to deal with. Time to head to the market and pawn this s***! Before this storm rolled in preferably, because it looked like it could freeze your b***s off.

Splitting a beef jerky in half and taking a bite while he pockets the knife, Cackle looks over his shoulder with a glare as he chews. "What the f*** are you looking at?" he asked as he stuffed the corpses bullet ridden clothes and boots into his back just in case some sucker would buy them.

[Vonwalt]

"Waitin'." says Crunch. "For you to finish so I can drag ol' Beef out of here."

[Plerumque]

Ember stands up unsteadily and staggers back over to the bar. "I do like a bit of excitement," he mutters, holding a hand to his head. "A painkiller on the rocks if you don't mind, Ruby," he asks, holding up a hand. He turns to where Karla's still holding the revolver. "So, milady, you have any idea what all that fuss was about? The bastard bled violet." He takes the piece of Blue out of his pocket and glances at it. "Any side effects to this stuff?"

[Anubis Dread]

"Wow, you would have been right f***ed in the a** if I'd decided to sell him off for parts. Sure there's some surgeon or necrophiliac or some s*** around here who'd love a slightly used body part or two," Cackle grinned. "But nah, not worth the effort. Go ahead and cart him off. I'm off to sell this s*** off."

[Vonwalt]

Cackle, Crunch grabs one of the dead guy's legs without comment and starts dragging him towards the centre of town.


Ember, Karla puts her gun away, nods to Ruby Rue, who rummages around in some cabinets before coming up with a drink and an icepack for you.
"That's not normal," she says. "And it ain't what Blue does. Just makes you feel good, right? Doesn't change your blood. Changes in your blood. Change for blood. Change your blood, bud, you've been wearing it all week."
She laughs a high pitched laugh for just a little too long before snapping back to serious.
"Anyway, no. That's not Blue."

[Anubis Dread]

Cackle had said he'd sell this s*** off, but honestly who would trade for blood clothes? Plus he didn't think he could pawn the knife for anything that was more compact to carry around than it already was. He could go back to the Lonely House, but uh... things were a little bit tense right now. It wasn't the first time Karla had pointed a gun at him. It wasn't even the twelth. But he still knew enough to give her half a day or so to cool the f*** down before heading back.

You know what? F*** it. He needed work, and one knife wasn't going to fix that. The problem was most work came from around the Lonely House, so he needed another source of revenue. After the Lonely House, the second biggest organization in town and thus the second best bet at getting a good bit of work was-

"Mother f***er," Cackle cursed under his breath as he trudged to where Ba***** Jacks congregation usually hung out. Jack was an a**hole, but he had some coin and some pull. Maybe he needed a few bullet holes in someone.

[Vonwalt]

So we haven't heard too much bout the Chapel's actual appearance or who hangs out there right now. Smilin' Jack, what's it like there?

[Eonas]

Lily throws the door wide open and scampers towards Ember. He grabs the Skinner around the waist and nuzzles his ear, right there in front of Karla. "Are you... aching, my ssssssweet?" he whispers, caressing Ember's neck with his right, ungloved hand.

[Plerumque]

Ember's mouth curls into a smile, and he lets his hand trail down the emaciated curve of Lily's back. "I've been dealt worse, darling." He watches the expressions of disgust crawl across the faces of the Lonely House's patrons, and grins wider. "I was just explaining to Karla my theory for why Meat Hand out there bled like a hyacinth dying of multiple puncture wounds." He considers this for a moment. "I've had better similes. No matter. Hey, sweetheart, you seen this before?" He flips the Blue into Lily's glove.

[Eonas]

Lily makes a low, deep purring sound in Ember's ear at the caress. "Not a Hya... a Hyacinth... it was like a nasty ugly bleeding ssssspleen. Or like a scrap coyote. Hyacinthes only bleed... when they're sad. I don't like it when pretty things cry... they ssssay that - Lily suddenly interrupts himself to lean down and sniff at the Blue. "Ooo... what is it...?" he asks curiously, glancing at Karla before looking up at Ember again.

[Obscurejones]

With a soft sigh and a shake of his head Jack starts back towards the Chapel. Lily for all his gifts still did not understand. He saw Jack's work as just another path to power. Some neat new con to pull on rubes. For all they seemed to enjoy the more salacious aspects of the lessons they didn't believe. Not that it mattered, at the end of things. God didn't need their belief. Still, it would be nice.

Doing his best to be polite to Sean and that poor bastard that Lily had terrified he stopped at the double doors and gave a quick couple of knocks before slipping inside. The chapel had been a hell of a find. Nice big double doors, pews on either side of the main aisle, and most of them still intact. The alter was a little worse for the wear and he'd had to have a few of the burlier members of the congregation haul down the cross that used to hang above it, but all in all a nice space, if a bit drafty.

[Anubis Dread]

F***ing double door s*** with their big a** wooden frames and s***. They were impossible to kick down dramatically! F*** that noise. Cackle would wonder if Smiling D*** was compensating for something, except that he already knew he was. Because Jerk was a jacka**. But he was jacka** with useful s*** he could give him for putting a few bullets in someone.

Sighing, Cackle looked up at the doors before banging on them loudly. "Oi! Jack-In-The-B****! Open up, I gotta talk to you!" he spoke through the door, continuing to pound on it.

[Obscurejones]

Sighing Jack spun on his heel and opened the left door, ducking his head out.
"G'morning Cackle. To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit? Sins I committed in a past life?"
Despite not being given over to either ideas of reincarnation, or deuteronomistic philosophy, it seemed the only possible explanation for Cackle. Either that, or the devil was real. And had a foul mouth.

[Anubis Dread]

"I dunno, maybe. You gotten killed and got back up again lately?" Cackle glowered. Before sighing. "Jack, you uh... got any work for me, do you think? I got a gun and you got some s*** that's worth a bit. I'd ask at the Lonely House, but I have to stay away for at least a day. Looking back I really should have shived the f***er rather than opening up on full auto," he admitted.

[Obscurejones]

"I've also heard some good things about, y'know, not killing people. It's this new thing. With any luck it might catch on."
Gesturing past himself into the chapel he invite Cackle in.
"No work, I'm afraid, unless you want to help me fix up a few pews. Just got in some nice cedar. I can offer a few hunks of metal. Some crosses. People keep bringing them to me. Makes the whole ending the world thing make a little more sense. Most popular sign of divinity was a gosh darn torture device used to kill god on earth."

[Anubis Dread]

"Holy f*** that is messed up. I thought sacrificing people to grow corn was bull s***, but worshiping a f***ing torture device is pretty f***ing sadistic," Cackle notes as he steps into the church. Honestly out of all the religions he'd come across Jack's was probably the least bull s*** of them. Too bad Jack himself was an a** or he might be tempted to go to congregation.

"Well, I can't say it fits my usual talents, but I know a thing or two about building s***. If I'm getting paid for it I guess I can help you out," Cackle agreed with a sigh. It was a f***ing waste, but he needed work and he had nothing better to do.

[Obscurejones]

Jack nods to the cedar wood and to the holes in the pews.
"Ruckus down at the House? No one excepting your victim hurt, I hope? Sapphire safe and sound?"
Sitting up by the altar Jack tucks his legs up beneath himself. Meditation wasn't a component or stricture of his teachings but he found that there was something to be said for taking a moment to seek peace. To breath deep and feel the world moving around yourself.
Opening to the world + weird [roll0]

[Vonwalt]

Nice one! So you'll get your answers about the sitch at the House, but first:

What's it like when you enter the maelstrom? What do you see as default before things resolve themselves into whatever you were looking for?

[Anubis Dread]

Jack nods to the cedar wood and to the holes in the pews.
"Ruckus down at the House? No one excepting your victim hurt, I hope? Sapphire safe and sound?"
Sitting up by the altar Jack tucks his legs up beneath himself. Meditation wasn't a component or stricture of his teachings but he found that there was something to be said for taking a moment to seek peace. To breath deep and feel the world moving around yourself.
Opening to the world + weird [roll0]

Punching his armband with his fist, a knife popped out. Which Cackle immediately used to begin slicing up the wood so he could repair the pews properly. He f***ing loved his armor. He probably needed to get it looked at soon. He had no idea how the f*** it worked, so he had to get other people to look it over to make sure all the hinges and s*** didn't jam up.

"Of course your first question would be about the only reason I don't f***ing blow your head off for being a d***," Cackle noted with a grin. "But yeah she's fine. She's actually the reason the f***er ended up dead instead of just tossed out on his a**. Ever heard of D*** Hands? Wait... Meat D***. Whatever. Anyway he got banned from the Lonely House and showed up for a session with Sapphir. So I blew his f***ing head off, because if you've done something worth banning and are trying to f*** around with my wife you deserve to get your a** handed to you on a silver platter."

Frowning in concentration as he began to replace the wood in the pews with the cedar wood, Cackle went on. "I mean I can't really blame him for trying. My precious gem is the sexiest damn thing in town. I'm just glad I was there to ice the a**hole before he tried something funny. That wasn't, you know, actually something Sapphire would do for a little cash," he amended.

[Obscurejones]

Stillness. A great black void, shot through with bolts of indigo and violet, scars left by the passing of the world that was. Then flashes of light, white shadows that show the truth hanging in the mind for a snapshot then slinking back into the dark.

"How is your daughter? I know Sapphire was worried about her for a time"

[Vonwalt]

So Smiling Jack, you start getting general flashes of people: Beef Hand, Stummick, Sapphire, Karla, Opal... and things: Blue, the assault rifle, Karla's gun, Crunch's hammer, a needle...

Who are you focusing on? And who do you care about most? (Not necessarily of these people)

[Obscurejones]

He focuses in on Sapphire and the Blue.

In terms of people he cared for... His congregation obviously and publicly. But in private his thoughts tend to dwell on Ember, Lily, and Sapphire' daughter.

[Vonwalt]

So you see, right, and you see truly...

Karla, handing Sapphire a piece of the Blue stuff to calm her nerves after the shooting. Then the faces change and you see Crunch handing Karla a wrapped package of blue. She asks him where he got it, and he just shrugs, you know how he does it. You get a vague glimpse of Buick, Melter, R.V., and some other cult guys dumping snow in front of the Chapel as Crunch walks backwards through time to the watchtower where Stummick lives.

Then you see two murders, out in the ravine country to the north. A bearded man falls to his death. A scarred and rugged-looking woman does the same. and a while afterwards, a girl with a long nose (It's Noses! You know her, sure) clambers down, shivering against the cold, and rips free the packages of Blue that are taped underneath the travelers' clothes...

[Obscurejones]

Jack doesn't open his eyes, but he speaks, careful to keep his tone measured and even.
"Your wife is being offered Blue. Men and women are being killed for it. You may wish to go stop her from taking it. The pews can wait. This seems a good deal more important."

[Anubis Dread]

Stillness. A great black void, shot through with bolts of indigo and violet, scars left by the passing of the world that was. Then flashes of light, white shadows that show the truth hanging in the mind for a snapshot then slinking back into the dark.

"How is your daughter? I know Sapphire was worried about her for a time"

"Opal? Yeah she's doing fine. Still living with her Dad in the Cave of Wonders. Not like she can go anywhere else with the whole uncontrolable psychic s*** she has going on. I'm trying to scrounge up a jeep to go visit her next month," Cackle smiles softly as he worked. "I'll probably invite Lily too. The two gets along real well, and the Cave of Wonders is good for a pyschic. Apparently. Opal hasn't killed anyone lately that I know of, so it must be doing some good. Of course-"


Jack doesn't open his eyes, but he speaks, careful to keep his tone measured and even.
"Your wife is being offered Blue. Men and women are being killed for it. You may wish to go stop her from taking it. The pews can wait. This seems a good deal more important."

"...you are one creepy a** mother f***er, you know that?" Cackle sighs as he gets to his feet. Sapphire was a big girl. She could make her own decisions. That being said, blue was s***. And she should know Jerkus Christ here dissaporved at the very least. "Alright I'm going, later d*** wad," Cackle waved in parting as he headed back out of the church.

[Obscurejones]

"Godspeed, Cackle."
A task presents itself. An act of charity. A grin spreading across his face Jack sings out into the empty Chapel.
"My mind is clearer now. I can seeeeeeeee where we all soon must beeeeeee.
Laughing he hops to his feet. Where had Noses been staying recently?

[Vonwalt]

Noses, at least the last time you saw her, lives in central Junktown, in the maze of narrow corridors, heatlamps, and broken trucks that forms the core of town. You think she's pretty close to the Generator, right in the center.

[Vonwalt]

So Lily, Karla kind of looks at you funny and says
"'S Blue. It's drugs, right? You chew it, and you feel good. That's all there is to it."

[Obscurejones]

Rummaging around behind the altar Jack grabs an old tattered cassock and slips it on. Making sure the bright white clerical collar is visible he sets out for Nose's.

[Eonas]

Lily gives the Blue another, approving sniff. "Lily likessss it when it feels good..." he murmurs, pocketing the Blue.

"Little Ember... would you like to... feel good with your dearesssst pet? He has something he'd like to... sssssay... and do... to his pretty... in private... in pretty's place perhapsss?" he whispers, still into Ember's ear, and gives the lobe a playful little nibble.

[Plerumque]

"Why wait?" Ember asks, though his gaze is still fixed over Lily's shoulder, on the revulsed eyes of the spectators. "They're hardly so high-minded here as you'd make them out to be. You know the kind of business that goes on here. I'm sure there's a place where we can be... private." He runs a hand down the xylophone of Lily's spine and turns to Karla with a meaningful glance and the twitch of an eyebrow.

[Vonwalt]

Karla nods. "Room in back, but it'll cost ya."

Like one barter or so is the going rate. It's a nice room.

[Plerumque]

"Well, we hardly need a whole room to ourselves, do we, Lily? I mean, my partner here's in a sex cult, and most of the people in this room have seen me half-naked at least. We're not shy people. I think a curtain, perhaps, will do us just fine. Perhaps a thick one." He draws back and eyes Lily, Cheshire smirk daring him to disagree.

[Vonwalt]

"If you just want to f*** on the floor, I ain't gonna stop ya," says Karla. "But that's weird."

[Anubis Dread]

...what the f*** had he just walked into? More importantly, how did he get in on it? But that was probably a question for another time. For now he needed to track down his precious gem and pass along Jack's message. Hopefully she was still sitting down where she had been before.

[Vonwalt]

Sorry about takin' a little bit to catch up with you, Smiling Jack.

You wander, and you walk, and you walk a little more, until you get into the Shambles near the centre of town. Now, you're a smart enough guy, but if you want to find an exact house here, in the ever-changing streets and pathways, you'll need to be very smart indeed...

Roll +Sharp. 10+, you find what you were looking for, possibly even timely. On a 7-9, you get there, but choose one:

You get lost for a good long time
You find the place, but something's wrong
You get accosted along the way

And on a 6 or lower, things go badly.

[Vonwalt]

Cackle, you don't see Sapphire anywhere, but this place has a basement. Half of it's given over to the House's special generator, but the other half is a sort of common room. Might be she's down there.

[Anubis Dread]

Sapphire wasn't here? Huh... so she was either in the common room or entertaining someone in a private room. Might as well check the common room real quick. Still he wasn't gone for long. It was probably just Jack, but he was starting to get a weird feeling.


Opening Mind to the Psychic Maelstrom: [roll0]

[Vonwalt]

So I'll tell you what you see, but first, what's the Maelstrom like for you? what do you see when you open your mind?

[Obscurejones]

Jack does his best to pick his way through the scrabble of homes and shanties.
Roll + Sharp [roll0]
Unfortunately he's going to be accosted on the way.

[Anubis Dread]

Cacklehad been told a couple of time he was psychic, at least to an extent. He didn't really buy it. He figured he was just pretty f***ed up in the head from all the s*** he'd been through in his days. The psychic maelstrom would be some kind of weird thing right? Like looking at a space octopus or tasting colors. But when he 'tapped into it' all he really got was a bunch of chaos. The taste of blood, the sound of bullets, and red mist everywhere. The sound of f***ing in a pool of blood, the sensation of skin on skin, all of it was just s*** he'd experienced before in some way or another. If he was really psychic it'd be more special right?

[Vonwalt]

Cackle, you see a confused series of images: Lily, clipping the heads off of a series of daisies; a monstrously scarred woman with a shotgun held loosely in either hand; Smiling Jack wandering aimlessly through a labyrinth of gigantic stone walls; Beef Hand, laid out on a surgery table, a weaselly man rooting through his chest cavity.

[Vonwalt]

Smiling Jack, you're walking towards the central ramshackle pile of stuff that is the Generator when you see Stana, thin and sharp as the stilettos she loves to carry, detach herself from the shadows and walk towards you.
"Hey, big man," she says. "Got a moment for one of your humble flock? I got a favor to ask, see."

[Obscurejones]

"Always a moment for the flock. Would it be possible to discuss this favor while walking? I need to speak to Noses."
Jack fixes Stana with a grin. Knives were nice enough, but you needed to get close to use them. Charm had as much range as you had personality. And Jack had enough to spare.

[Eonas]

Lily pays neither Cackle nor Karla any mind. His attention seems to be completely fixated on Ember, and his already-wide pupils are dilated.

"Yessss... on the floor..." Lily whispers, shivering visibly, and suddenly pulls away from Ember. He rapidly leads Ember by the hand into the Lonely House and then into some relatively private area. Lily's mostly worried about not being overheard: he doesn't give a f*** if he's overseen making Ember feel good.

Once they're somewhere private, he toys at the (buttons? zipper? edge?) of Ember's shirt to take it off slowly. "I sssspoke to Jackie..." he says quietly. "Jackie is interessssted in my pretty and his little pet..."

Lily presses his glove against Ember's bare chest. Ember feels the pins at the end of the glove's fingers pricking skin and hears a sort of distant hum in his ears. "He says... he.... wantsss us..." The fingers slide down Ember's chest, finger-pricks scratching his skin like three claws. The hum in Ember's ears intensifies: he hears incomprehensible whispers buzzing around him now, carrying the suggestion of forbidden, unspeakable things. Lily's consciousness, pressed up against his, toys with the edge of Ember's brain, as if considering the intrusion of it and its thoughts.

"He sssays we can lead the wormies together... all you have to do... is say... yessss..." Now the psychic malestrom of whispered voices howls at Ember, daring Lily's consciousness to intrude, penetrate, defile it. But Lily never does, and when he removes the glove from Ember's chest, Ember is left with the overwhelming feeling of owning a mind for the moment unprobed.

[Anubis Dread]

...well that was f***ing pointless. Except for that last part, which was just irritating. If Cackle had known Crunch would actually use the body for something he would have sold it instead of just handed it over. Well whatever, he'd wasted enough time. On to the common room.

[Vonwalt]

Smiling Jack, Stana nods. "That'd be right. I can show you where she lives, even. Let's walk." She starts walking, almost too fast for you to keep up. She's messing with you. As she goes, she says:
"Buick's got something of mine. He stole it. My special knife. Get it back for me." You break out into a slightly larger clearing in the Shambles, and she turns to look at you. "Get it for me, or I'll tell the rest of the cult you're going to abandon them."

[Vonwalt]

Cackle, you head downstairs, past the huge rumbling generator that heats the Lonely House. Old Gavin is there, fiddling with machinery and occasionally readjusting his dreads. He sees you, nods, and jerks his thumb towards the common room. Sapphire's over there in a chair, talking and laughing with Palmer (a youngish person, ethereal and wiry) while blue stuff drips from the side of her mouth.

[Anubis Dread]

Well she seemed fine. And Jack WAS usually full of s***. But Cackle still didn't want Sapphire messing around with s*** like that. Anything that could make a sweet girl slobber like a dog wasn't good to be chewing on as far as he was concerned.

Walking up behind Sapphire, Cackle gently put a hand on her shoulder and smiled down at her. He usually didn't like to bother her while she was working her magic, even when it wasn't a client. But this was important. "Hey Saph. I got a message from Jack saying that blue stuff is bad news."

[Obscurejones]

"You know what Stana, it is the oddest thing. And as I said to Sean earlier, I do somewhat blame myself. But you all seem to have these odd little misconceptions about why I do what I do. About the relationship between myself and the humble gathering."
Jack stops dead and grins at Stana, teeth flashing white in the gloom.
"I don't do what I do for my own power. Because I enjoy this. I don't do it because I want to be the big king of a tiny hill. I'm not some con artist looking for the next big trick. I do this to try and help you. To keep you out of hell. To make sure that when this broken down world snatches the life out of you with a tiny gasp and a loss of breath that you're ready. Your threats don't scare me, Stana. They worry me. Because life is so fragile. And I hope I can fix the damage you'll do to your soul before yours ends."
He resumes his steps calmly as if nothing had been said.
"I'll speak to Buick about this knife. See if I can't resolve the issue. After all, I'd hate to see unnecessary strife between you two."

[Plerumque]

"Hmm..." Ember mutters drowsily, reaching out a hand towards Lily in futile effort as he grasps at the elusive voices, slipping through his grip like oil even as their impossible songs thrum through his body. He traces a pattern on Lily's arm as he speaks, an ornate character in a language he hadn't known he knew. "...Perhaps. You are... persuasive. I would need to speak to Jack first, of course. See just how badly he wants me."

[Eonas]

Lily makes a gentle repeated shushing sound (a sort of soft "ssh ssh ssh ssh") and places his right index finger across Ember's lips as if to silence him. "Don't think... you're so pretty when you don't ssstew on... thoughts. he whispers, slowly unclasping Ember's belt with his gloved hand and simultaneously slipping his forefinger between Ember's lips into his mouth. "Forget Jackie... just asssssk yourself... how much do you want what your darling fetus wants?"

[Vonwalt]

So Ember and Lily, you can finish your conversation, but Karla's knocking on the outside of your booth and shouting, "Hey, you done in there or what? I got paying customers want to sit down. And don't forget you still owe me for that Blue, Emby-boy."

Cackle, Sapphire turns around with kind of a weird look on her face, but then she sees its you and smiles, wiping away the spit from her mouth.
"Jack said it was bad news? S***. Karla just said it would calm me down. Guess I'll say no, next time."
Palmer speaks up, says "You don't want the rest of what she gave you, I'll take it off your hands." Sapphire kind of looks at you like she's deciding what to do.

As for you, Smiling Jack, Stana smiles a little, just a little, and point towards the cab of a big ol' truck. "Noses sleeps in there," she says. "You can bring that knife by any time." then she just turns and walks away.
The truck cab does indeed seem like a sleeping place. You can kind of see Noses' head through a piece of glass still in the window; the rest is blocked with rags and wood. Sounds like she's humming. What do you do?

[Anubis Dread]

Cackle, Sapphire turns around with kind of a weird look on her face, but then she sees its you and smiles, wiping away the spit from her mouth.
"Jack said it was bad news? S***. Karla just said it would calm me down. Guess I'll say no, next time."
Palmer speaks up, says "You don't want the rest of what she gave you, I'll take it off your hands." Sapphire kind of looks at you like she's deciding what to do.

"Eh, do what you want with it, so long as you don't chew it," Cackle shrugs. "I don't really give a s*** about anyone's health but yours. I should probably mention I had one of my episodes though, and going by it I am like 50% sure this s*** is made of Meat A**'s colon or something. It's the same weird a** color his blood was anyway," he shrugged.

[Vonwalt]

It's not the same color, just so you know. Blue is like a bright blue, while Beef Hand's blood was purple.

Sapphire shrugs back at you, hands Palmer the wad of gummy blue stuff, and smiles.
"I'm off work in a little bit," she says. "You want to get out of here?"

[Anubis Dread]

It's not the same color, just so you know. Blue is like a bright blue, while Beef Hand's blood was purple.

Sapphire shrugs back at you, hands Palmer the wad of gummy blue stuff, and smiles.
"I'm off work in a little bit," she says. "You want to get out of here?"

Cackle had promised Jack he'd be back to fix the pews. On the other hand, f*** Jack.

"Sure, I'd love that," Cackle grinned. "I scrounged a knife off of that d*** hole from earlier. I might be able to trade it for something pretty for my precious gem."

[Obscurejones]

Taking a step back Jack calls out to the shape in the car.
"Noses? It's Jack Lark. I thought we might be able to have a chat."

[Plerumque]

"Mmm..." Ember murmurs, sitting up and shaking off Lily's hand. "Don't think I don't love you, my little ugly duckling. But Jack's followers... they hear his message, but they do not listen. They repeat his message, and think they believe it, but they have never felt the winter in their marrow, or the gaze of the storm. They are simply... not creative. Excepting present company, of course. I can attest to that." Ember smiles, showing a few more teeth than was strictly necessary. "Now, perhaps we can change that, together. Perhaps we can force them to open their eyes and see the beauty that they try to take refuge from in more hollow pleasures. But I wonder if Jack would consent, as much as I respect him. And so I must speak to him, and speak to his devotees, before I can let a binding word pass my lips."

[Eonas]

Lily spits suddenly on the floor of the Lonely House. "Consssent... f*** conssssent." he enunciates softly, every syllable full of contempt. "Consent'sss a game for pathetic little wormies to pretend the nasssty birds won't gobble them up for a delicious ssssnack." He pretends to nibble on Ember's pinkie finger suddenly, looking straight into the Skinner's eyes with a mixture of adoration, lust and... something else, something forbidden, even sinister. "But you're not a little ssslug, are you, my acid-lips? You're a birdie... sssso fly with your little cherub. We'll make the wormies see sssstars..."

[Plerumque]

"The stars care not whether they are seen," Ember murmurs. "They simply are. And so are we. To think it matters what anyone believes is to hold oneself back from greatness. I know this as well as you, my mildewed heart. And yet... surely you do not suggest to disobey him so readily. That is not, I think, your way, and it is certainly not my way. So let us talk to Jack, first. Let us explain to him what might be. I do not believe he could be so closed-minded as to deny us. He, too, knows the beauty of the new. And if it turns out that he clutches still too close to his power, well, perhaps we can change his mind. I'm good at that... and so are you." Ember rolls over and offers his hand, covered in swirls of bright ink, to Lily's, bound in the second skin of the violation glove. "To open eyes, and open minds, whatever the cost when it comes."

[Vonwalt]

"Jack Lark, called Smilin' Jack," says Noses from inside, without turning to look at you. "What would you have of me?"

[Obscurejones]

"Ah, what does Smiling Jack always want? I'm here to save your soul. Let's have a talk you and I. About Blue."

[Vonwalt]

"It's an all right color, but I prefer green," says Noses. She turns and you see her face, long nose and all.

Noses is the daughter, they say, of mutants living somewhere in the woods. That's why her nose is so long.

"What about blue were you wanting to say?"

[Obscurejones]

"The drug. Please don't try and dodge around it. We all have too little time on this earth to waste it on petty lies. Two people dead in the wilds. A man and a women carrying Blue. I'd like to know what you know about them and what they were carrying."

[Vonwalt]

Noses shrugs. "Seems to me, you've got a lot of curiosity about things that don't particularly concern you. They say I got a big nose, but at least I don't stick it in other people's business."

[Obscurejones]

"Noses, tell me. Please. It has begun to effect my congregation. And I take their safety very seriously."

[Vonwalt]

Sounds to me like you're trying to manipulate Noses, Smilin' Jack. Why not roll it?

[Obscurejones]

Manipulating +weird[roll0] The RNG ****ing adores Jack.

[Vonwalt]

Dank. So your pleas kind of get through to Noses, for all the hard-a** that she is, and she goes:

"All right, look. You didn't hear this from me, right? And you owe me." She grabs a mug from behind her and takes a swig of coffee or tea or something before going on.
"Blue's a drug, yeah. Comes from the dead city near Aurora, up north. Some of those guys, Balder and Pendle, they go in the ruins and dig it up from somewhere. Then whoever runs Aurora that week gives it somebody, they take it down here and sell it to Stummick. Last two couriers got killed, left for dead. He hired me to go find 'em, told me the whole story." She sips again.

[Obscurejones]

"I see. Thank you, Noses. I take it you've already made your delivery of what you retrieved?"

[Vonwalt]

"Yeah, last one was a little while ago. a week or two, maybe?" Noses says.

[Obscurejones]

"Well thank you for your help."
Jack starts to turn to leave but stops himself. No need to be so brusque.
"Stop by the chapel some time. Always happy to talk to new people."

[Vonwalt]

Noses laughs and says "Don't forget, you owe me now."

[Obscurejones]

With a soft laugh and a gentle wave Jack begins weaving his way out of the maze of junk.

[Eonas]

"Yessss..." Lily exhales. "Whatever you ssssay, my sssweet little puppet..." The three needles on the fingertips of his violation glove ever so slightly prick Ember's palm. Ember hears the otherworldly voices whispering to him again, echoing the hints carried in Lily's eyes, hints of lurid acts unspeakable under the cold rational light of day, but which here, now, in this dingy, dimly-lit lust-haven, take on horrifying reality. Lily lowers his head to Ember's hand that clasps the glove, outstretching his tongue and touching the back of the hand with the tip of it. Ember feels the tongue sliding up his hand like a warm wet slug, up to his wrist, elbow, shoulder, neck; and all the while, Lily's right hand slowly probing down Ember's torso...

"Debasssse yourssself," the unnatural, shifting whispers of the psychic malestrom seem to tell Ember, "ssseek transssscendance in flessssh..." Or maybe the whispers are Lily's. It's impossible to tell, not in this passion-infused psychic haze.

And then it's all over. Lily's calmly putting his trousers back on. On the other side of the curtain, people are probably looking curiously at the booth, wondering what the hell the noises were all about.

Automatic Deep Brain Scan: [roll0]

[Vonwalt]

EPISODE 2: FEELIN' BLUE

So it's night, now, in Junktown. 8:00? 9:00? Who knows? Who cares? Snow's falling a little faster, it's cold outside, but life is still happening...

Smiling Jack, you're in the Chapel right now, and would you roll your Fortune? We can see who exactly is there, and why.

Lily, you've just showed up there as well, after spending your afternoon on other business. Someone else was coming towards the Chapel when you showed up; couldn't see who.

Ember, you're at your home, or at the Lonely House. Up to you.

Cackle's probably there as well, no matter which one you choose.

What do you do?

[Obscurejones]

Jack's got his eye on the ball, his mind on the prize, a purpose and a fight to go for. But there's the question of God. God is all and sometimes the All twists a way Jack won't like.
Fourtune![roll0]

[Vonwalt]

Ooooh! Would you like Judgement or Savagery?

[Obscurejones]

People say variety is the spice of life. Those people tend to be ***holes who can't stand Tabasco on their eggs. Let's stick to judgement for now.

[Vonwalt]

Cool! All right, so Danley is there, obviously, sitting in a corner staring angrily at the wall. And Sean is unconscious, passed out drunk. Melter and R.V. are in a corner, doing something you don't want to look too closely at (Or maybe you do, but I will not be describing it here). R.V. brought you a bottle of what could pass for wine; that's your 1-barter for this evening.
Stana is here, tripping hard on something with Old Gavin, who works at the Lonely House; both their mouths are stained blue. Stana is carving your name into a pew with one of her knives, over and over and over again.

[Plerumque]

Ember's sitting at the Lonely House's bar, sketching aimlessly on the ring-stained wood with a piece of charcoal and enjoying the stares of the clientele who were present for the little show earlier. He finishes the curlicued drawing and wipes it away with a gray-stained hand, then turns to Cackle. "Hey, itchy fingers, thanks for earlier. Looked like it coulda been pretty bad for me if no one'd stepped in. I s'pose there's equal call for talking and... not talking, in those kinds of situations. Did you end up figuring out anything about Meaty Knuckles and his quite lovely shade of sanguine pigment?"

[Vonwalt]

Cackle, did you end up asking around the place about Beef Hand during the afternoon? Roll +Sharp if you think you did.

[Anubis Dread]

"I don't give two s***s why his blood is all funky, but I asked anyway. And if he had a good bounty on his a**," Cackle shrugged as he sat at the bar. "I'll take whatever is burns the most going down," he adds to the barkeep before slouching down in his seat and looking over at Ember casually.

"Let's stick a pin in that. Any reason you called me over other than to thank me for blowing the brains out of D*** Meat? Not that I'm complaining," Cackle amends. "If you'd let me I'd pin you down on this par and f*** you senseless right here in front of everyone. But you usually have some angle you're working. Other than, you know, horizontal. Which is my favorite angle by the way."

Cackle did not math.


Sharp: [roll0]

[Vonwalt]

yeah, so you took some time after hangin' out with Sapphire to ask around about Beef Hand, but nobody knows nothing. Also, you kept getting a feeling like you were being followed, but you didn't see anyone any time you looked.

[Obscurejones]

Staring at the bottle Jack thinks. The world is great and terrible. But it is also small and wonderful. Such a tiny thing, but worth so much simply for being lovely. This... This could work.

Sticking two fingers in his mouth he emits a sharp whistle to draw the attention of his attendants.
"I think it is time for a sermon. Could you be dears and gather your fellows? Including Ember and Lily. And have everyone bring a clean cup."

[Eonas]

Lily's sidling over towards Danley from behind, not even glancing at Jack. The wormies could go fetch the others, but he'd more important things to do. Like place his hands - thankfully bare and gloveless now - softly on Danley's back and massage it in little, delicate circles. "Oh, you poor thing..." Lily coos. "Having to sssstay here all day... you mussst have been so lonely. But you must undersssstand... when your leader sssays 'leave'..."

The massaging hands suddenly dig into Danley's muscles and Lily leans forward right to the nape of Danley's neck. "He means f***ing 'leave'." Lily suddenly grins as if he'd just eaten a cockroach and his eyes take on a strange glow. "We all must ssserve him, you know... do what he says because he sssssays so... ssssee? Ssso you had to be punissshed for disssobedience against our massssster..."

And then Lily's touch lightens, tenderness replacing pain. "But now all's forgiven. You may leave the Chapel. As sssoon assss he's finished sssspeaking to us. Of course."

[Vonwalt]

So Old Gavin gets up, nods unsteadily towards you and heads outside to start rounding the Cult up.

[Obscurejones]

"Lily, let the man leave if he wants to leave. But he is invited to hear the sermon if he likes."

[Vonwalt]

Danley doesn't speak, doesn't look at either of you. Just runs out as fast as he can.

[Plerumque]

"Aren't thanks enough? I want to make sure that next time you won't hesitate if it comes to saving my life. 'Course, I suppose there are surer ways to express gratitude..." Ember says, mouth quirking up in a half-smile. "But Lily's never far away, and I do try to avoid breaking toys as soon as I get them. Tell ya what, chuckles, beat up another big bad man on my behalf and I'll see if I can indulge you in your geometrical preference. Until then, pretty words'll have to be enough." Ember grins and turns to Karla. "Hey, Karla. I said I'd take Blue with you, but what you gave me is in Lily's pocket at the moment. Where do you get it?"

[Vonwalt]

"From, Crunch, mainly," says Karla. "He only started bringing it in a little while ago. I've still got some left, though, and I'm willin' to share with you, pretty boy."

[Anubis Dread]

"Aren't thanks enough? I want to make sure that next time you won't hesitate if it comes to saving my life. 'Course, I suppose there are surer ways to express gratitude..." Ember says, mouth quirking up in a half-smile. "But Lily's never far away, and I do try to avoid breaking toys as soon as I get them. Tell ya what, chuckles, beat up another big bad man on my behalf and I'll see if I can indulge you in your geometrical preference. Until then, pretty words'll have to be enough." Ember grins and turns to Karla. "Hey, Karla. I said I'd take Blue with you, but what you gave me is in Lily's pocket at the moment. Where do you get it?"

"Seems fair. Who do I kill?" Cackle raised an eyebrow. "Come on, you must have someone in mind to give me an offer like that. Unless you're just a f***ing tease," he grinned. "I mean, me and Lily are tight. Real tight. He's practically my kids uncle. But he must know the s*** you're into right? I never really held Sapphire's job against her. Seems pretty close minded for him to not let you f*** whoever you please," he shrugged. "Besides, don't you want to see what made a f***ing goddess like my precious gem marry a schlub like me?" he stuck out his tongue.

He didn't really give two s***s about blue. He still figured it came from guts and s***, but he didn't really give a f*** if anyone else got off on unintentional cannibalism or not.


Rolling Seduction! [roll0]

[Vonwalt]

So Ember, what you do now is kind of up to you. There's no direct consequences for ignoring Cackle's come-on.

You and Cackle both hear the door open, however. Old Gavin comes in and starts quietly talking to different patrons and staff. From somewhere outside comes a rhythmic tapping, like a steel pipe hitting the ground or something.

[Eonas]

Lily follows Danley out the door with his milky blue eyes. Then he sits down on the pew beside Stana in an upright fetal position, arms clutching knees against chest. "Daisies, lilacs, tulips, peonies... petals ssssoft as skin to ssssstrokies..." he sings in a quiet falsetto, rocking himself back and forth and watching Stana carve. "Roses, lilies, poppies - ssssaaay... I like your pretty letters... can I make... ssssome pretty lettersssss... with you?"

He uncoils himself from fetal position and pulls from his trouser pocket a rusty scalpel wrapped in a rag. "What are we making thesssse... pretty letters for?"

[Vonwalt]

Stana looks at you, but she's not REALLY looking at you, you know? And she speaks.

"His name. His debt. When the faithful arrive, they'll show him the error of his ways. With words," she stabs her knife into the pew "Or with blades."

[Anubis Dread]

Huh. That was a weird sound. Kind of sounded like when Cackle got so pissed he went cold, grabbed something handy and sort of just dragged it along to its victim before bashing their head in. And the old man did seem concerned.

"I'll be right back," Cackle told Ember, getting to his feet. "You might be cashing in that f*** in exchange for another body sooner than you'd of thunk," he grinned, whistling a bit as he walked out the door to see what might be causing that damn noise.

[Vonwalt]

Cackle, you head outside into the dark and the cold. There's a couple of people walking towards the Chapel; you recognize Buick and Martha among them. The tapping noise is from the other end of the street, at Flight Control. There's a crowd of people there, too far away to see who exactly.

Ember, once Cackle takes his leave, Old Gavin comes up to you and says, nervous:
"Smilin' Jack wants you over at the Chapel, lad. Big meetin'.

[Anubis Dread]

Whelp, that sucked. If the noise was someone he could get away with shooting a bunch of holes in there wouldn't still be a bunch of living people standing around it. Somewhat disappointed, Cackle none the less walked over to the crowd to see what was up.

[Vonwalt]

It's Stummick, pot-bellied and sideburned, his arms bare even against the cold. He's got a hand on Danley's shoulder, talking quietly to him about something. Danley is red-eyed, looks real shook up. Lodi and Crunch are there, and Noses, and a scarred-up woman you recognize from your vision.
The tapping noise is Crunch tapping his sledgehammer on the ground. Lodi has a pistol in his hand, and so does Noses. The scarred-up woman (She looks dead, looks like somebody left her for dead) has a shotgun. They all look up at you as you approach. Stummick stops talking to Danley, looks at you.
"Evening, son. What can old Stummick and his hammers do for you? It's a cold night to be away from the comforts of your lover, no?"

[Anubis Dread]

"That's what her client said," Cackle quipped. Honestly, Sapphire's job probably worked out well most of the time. Sure there were plenty of nights they couldn't sleep together, but if they could always be together Cackle would never get any work done. That's why his visits to his other spouses tended not to last as long as his time in Junk Town. It was the only place he felt he could actually work and still enjoy the comfort of his wife on occasion.

"What you can do for me is- oh hey, didn't you have a Howler problem? ...well we can talk about that later. What exactly happened here?" Cackle asked.

[Vonwalt]

Stummick smiles. His teeth are very clean, unlike his greasy hair and clothes.
"We will talk about the Howlers, yes. Deschutes River has been a thorn in my side for too long. As for this..." he waves his hand at the posse. "Someone has been messing about with my poor hammer's head. You know Lily, I think?"

[Anubis Dread]

Stummick smiles. His teeth are very clean, unlike his greasy hair and clothes.
"We will talk about the Howlers, yes. Deschutes River has been a thorn in my side for too long. As for this..." he waves his hand at the posse. "Someone has been messing about with my poor hammer's head. You know Lily, I think?"

"Yeah, he's practically my kids Uncle. And is also the reason Ember won't f*** me, so I guess it sort of balances out. Why?" Cackle asked with a frown. Wait, they weren't suggesting Lily had messed with Hammer's head were they? ...well it WAS something he'd do.

[Vonwalt]

"Hm." says Stummick. "Well, I suppose I won't ask you to come along, then." He eyes you up and down. "Unless you're real torn up about Ember...?"

[Anubis Dread]

"Hm." says Stummick. "Well, I suppose I won't ask you to come along, then." He eyes you up and down. "Unless you're real torn up about Ember...?"

Hm... on the one hand, even with Ember taken he still liked Lily. Like, a lot. He didn't want to off him just because he'd messed with some a**holes head. On the OTHER hand, Lily was probably at Jack's church right now. And busting in there and firing some rounds would absolutely f*** his day over. He supposed he could just aim at Jack instead of Lily and pretend it was an accident? Yeah, that'd work. Jack was a b****, he deserved to have some s*** happen to him.

"Eh, I'll tag along. I need work, and this seems easy enough," Cackle shrugged.

[Plerumque]

"F***ing tease? I suppose that's fair," Ember acknowledges with a sly grin. "But that's half my job, isn't it? Wasn't always too proud to get up on that stage." He indicates the back of the room with a nod of his head, and stands as the conversation is interrupted. "Now, Cackle, I can't have you bring me just any corpse. But don't worry, I'm sure there'll be a chance for you sooner or later." Ember smiles again and waves with his fingertips as Cackle leaves the joint. He waits a few moments and turns to Old Gavin. "Does he, now. Can't imagine why. Well, if Jack asked so politely, who am I to refuse? I'm on my way." He nods to Gavin and Karla and swings out the other door, taking the scenic route to the chapel.

[Vonwalt]

So Ember, you head out. Behind you, Karla shouts "You said you was gonna take some Blue with me, scars! You better come back soon!" You head on over to the Chapel, and on your way, you see the other members of the Cult heading there as well. It's not long before you arrive, and Smilin' Jack's court is in session. Everybody (who's not a player) is just kind of sitting around, talking or laughing, having a good time. The whole thing has a festive atmosphere, and people are starting to get sort of drunk.

Lily, Jack: What do you do? Looks like Ember just showed up, along with the rest of the Cult.

Meanwhile, Cackle: Stummick is laying out how he thinks you all oughta teach Lily a lesson. He's talking about scaring Lily, making a threat, but not shooting "unless somethng crazy happens."

What do you do?

[Anubis Dread]

"I'm crazy. Do I count?" Cackle asked, raising his hand in inquiry as he asked the question. All this talk about hurting Lily as bulls***, but it wasn't like he could... wait. Waiiiiiit...

"Actually... I heard Jack talking to Lily a lot earlier today. And you know he's got a silver tongue like a mother f***er. I bet Jack just sort of tricked or coerced Lily into doing this, and HE'S the one behind it! I mean, what possible reason would Lily have to do something like this on his own? He don't give two s***s about D*** Hammer here."


Manipulate: [roll0]

[Eonas]

Okay, while they're still on their way here, Lily's carving in the wood beside Stana with his scalpel, but he's not really paying attention to it. He's just staring at Stana with a half-smile playing at the corner of his mouth. He's slipped on the violation glove onto his left hand, the one that's not holding the scalpel, and he's twirling Stana's hand around his uncovered pinkie finger. "I like you..." he says slowly.. "Tell a cherub a sssstory... whose name? Whosssse debt?"

The violation glove strokes Stana's cheek. Lily's eyes roll upwards until there's just the nerve-webbed underside of his eyeballs showing, and he shudders. "Teeeeelllll... meeeee..."

[roll0]

What are Stana's secret pains?

---

When Ember arrives, though, Lily's right there at the door waiting for him, violation glove stashed in his trouser pocket again.. "Oooooh, my pretty... ssssshall we speak to massssster Jack?" he whispers, grabbing Ember around the waist. But Lily's eyes glance back and forth between Ember and Martha.

[Obscurejones]

Sticking two fingers in his mouth Jack lets out a piercing whistle. He holds up his bottle of wine.
"Who has seen the light of the world? Who knows the face of God? And who can tell me what this is?"
He takes a second to get a few cries from the crowd before cutting in with a room splitting grin that faintly shines in the dim light in the chapel.
"This is the beauty of the old world. This is value beyond measure. And who in this room would kill another for it? Who would pry this from his cold hands? Who would Do violence to know joy? For I tell you that any who would cut another's throat to know his own pleasure does not understand God. Does not know the wonder of his own being. But he who would offer another his greatest treasure so his fellow child of God could know beauty knows. He sees."
Taking hold of the cork in his teeth he pulls until a distinctive pop is heard.
"So come. Let me share with you beauty. Savor what I can offer and know that this is why the world was made. To be experienced. To be shared."

[Vonwalt]

Stana's secret plan is to get Buick in trouble, or injured, or kicked out of the cult. She hates him and she wants him to suffer, but she doesn't want to just go knife him up.

Cackle, Stummick strokes his chin thoughtfully. "You might just have a point there, son.
Jack's cult holds sway over a lot of influential people, important people to the welfare of Junktown. Might be time to show them where their loyalties should lie." He turns towards the half-open door of Flight Control.
"Weasel! Bring me the Thundergun."
After a moment, a weaselly-looking man in a lab coat comes out of the door, carrying one of those drum-fed grenade launchers. It's got lightning bolts painted on the side, and an underbarrel attachment of some kind you don't recognize. Looks almost like a syringe.

"All right, my friends," he says, hefting the thing. "Let's go see what's up at the Chapel."

What do you do?

[Vonwalt]

Smilin' Jack, that is some good stuff. Some real stuff. That's the word of God right there. Your followers are into it, they've forgotten their worries and woes and their grievances with you. They're drinking the wine, talking and laughing. Would you like to use a move?

[Obscurejones]

Jack's smiling but his heart's not in it. Actually... That's not it. It's not that his heart's not in it. It's that there's too much of him in it. He can feel it. The icy hand reaching for the back of his neck. Death comes for every holy man who truly believes. But not yet. Not now. It's too soon. They need to learn. They need to understand that it's not just... Debauchery. It's the truth. It's the world.
Manipulate +weird [roll0] Trying to make his followers care about the word and not merely the actions he allows.

[Vonwalt]

You've got 'em in the palm of your hand, Jack. They'd do anything for you. Even Buick is practically frothing at the mouth. They want to be led.

Tell me what you want them to believe in.

[Obscurejones]

There is nothing without God. But God does not require you. They share their existence with the world because they love. And they know that to be is the greatest gift they can offer. It falls to us to do no less. When the books say do not kill in this they speak with God's true voice.

Edit: OOC, I uh... Have 3/4's of a philosophy degree and I'm sorry if this gets weird at any point.

[Vonwalt]

All right.
As long as you abide by this rule, so too will the cult abstain from killing, although you can see that some people are happier about it than others. Stana looks real mad. so, curiously, does Melter. You thought he didn't have anyone to hate.

[Anubis Dread]

Stana's secret plan is to get Buick in trouble, or injured, or kicked out of the cult. She hates him and she wants him to suffer, but she doesn't want to just go knife him up.

Cackle, Stummick strokes his chin thoughtfully. "You might just have a point there, son.
Jack's cult holds sway over a lot of influential people, important people to the welfare of Junktown. Might be time to show them where their loyalties should lie." He turns towards the half-open door of Flight Control.
"Weasel! Bring me the Thundergun."
After a moment, a weaselly-looking man in a lab coat comes out of the door, carrying one of those drum-fed grenade launchers. It's got lightning bolts painted on the side, and an underbarrel attachment of some kind you don't recognize. Looks almost like a syringe.

"All right, my friends," he says, hefting the thing. "Let's go see what's up at the Chapel."

What do you do?

"...I will halve my rate if you let me be the one who fires that thing," Cackle practically salivates as they make their way towards the chapel. Lily being hurt? Grenade launcher! Killing Jack? Grenade launcher! Everything was secondary to being able to shoot that thing off. He doubted they'd agree, but maybe if there was a firefight he could loot it off the corpse of whoever ended up using it. A guy could dream after all.

[Vonwalt]

Stummick laughs. "Halve your rate? Hell, son, if you want to ride the lightning, you'd have to pay me!" He stops and considers.
"If you want to, of course, that is on the table. Give me something good and I'll let you take the Thundergun into this fight."

[Anubis Dread]

Stummick laughs. "Halve your rate? Hell, son, if you want to ride the lightning, you'd have to pay me!" He stops and considers.
"If you want to, of course, that is on the table. Give me something good and I'll let you take the Thundergun into this fight."

"...sorry, I need the cash. I'll take option b," Cackle pulled out his assault rifle. Option b being trying to get into a position where 'accidentally' shooting Stummick to loot him would be acceptable....

[Obscurejones]

Jack smiles as the last of the wine leaves the bottle. It was good to see them happy. And actually listening. And if none of the wine actually passed his lips, well that was alright. The lesson was the thing.

Still... This was almost too nice. And he had so much work yet to do. Would they be safe when he left? Could they manage on their own?

Taking a step back away from the revels he draws his mind inward, looking through the void.

+weird [roll0]

[Vonwalt]

Jack, the Maelstrom opens up, and you see... You see Stummick, and all his boys, and a dragon, poised to launch itself down on the Chapel. You see your flock, screaming and running. You see the basement of the Chapel, hidden from view under a pile of rubble, treasure within.

[Eonas]

Lily watches the spectacle with a strange look in his eyes. He's humming the little tune that begins with "daisies, lilacs, tulips, peonies... petals soft as skin to strokies...", as if automatically, unconsciously.

When he goes up to get a glass of booze, Lily drinks it carelessly and messily in front of Jack, two thin trails of wine snaking down his chin. His gaze is apparently fixed on Jack's forehead, but he's looking past Jack's body, through to the howling malestrom beyond it.

[roll]2d6+2[/roll

[Obscurejones]

"Huh. Time to test out my Saint George impression then."
Heading for the door Jack stops to grab a plank of cedar and a discarded white shirt. Strapping the two together into a makeshift flag of peace pauses at the exit. Looks over his congregation in their revels.
"...No blood but mine. Innocents though they know it not. Children of God."
With a resigned sigh he steps out into the brisk night air.

[Vonwalt]

Lily, you see somebody rapidly mutating from a normal human into some kind of hulking beast-man, like the mutants you occasionally see out in the ravine country. You catch a weird and unpleasant glimpse of Buick and somebody else doin' it. It's like you're seeing it through the bottom of a bottle, or a kaleidoscope or something.

[Vonwalt]

Dang, Jack. All right, you step outside, and you see Cackle, Stummick, several of Stummick's enforcers, and two women. One of them is Noses, who gives you a professional nod. The other is a scar-covered woman with a shotgun.

Stummick raises an eyebrow at you and hefts a huge grenade launcher.
"Evening, Jack Lark. We were just looking for you."

What do you do?

[Eonas]

As Lily's entranced, he drops the glass to the ground with a low moan. It shatters, glass shards and wine spraying around his bare feet. And he's wobbling back and forth, hugging himself with both arms curled around his torso, whispering phrases to himself like "Laaaaalah ookie-wookie maaaaama goo gah boo-hoo eeeeee dada wah-wah owwwie...".

And then he's snapped back to reality. He rapidly looks around himself, grabbing at Ember for support. "What things I sssspy with my little brain..." he says, as if to himself.

Where's Martha at? What about Stana and Buick?

[Vonwalt]

Stana's in the front row, near where you saw her last. Buick got up and is talking quietly to Two Toes, over on the left; you know that Two Toes' sister works for Buick in the shop.

Martha is near the front of the Chapel, trying to peer out the door after Jack.

[Obscurejones]

"Good evening. God told me it might be time you and I had a chat. Although I suspect God was most concerned about that fire spitter there. Lot of people in the building right now Stummick. I'd appreciate if you lowered that before you told me why you were seeking me out."
Spotting Cackle in the crowd Jack can't help but wince slightly. That explains... Well, a little. But it still explains something.
"And Cackle you might want to think about where Sapphire is before bringing a heavily armed group to my front door. Just a thought for next time."

[Anubis Dread]

"Good evening. God told me it might be time you and I had a chat. Although I suspect God was most concerned about that fire spitter there. Lot of people in the building right now Stummick. I'd appreciate if you lowered that before you told me why you were seeking me out."
Spotting Cackle in the crowd Jack can't help but wince slightly. That explains... Well, a little. But it still explains something.
"And Cackle you might want to think about where Sapphire is before bringing a heavily armed group to my front door. Just a thought for next time."

"I have a gun Jack in the D***. Bragging about taking my wife hostage isn't the smartest thing you could be doing right now," Cackle warned dangerously, aiming his assault rifle at his smug f***ing head. "You know what, f*** this. I'm pretty sure we were just coming to have a bit of a talk, but after that s***? Get your a** over here and submit to custody or I'll blow your f***ing brains out."


Going Aggro: [roll0]

[Eonas]

Lily bites his lip when he sees the Thundergun. He lets go of Ember and gives the Skinner's hair a ruffle with one hand. "Behave yoursssself, pretty." he says quickly, and scuttles over to sneak up behind Martha.

[roll0]

What's my best way out?

[Vonwalt]

The best way out is through the back of the Chapel, where there's a boarded-up door. Second best would be into the rubble-choked basement.


Smilin' Jack, what's it gonna be? you want to get shot up, or you want to give in?

[Plerumque]

Well, s***, Ember thinks, stepping towards the group. The situation's already escalated, and I never even got any of the wine. He speaks to Cackle, and his voice is low and smooth and intoxicating like the best whiskey. "Well, Cackle, looks like you were right about trying to cash in sooner rather than later. But I don't want Jack's body. I know he's been an a**hole to you. But he's a useful one, to me and Lily and yes, you if you give him a chance. Put down the gun, and what's mine is yours. Pull the trigger, and you earn only enmity. And trust me, Cackle, that's one thing you don't want." Ember holds Cackle's eyes and then directs his gaze to the other members of the crowd as he begins unbuttoning his shirt, revealing a storm of faded words curling around and entwined in each other, seeming to form shapes that are gone with a second glance, inked on lean muscle. "It's something no one wants. So let's just all take a moment to think about this."

Using An Arresting Skinner. No one can move except Lily and Jack. If possible, I'd also like to make a Seduce/Manipulate roll on Cackle while he's frozen, burning my +1forward: [roll0].

[Vonwalt]

Everybody's eyes are on you Ember, most of them full of undisguised lust or admiration. You have the stage.
Cackle, if you put your gun down, you'll mark experience. If you shoot or do something else, you're acting under fire and you gotta roll.

The shotgun woman, though, looks at you with undisguised hatred, for all that she is paralyzed by your power. Wait a minute, you recognize her! Holy s***, it's Moonrise! You thought she was dead, right? carved up the way she carved you up?

[Anubis Dread]

Oh... oh wow. Yeah, there was a reason he wanted to ride Ember like he was a f***ing mororcycle. Dude was sexy as f***! But at the same time Jack was a real a**hole, and this was probably the only chance he'd have to shoot him. But sexiness! Which he probably was just teasing Cackle with and wouldn't actually follow up on it. Huh.

Alright, Ember wanted him to think, let's think. If he shot Jack, s*** would go down and Ember would hate him. But everyone would forget why they were even here originally, getting Lily off the hook. On the other hand if he didn't shoot Jack Ember might eventually bone him maybe. But Lily might get in trouble. Then there was Sapphire. Was it better to have her mad at him for shooting her priest or wrapped up around every word this d*** hole said? ...f***, this was too confusing.

"F*** it, thinking too hard hurts," Cackle complained, squeezing down the trigger.


Acting Under Fire with Hard: [roll0]

[Vonwalt]

Wow, all right. Cackle, you pull the trigger, a cloud of bullets fills the air, and Jack gets torn up.

So Smiling Jack, roll +harm suffered, which I believe is going to be 3-harm. You get +3 Hx with Cackle, and can probably mark experience I would guess. Then we'll see what happens, I guess.

Edited to give Jack a chance: So what I think will happen is instead of directly taking the damage, I'll let Smiling Jack Act Under Fire to get out or surrender or, you know, react.

[Vonwalt]

Various good points have been made. Here's the situation:

Smilin' Jack is at gunpoint, with the choice to surrender or get shot.

Everyone else is frozen by Ember's arresting glare.

After Smilin' Jack makes his decision, we'll see what happens next.

[Obscurejones]

Raising both his hands above his head and facing palms out Jack moves forward slowly, doing his best not to spook Cackle.
"My apologies, Cackle. I wasn't attempting to imply any threat. Just wanted to make sure you didn't hurt Sapphire by accident. Neither of us wants any one besides me to catch a bullet. Now that I've surrendered could I ask what I am surrendering for? To my knowledge I haven't done anything to offend either yourself or Stummick.

[Anubis Dread]

Looks like he wouldn't need to shoot Jack after all... f***.

"You uh... you uh... um... what was..." Cackle attempted, still drooling at the sight of Ember. Before promptly covering his eyes with one hand and waving his rifle around in the other for emphasis.

"We came across someone who'd been f***ed up by a psychic. And since you're the only a**hole who both likes f***ing with people's heads and has a super powerful psychic on staff it's obvious that you're the one behind it! And thus the one who needs to take it in the a** in pushiment! And no-one else," Cackle adds somewhat lamely. It was hard to phrase an argument that got Jack in hot water but let Lily off the hook. But f*** it, there was no other suspect and he wasn't letting Lily take this s***. He'd do his best.

[Eonas]

Lily eats Ember with his eyes as he whispers "Sssee me at the lantern tree... near the ravine fields... about your ssssssweet Lodi." into Martha's ear. Then he's next to Buick wearing the violation glove on his hand, and his gaze is temporarily taken off Ember to slide his hands underneath Buick's shirt. He presses his fingers against the skin on Buick's chest, sighing and trying to pry into his mind.

[roll0]

......

[Obscurejones]

"Danley, as I remember it Lily gave you no compunction against saying what happened. Would it be accurate to say that he acted without my request and that as soon as he gave me a say in what happened to you I released you?"

[Vonwalt]

Danley looks back and forth before speaking. "Boss, I know you got a beef with Jack, but he done nothing to me. It was Lily. He's the one. We should just go in there, get him out, and beat him til he's sorry."
"In a minute," says Stummick absentmindedly. "I'm looking at Ember."
Danley looks like he's going to argue, but ends up deciding not to as his gaze meets Ember's again. The whole crowd is still pretty much entranced.

Meanwhile, inside, Lily is trying and failing to explore the mind of Buick. Unfortunately, instead of touching his memories, you touch the parts that control his bloodflow, and blood fountains from Buick's nose and ears for a second. He coughs, chokes, and looks at you with hatred in his eyes.

"Thou shalt not kill," he says slowly, "But Jack didn't say nothing about hurtin'." Suddenly, Two Toes and Sean are there, Two Toes limping as usual, Sean's eyes unfocused and glassy. They grab your arms, avoiding your gloved hand, and Buick cracks his knuckles before punching you in the face.
(For 1-harm, AP)
what do you do?

[Anubis Dread]

"Danley, as I remember it Lily gave you no compunction against saying what happened. Would it be accurate to say that he acted without my request and that as soon as he gave me a say in what happened to you I released you?"

This was getting bad. If Jack said much more Lily would be put in the slammer and never taken back out again. Since this whole s*** storm had started out with wanting to make sure Lily didn't get in trouble Cackle couldn't let that happen. And he'd prefer it if he didn't need to kill Stummick and pretty much everyone else in a half mile area to ensure that didn't happen.

"See, he admitted to having influence over Lily! And everyone knows that according to the law if you own a psychic you have to take responsibility!" Cackle attempted. "Uh, not psychics. Madmen. People who are f***ed up in the head. Lily is too insane to take care of himself, so any actions he take are the fault of whatever a**hole is supposed to be taking care of him. Namely Jack. Because he's a f***ing jacka**."

[Obscurejones]

"I am certain Stummick knows the law of his own freehold, Cackle. After all, he decides it."
Looking to Ember, Jack grins and then turns back to the assembled mob.
"I for one would love to discuss those laws with you Stummick. But I think perhaps Cackle's prattling has wasted enough of your time for one night. We are in the midst of a revel. What say you join us? Perhaps if we ask in a loving enough fashion Ember will be so kind as to show us his version of a favorite biblical tale. I imagine he can do a wonderful dance of the seven veils. Come inside and enjoy yourselves. Soothe your worried brows. Drink deeply of wine and flesh. There will be time enough for justice in the morning."
Manipulate +weird[roll0] Come inside and party!

[Vonwalt]

"Yessssss....." says Stummick in a long exhale. "Danley, my boy, I'm afraid your revenge will have to wait. For now, we are guests of Mr. Jack Lark. For now."
Him and the rest of his troop lower their weapons and start making motions as if to head in to the Chapel.

[Anubis Dread]

"...alright, but I didn't shoot anyone. So YOU owe me some f***ing," Cackle pointed at Ember significantly as he followed along with the others. "Wait, my wife is in there isn't she? She probably deserves some too. We'll make an evening of it," he shrugged as he stepped in.

So Jack was alive. That sucked a**. But Lily wasn't in trouble. So it was kind of a draw, he guessed.

[Obscurejones]

As Stummick moves forward Jack steps forward and into Cackle's path. He speaks softly but with a solidity that his voice usually lacks. Edge may be the wrong word, but this is as close to an edge as Jack gets.
"You and I need to have a chat before you come into my home, Cackle."

[Anubis Dread]

As Stummick moves forward Jack steps forward and into Cackle's path. He speaks softly but with a solidity that his voice usually lacks. Edge may be the wrong word, but this is as close to an edge as Jack gets.
"You and I need to have a chat before you come into my home, Cackle."

"Hey last I checked this was a home for the masses or some s***," Cackle points out. "Look Jacka**, I'm not in a good mood. People wanted to arrest my best friend for some s***, you got off scott free, Ember probably isn't going to f*** me no matter what he said and my wife is in some s*** stain of a church instead of home in bed. If you want an explanation or some s*** I can give it, but if you're wanting me to convert save your breath. Because I am NOT. In the mood. To be f***ed with right now."

[Obscurejones]

"I'm sorry. For what happened. When you were hurt. I was young and dumb and I made a mistake. I thought what I was saying was more important then your suffering and that was a stupid f***ing thing to think. And I can't ask you to forgive me, because that's your choice. But I really am sorry for what happened, and I need you to be more careful in how you try to hurt me. That fire spitter won't care the difference between your dislike of me and your love for Sapphire. Or Ember. Or Lily. A lot of people we both care about almost got hurt tonight. You want to take a shot at me, you can drag me into the street and put a round in the back of my head. But please don't put innocents at risk when you do. Please."

[Eonas]

Lily staggers backwards, clamping his hands over his ears. "Make it sssstop... the beautiful sparrows... the ssssscreaming... I jusssst -" he whimpers, then collapses on the ground unconscious but twitching.

[Anubis Dread]

"...look Jack, you're a d***. But I'm not that stupid. At least not most of the time," Cackle sighed. "The only reason I pulled this stunt was that they were coming here anyway to get Lily and I like him more than I like you. No offence - no actually, offence. Like I said you're a d***. But even if you weren't I needed a scapegoat to keep him out of trouble and you fit the bill. It was nothing personal. It was an awesome side benefit, but it wasn't personal. I'm not going to shoot up your congregation. I'm not a complete b****."

Hesitating a moment, Cackle thumped Jack awkwardly on the shoulder in acknowledgement before stepping past him.

[Obscurejones]

"...Alright. I'll take that."
Walking in after Cackle Jack laughs softly to himself.
"By the way might have work for you in the morning. Taking a pilgrimage and might need a bodyguard."

[Vonwalt]

So you guys come in, only to see Buick, blood streaming out of his face, standing in front of the rest of the congregation, minus three. Lily is on the floor next to the boarded-up door at the back of the room, and Sean and Two Toes are prying the boards off of it. Buick looks straight at Jack.
"He tried to touch my brain," he says matter-of-factly. "Made me bleed all down my shirt."

What do you do?

[Obscurejones]

"And you walloped the **** out of him. Let's clean you up and get back to the party."

[Anubis Dread]

"...Alright. I'll take that."
Walking in after Cackle Jack laughs softly to himself.
"By the way might have work for you in the morning. Taking a pilgrimage and might need a bodyguard."

"...well, f*** me backwards, I need to save up for a jeep so I guess I'll be taking that," Cackle reluctantly agrees. "Well don't ACTUALLY... well... hm," he looked Jack up and down thoughtfully. "...alright, I can think of WORST people to f***. You'd at least be interesting for a hate f***. I dunno if I'd waste the fun stuff on you though. You seem the boring s*** heat who just punds a guy or gal until they splatter their **** all over the... okay, who the F*** do I have to kill over this?" Cackle demanded as he spied the twitching body of Lily inside. "You? Well... god f***ing damn it I am not in the mood for this s***. Just go sit in the corner until I decided what to do with you," he gestured in frustration he went to check on Lily.

[Vonwalt]

Buick kind of looks at you, Jack. You get the feeling he's thinking about challenging you, but he backs down.
"All right, Jack. Just gotta put Lily somewhere safe, first."
He steps in front of you, Cackle.
"Relax, buddy. He's alive, and he'll stay alive. Beyond that, you don't need to concern yourself with him."

[Anubis Dread]

Buick kind of looks at you, Jack. You get the feeling he's thinking about challenging you, but he backs down.
"All right, Jack. Just gotta put Lily somewhere safe, first."
He steps in front of you, Cackle.
"Relax, buddy. He's alive, and he'll stay alive. Beyond that, you don't need to concern yourself with him."

"I will reach down, grab your d***, then rip it the f*** off and eat it in front of you if you don't get out of my f***ing face in the next three seconds," Cackle warned dangerously. Lily was not 'someone he didn't need to concern himself with'. He was his daughter's f***ing uncle for f***s sake! And not just the 'see them once every now and again and get along' kind! The 'my daughter keeps asking if she can marry him when she grows up' kind!

[Obscurejones]

Jack places a hand as gently as he can on Cackle's arm.
"I'll keep an eye on Lily. You enjoy yourself. Spend some time with Sapphire. And Ember. God gives you bonus points for the double."

[Vonwalt]

"S***, man, all right," says Buick. He steps out of the way and beckons Sean and Two Toes to follow. Lily is face down on the floor.

What do you do?

[Obscurejones]

Sighing, Jack picks up Lily and heads for his small apartment at the back of the Chapel.

[Anubis Dread]

Cackle hesitates a moment, before nodding. "Alright, I'll hold you to that. Take care of him though, or it's your a** on the line," he notes. He wanted an evening with his wife before he had to go on whatever weird a** job Jack had tomorrow. But Lily was important too. As it was though he should probably just leave him in the care of the man that for some weird a** reason Lily had decided should actually have a big influence in his life.

[Obscurejones]

Jack sets Lily down on his cot, careful to leave him on his side in case of vomiting. Grabbing a threadbare book from his collection he settles in to keep watch over the damaged psychic.

[Vonwalt]

So everybody plays it cool for the rest of the party; Stummick and his gang put their weapons away and are at least civil, Buick cleans up and doesn't act out, and there is just all kinds of debauchery.

The only thing I want to hear about, personally, is Ember: Firstly, do you end up sleeping with Cackle?
Secondly, Stummick at some point approaches you and sort of sheepishly hands you a note. It's an open invitation to come by Flight Control and, quote, "Hang out."
Thirdly, do you approach or interact with Moonrise at all? She spends most of the evening staring at you from across the room, not doing anything.

[Plerumque]

When Stummick hands Ember the note, he flashes a smile to rival the smog-choked stars. "I'll be sure to come by, sideburns," Ember says, fingers lingering for a moment on the other man's callused hands. "Always wanted to see what the big boys' sandbox looks like. I'll wear something nice." He stows the note in a pocket, nods to Stummick, and moves off across the floor, moving through the tangled flesh easily as a shark in the water, and with much the same intent as he narrows in on Moonrise. "What a pleasure to see you again," he says, saccharine, as he surfaces from the crowd. "I'm not interested in talking to you. Not curious why you came after me, or whether you hold a grudge. It doesn't matter to me either way. What I'm telling you is that you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. Stay out of my way. Otherwise, well... if last time wasn't enough to convince you, I've got friends. Jack. Lily. Cackle. And now, Stummick. Think hard before making rash decisions." And then he's gone, back into the fray.

It's late and the debauchery is winding down when Ember finally approaches Cackle, checking first to see that Lily's eyes are still blank and unseeing, even as his eyelashes flutter and sweat soaks the cot beneath him. He leans casually against the wall as he speaks. "You know, you were right. You managed to restrain yourself from blowing up anyone's head, and put off Lily's reckoning for another day. And as much as I enjoy the game, I can't have it be known that I go back on my promises. Bad for business." He rolls up his sleeves, revealing a sinuous tattoo that seems like it might have moved since he last took off his shirt. "Nothin' new here. Everyone's seen this one by now. But I'll tell you, Cackle, I've got tattoos in more interesting places, too. You like to see them?"

I feel like I should make either a Go Aggro or Manipulate roll to influence Moonrise, but I'll leave the specifics to you. [roll0] (+2 if Manipulate).

[Vonwalt]

Go aggro is the threat of direct, violent, consequence, while manipulate is the promise of something good later. What you're doing sounds more like manipulating to me. Does that seem right?

[Vonwalt]

So Ember, Moonrise gives you a funny-looking smile, and says:
"Oh, I'll stay out of your way. For now." before leaving. Just taking off into the dark and the cold.

[Anubis Dread]

He was... oh f*** yes! Seems he'd been a bit of a pessimist after all! And seeing as his wife was currently entertaining two strapping young lads over there he'd get Ember all to himself! F*** yeah!

"Ember, you can show me whatever you want me to see. As long as I get a piece of your sweet, sweet a** I'd do just about anything," Cackle grinned. "Even not blowing the hell out of an a**hole. Though if you want to blow the f*** out of MY a**hole then feel free. As much as this is my personal f***ing heaven I want this to be as good for you as it will be for me," he emphasized, taking Ember's hand in his own to lead him to someplace nice and quiet.

[Vonwalt]

And I think on that note, we fade out on this evening, unless Lily or Jack have anything they want to accomplish once Lily wakes up

[Eonas]

Lily's eyes flutter open. He hiccups. He twists his head around him frantically, jumping to his feet, then spies Jack. In a moment he's at Jack's feet, having snatched the book out of his hands, and is staring angrily at the cult leader.

"You betraaaayed... me..." he accuses in a sing-songy voice. "We must sssstick together... they'd have sliced me up... like a little... hamssster..."

And now he's crawling pantherlike onto Jack's lap again, one hand pinning Jack's wrist to the chair's crudely-made armrest; another caressing Jack's face. "Now say... you're ssssorry... like a good little boy..." he urges gently, rubbing Jack's nose with his free hand's middle finger.

[Obscurejones]

"You were reckless. Twice. And twice this congregation managed to pull you back from the flames. Stummick is sleeping off my hospitality rather then the brutality he may have visited upon you. And the fellow whose blood vessels you clumsily burst isn't using your spleen as a pillow. Your gratitude is oddly confrontational.
Jack's serious tone is undercut as he sneezes. He chuckles softly and shifts his weight beneath Lily.
"You've been spending an awful lot of time in my lap lately."

[Eonas]

"I jusssst shooed away... nasty dissssobedient Danley... for you... and Buick broke the rules too... the wormiessss already rebel againsssst you... won't you give them a nice firm ssssspanking?" Lily asks, the gleam in his eyes returning. He extends his tongue and with its tip traces the oval outline of Jack's lips. "But I don't rebel... I'm ssssubservient to you, darling massster... I wissssh to please you... to make you... happy..."

He slides off Jack's lap and kneels at his feet between his legs, unbuckling or unbuttoning Jack's trousers. "All I asssssk... is that Buick be... punished."

[Obscurejones]

As gently as he can Jack places a boot on Eonas's chest and pushes him back.
"I don't suppose you know the meaning of the word celibate? It applies in this case."
He takes a moment to reattach his pants.
"Buick has just as much a claim against you Lily. Intruding in his mind without his consent. Should I have you punished? Although something tells me I wouldn't be able to find a torture you wouldn't... Revel in."

[Vonwalt]

So I think, Jack, you can resist Lilly's preturnatural charm, if you're willing to take -2 forward to the next time someone seduces or manipulates you on account of how your brain is full of lustful thoughts.

[Obscurejones]

Works for me.

[Eonas]

Lily tilts his head to the side to look at Jack all crooked. He taps Jack's hand away from his trousers, making a 'tsk, tsk' sound. "Don't ssssay you don't want it..." he purrs, re-deattaching Jack's pants. "Silly boy, you don't need... ssssex to feel happy... all you have to do is just ssssit there and... enjoy."

[Obscurejones]

"You don't want it, Lily. People who break my vows of celibacy die. Usually rather painfully. Weeping. Wailing. Gnashing of teeth. The occasional bit of torn sack cloth."
Jack's smile twists into a wistful smirk.
"I do miss it, Lily. But I don't want you dead yet. I need you alive. You're more fun alive."

[Vonwalt]

So Lily, you decide to try and interfere, right, but in the middle of it you get a splitting headache, and you see someone coming towards Junktown through the forest, someone you recognize. Otto, his black car-door shield on one arm, his axe in the other, a look of grim purpose on his face.

[Vonwalt]

SESSION 3: OH NO WE'RE SNOWED IN

(Smiling Jack, would you roll your Fortune?)

So the four of you are in the Red Piston, right, talking to Two Fingers. She's Buick's second in command, and since he's out doing something else, she's in charge.
"Can get you a Jeep, right." she says, thumbing a wrench. "Gonna need some stuff, though. Old Gavin, down at the Lonely House, he's got some engine parts. Fuel; don't know where you're gonna get that..." she seems lost in thought for a little bit. "Oh yeah. Money. Figure on costin' four or five of whatever you got."
Just after she says that, the door bursts open and Moscow runs in, accompanied by a small pile of snow, He's shouting. "Holy s***, Lodi just shot somebody in the street! He's crazed!"

What do you do?

[Anubis Dread]

"Woo! Free loot! I mean... f***, that sucks a**. Better get out there and blow his f***ing brains out to put him out of his misery," Cackle sighed as he loaded up his assault rifle and headed out the door.

[Obscurejones]

Smiling jack is running out of things to say about the chaotic nature of the world. [roll0]

[Eonas]

Due to the unusual cold this week, Lily wearing full-on surgeon gear - a thick, leathery surgeon's gown which used to be white but is now greyish-brown and slightly bloodstained, little latex gloves, and a mask which isn't on his face but instead just dangles on his neck next to a pendant of a small metallic pyramid. Still barefoot, though.

He's lying on his back, head on Ember's lap, looking up at Ember and mouthing sweet nothings at him. Although he's apparently oblivious to the conversation going on around him, when Moscow comes in Lily casually twists his head around to look at him. "Is he... bleeding? Where did nasssty Lodi... shoot the man?" Lily asks, casually tracing with his index finger a line from Ember's throat to his stomach. "Sssshow us... on the dolly..."

[Vonwalt]

Smiling Jack: Since your big speech, the cult has been happy and healthy! Except for Martha, who has gone missing in the snow. You've gotten tribute from the good folk of your church in the form of, oh, let's say raw and bloody furs and deer meat, disease and radiation free. The stuff is in some kind of freezer or back room over at the Chapel.

Lily: Moscow looks at you as if he's seeing you for the first time. "What? Oh, uh, I don't know. Gutshot, maybe. I woulda done something, but he's still out there waving a gun around. You gonna go stop him or what?"

Cackle: You get outside. It's clearer than it has been, but the street is covered in snowdrifts. Lodi is screaming something and waving around a shotgun; there's blood on the snow but from where you are you can't see the body.

What do y'all do?

[Anubis Dread]

Hm... well there were two thing he coud do at this point. He could just shoot the f***er down and loot that nice looking shotgun. Or he could try to talk him down. Being Cackle, he decided on both.

"Oi! Mother f***er! Tell me what's going on or I'll blow your f***ing brains out!" Cackle demanded, pulling out his rifled and aiming it at his head as he attempted to get a read on what was going on.


Going Aggro: [roll0]

Also going to Open Brain to the Psychic Maelstrom: [roll1]

Which means level up! I'll increase Sharp by 1.

[Vonwalt]

So you open up your brain, and see that the person lying dead is someone you vaguely remember seeing around Stummick's place. Vera? Volatile? something like that. What you didn't know about her, which the clouds part and reveal, is that she was (is? you can't tell if she's dead) a mutant. underneath her shirt, where most people have stomachs, she had a weird extra couple of tiny arms. Lodi didn't know it when he shot her, though. He's just angry, thought she might have killed Martha.

Speaking of which, Lodi sees you pointing a gun at him, and he angles his gun down, away from you.
"Mutant killed my woman, Cackle. Just doin' justice."

[Anubis Dread]

"...like, THAT mutant in particular, or are you just prejudiced against everyone with two d***s?" Cackle asked with a frown.

[Obscurejones]

Jack is searching through his own chapel. He's asked everyone to give him a day's peace. Because he knows what he saw. Treasure. Enough to do good work. But... He loves his congregation. He prays for them. Tries to save them. But there is a point at which someone shouldn't be dumb enough to trust people even if he cares for them.

[Vonwalt]

Cackle:
Lodi shrugs. "Stummick doesn't like mutants. Volatile was keepin' it from all of us. Plus, I saw her talking to Martha. Does it matter? She'll be dead in a second anyway."

Smiling Jack:
You haven't tried to go into the undercroft since you moved in to the chapel; it was full of rubble and the space was more than big enough for your flock. Now, however, with a little effort, you push past the stuff on the stairs and enter a fairly substantial basement. There's all kinds of stuff down here most of it ruined or broken. Gonna take a while to search through it all, but you know something good is down here. And in one wall, there's a steel door with an electronic lock. Very much out of place.

[Anubis Dread]

"Yeah, that's all I needed to hear. Thanks," Cackle yelled back, before shooting a bullet right into his head.


Rifle is 3 damage long AP as a reminder.

[Obscurejones]

"Why hello friend."
Jack walks up to the vault and takes a closer look. A little outside his experience, certainly. But not impossible to deal with. He studies the lock mechanism to get an idea of what he'd need to open it.

[Vonwalt]

Cackle, Roll Seize by Force, and you're seizing his life.

Smilin' Jack, roll +Sharp to see if you know more about the lock than just "it's a lock."

[Anubis Dread]

That's oddly poetic. I think I'll use my Carry One Forward from having sex with Ember.

[roll0]

[Plerumque]

Ember watches the scene, twining his fingers through Lily's hair. "You'd think he'd be glad that there's occasionally a fight that he doesn't start, but for some reason he always has to put himself in the thick of it. I suspect he considers it a personal affront." He stands up, disentangling his own limbs from Lily's. "We need some parts from Old Gavin? I've made enough money for that jumped-up saloon in the past. They owe me one. And if they don't agree, well, I can change their minds quick enough." He gives Lily a quick peck on the lips and ambles out of the Red Piston and over to the Lonely House.

[Obscurejones]

Trying to figure out a lock, +Sharp [roll0]

[Vonwalt]

Ember, you walk outside, just in time to see Lodi get shot dead. He lies motionless and minus most of his head next to Volatile, who is still weakly moving around. Cackle is there, having just pulled the trigger.
You walk past the scene, and after a few moments, you get to the Lonely House. There's a few people inside; Crunch, two guys named Ron and Piotr who are friends, Stana, Melter, R.V... you don't see most of the actual staff, though. Only Treema is out, playing at waitress and looking very flustered. She looks up when you come in and starts.
"Oh! Uh, hey, uh, Ember. Karla said if you came in, you was to go downstairs, and, uh, meet with her. Um. What were those shots outside?"
"Yeah." says Crunch. "Should I be gettin' the boys together?"
What do you do?

Smiling Jack, the lock is still functioning, but you don't have the technical skill to disable it, and breaking it would probably seal the door shut. If you find someone like Buick, say, who has technical skills, they could open it easily.

Cackle, Lodi's dead, Volatile's dying, and Ember just walked past. What do you do after you shoot him?

[Anubis Dread]

As much as looting a corpse as always a big priority, Cackle had never f***ed a girl with four arms before. If she died, he'd never get a chance. ...and he was actually concerned for her seeing as Lodi f***ing savaged her with for no f***ing reason, but ever incentive helped him to actually get off his a** and do something.

Rushing over to the woman, Cackle looked over her injuries before realizing he knew jack s*** about first aid. Well he knew a bit. He'd gotten shot bunches of times, he should know how to treat a wound on someone else right? Right? ...f***.

"If you die after I saved your a** I am going to f***ing kill you again," Cackle mutters as he gets to work.

[Eonas]

Lily watches Ember leave, then gets up onto his haunches in a crouch.

"Sssay..." he begins, looking right at Two Fingers, "Have you ssseen... Buick lately? His relationssship with poor Lily has been... ssssstrained..." Lily frowns and stretches his arms into the air, arching his back. "Lily doesn't like... ssstrained things..." he sighs.

[Vonwalt]

Perhaps. Two Fingers is still there, though, if you want to talk to her.

[Plerumque]

Ember sighs, the belabored hero confronted with yet another trial. He nods to Treema, says, "It's just Cackle, don't worry about it," to Crunch, and saunters down the stairs. He's talking before he ever lays eyes on Karla. "Sorry I've missed you the last few days. We've been preparing for a trip up north. Today's the day we're supposed to be leaving, so I need to be sharp, but maybe I can dedicate a day to mindless pleasure when we get back. Anyway, point is I need to talk to Old Gav. You know where he is?"

Manipulate: [roll0]

[Vonwalt]

Cackle, you have neither medical knowledge nor supplies. You're Acting Under Fire, so roll that for me, and then roll 2d6 to see if you stabilize her.

Lily, Two Fingers thinks for a bit before answering. "I think he's at the Generator, center of town. He said he was going to try and fix something that's been bothering him. After he's done, well, you know what that Cult's like. More'n likely he'll pass out in the Chapel in a pool of booze."

Ember, you get downstairs. Karla is indeed there, along with Old Gav, Palmer, Vikki, and Ruby Rue. They're all chewing slowly, and the bottom half of their faces are stained blue. Karla looks at you slowly, not focussing.
"Oh, hey, pretty baby. Yeah, all right. When you get back-back-back from your little trip, you'll come visit me. A whole day, for sure." she laughs, and her friends laugh as well. "If you want Gavin, he's here. I'm sure he can drag himself away from the good times to talk for a second. Can't you, Gavin?"
"Yeah, all right." Old Gavin gets up, his joints cracking, and looks in your general direction. "What you want, Ember?"

[Anubis Dread]

Alright, uh... no problem! Only a p***y would get all freaked out by a little blood! Just had to pull his d*** on straight and get to work on this f***er! With no know how but plenty of guts, Cackle got to work.

...could you shoot a wound closed? Eh, probably not worth the risk.


Rolling Under Fire: [roll0]

Stabilize: [roll1]

[Eonas]

"You're sssso kind." Lily says rather dryly, and in one swift motion he's on his feet and loping towards the door. He affords a single glance to Lodi's headless body, smiles privately to himself, and then he's weaving himself into Junktown, looking for Stana. Where might she be at?

[Plerumque]

"Very much so," Ember smiles, taking Old Gavin's arm and guiding him across the room with gentle touch. "You heard what I said to Karla. We need engine parts for a Jeep, or we won't coax the bastard to go an inch. Two Fingers said you had the goods, and I volunteered to come see about appealing to your... better nature. We need to save our coin for repairs, but if you could do us this one solid - let Cackle see his kid, Jack spread peace and goodwill - well, let's just say I'd owe you one. And there's lots of people in this town who can tell you just how much a favor from me is worth." Smirking, Ember runs the back of his hand down his torso and the side of his leg.

Manipulate, again. [roll0].