Nemesis Quest follows really a really bad man and his downward spiral. It feels like the world is ending, like you're devouring yourself. Is it strange to say that you like it?

Archive: https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?searchall=NEMESIS+Quest

I aim to update on weekdays around 4:00 PM UTC. I will update more often if there's a clear consensus or I have the time.

XXX

POWERS

>What Doesn't Kill You (Sally)
Serious wounds don't stop you.

>Make Them Disappear (Mall Hobo)
You leave no forensics.

>Behind the Veil (Lasker City Hooker)
See the Veil.

>You Should be Dancing (Rupert)
The power of suggestion.

>Speak of the Devil (Valerie Hedgepeth)
Appear where they least expect.

>Make them forget (Valerie's Daughter)
You are hard to identify.

>The Sacred Form (Nathan Harper)
A transformation, powerful and deadly. Needs to be fed.

You used to be such a nice, quiet boy. Then your shitty Dad used to beat the hell out of you and do worse to your sister, so you gave him a twelve gauge lobotomy, if only that had been enough to kill him. Now you kill people. Well… we kill people. It's a team effort. Some other shit happened after that, it's old news and a little fuzzy, but as a consequence you're New and Improved, if you consider murder, cannibalism and, incest to be an improvement, but who am I to judge?

Now you're the reason women don't walk alone at night. You're the one people whisper about. No self-respecting woman would ever be caught in your company, but I guess Miss Ellen doesn't qualify as a self-respecting woman. Not anymore.

Once your high school teacher crush, now she's like you. Something More than she was. Something Less. The small shackle tattoos on her wrists and ankles mark her as property, an owned thing. A Vessel of something far more powerful. The Thing in the Lake. A Slave of Truesdale and the Lake cult.

You sit across from her in a smoky highway bar. A biker bar. It's nearly deserted, especially since it's not quite sundown, though time is increasingly relative. A handful of greasy bearded dudes in leathers sit in a booth on the far end of the bar. They're visibly armed. Like you, they have boot knives. One has a revolver in his back waistband.

A grizzled bar tender that looks like road-dried jerky with a bad bleach job occasionally brings them beer.

A TV over the bar is tuned to a dead channel.

PLEASE STAND BY

"What does it feel like for you?" Ellen, Miss Ellen, asks. She tucks back an auburn curl. Her eyes, undeniably pretty, are empty. They're different than your—and your sister's—pale, cold eyes. Ellen's are sea green and deep, hollow, like something vital was carved out of them. With her tight pencil skirt, form-fitting blouse and blazer, she looks very out of place. Business professional has no place in grimy Americana.

"What does what feel like?" you ask, eyebrow raised. The burnt side of your face is toward the bar. Though you keep all your attention on Miss Ellen, gaze flicking between her eyes and her cleavage, you don't fail to notice that the bartender keeps staring at you. Funny. There are armed Hells Angels knocking back afternoon brews and you're the one she's afraid of. You guess her instincts are sharper than they seem.

"Being a Vessel," Ellen says without missing a beat. "For me it's… like I'm drowning. Cold."

You don't tell her that you're not a Vessel. You're something worse, more broken. You're NEMESIS like your jacket says. Anti-life. Inhuman. But it's a good question. What does it feel like for you? You don't really feel many strong emotions, not like you used to. You don't feel fear anymore except when I'm not around. Maybe you miss it.

Maybe you don't.


>I feel hate and hunger. That's it
>It feels good. I'm stronger than ever. More than I was.
>It feels like I lost something. Something important.
>Write in.

>>6355123
>I feel hate and hunger. That's it

Hey NEMESIS wb!

>>6355127
Thanks! Good to be back. It's been a rough/busy few months. Honestly not much better than it was last year, but I'm pushing through.

>>6355123
>>It feels good. I'm stronger than ever. More than I was.

>>6355123
>Write in.
>I feel involved. Present. Even when it's in the driver's seat.

>>6355123
>I feel hate and hunger. That's it

>I feel hate and hunger. That's it
>>6355127
>>6355281

writing

You consider it for a moment, but we both know what you feel.

"Hate," you say, tracing beads of condensation across the lacquered tabletop. "I feel hate and hunger." You shrug. "That's it."

Ellen accepts this without comment. You wonder what the old her would say to something like that.

"How did you get like this? Did Truesdale do it?"

You shake your head. "No. Candi did this."

"Candi?" Ellen sounds shocked. More shocked than she should, which is saying something because that should be pretty shocking. "Your sister?"

You nod and take a sip of your beer. "Yeah."

"How?"

You pull back a leather sleeve and reveal a carved up forearm. Red and white scar tissue crisscrosses your skin in overlapping runes and sigils, partially covered up by tight burn scars. "Doodling."

Ellen stares. Not shocked, not horrified, just… like she's studying someone's handiwork. Subconsciously touching the small rune tattooed on the back of her neck. "How did she know to do that? I mean… is she one of them?"

You shake your head. "My sister is…" A freak. A slut. Your personal sex toy. A pain in your ass. The only person you really care about. All of the above? "Different. She just figured it out I guess." No sense telling her about Virginia, not yet anyway.

Ellen nods, takes all this in. She looks a little distance, her eyes focused on the scuffed table. She drinks her own beer, lost in thought. "I thought only they could do that…"

"They probably think that," you say. A subtle reminder to her not to blab about this.

"That's how they brought Ken back," she says. "I mean… I don't need to tell you that. They did something to him. Invoked the Lake Thing. He's… a puppet now." She rubs her arms, looking suddenly colder than normal. "I think he's all gone."

"Good." If Ken's strings are being pulled by an eldritch drowned god then, as far as you're concerned, that's an improvement.

Ellen smiles faintly. Is she amused by your lingering vendetta? "You really do just feel hate, don't you?" she says.

"Can you blame me after what they put me through?"

"No," Ellen says. Her gaze lingers on the table for a moment before flicking to yours. "I like it." She looks away again. "Like I told you, I just feel cold all the time. Like being underwater. You're not like that you're hot."

"Hot?"

Her lip twitches slightly closer to a smile. "Like heat," she says. "Like… a fire."

You snort softly and smell gasoline and cooking skin. "Figures."

"How did that happen?" she asks, looking back at your face, studying it like a map. "You weren't burned like that until the very end."

You hear yourself screaming. You hear another voice. A voice telling you… but the memory won't come. Like the Ouroboros tattoo on your chest you share with your sister, it's a mystery to you. "I don't remember."

She accepts this. "Things start to slip away like this. It's funny. It's like…" she lifts a hand, studying immaculately manicured nails. "It's like we can't hold it all inside us anymore. It all just trickles away."

You have noting to say to that.


>Tell be about Selene and the apostates Truesdale hates so much.
>How did Truesdale do this to you? How did he make you a Vessel?
>I'm going to kill Truesdale and set you free one day
>Write in

>>6355506
>How did Truesdale do this to you? How did he make you a Vessel?

>>6355506
>>How did Truesdale do this to you? How did he make you a Vessel?

>>6355587
>>6355784

Writing

"How did Truesdale do it you?" you ask.

Ellen takes a steadying breath and downs the rest of her beer, head back, neck exposed like a prey item. You watch her throat work with a clinical interest. You can almost see the vein in her neck pulse. You can practically taste her blood, hot, thick, and sweet.

She sets the bottle down on its side and then spins it on the table. It vibrates, humming softly as it rolls in tight circles. "Some kind of ritual. He marked me." she shows you a wrist. "He said… I could consider it a mortgage. Maybe I could pay it off one day."

You think of the exorbitant mortgage Candi has been paying Truesdale for the Mercer farm. You wonder just how many slaves Truesdale has.

"I don't think he meant it," she says, casting her eyes to the side, a mix of sadness and shame. "I think I'm like this forever. Until I'm all tapped out." A long pause. "I thought about killing myself but… I was afraid of what might happen to me once I die. I was afraid that Thing in the Lake would get me." She shivers slightly, hugging herself against a deep, bone-chilling cold. "Plus…" she trails off.

"Plus?" you prompt.

She spins the bottle again and shakes her head. Doesn't want to talk about it. "It's … not something you should worry about."

You suspect it has something to do with your next question, the obvious follow up. "You had a choice though, right?"

She nods.

"And you chose this?"

Ellen nods again, watching the bottle flash and spin.

"Why?"

She doesn't say anything. Doesn't move. The bottle gradually loses momentum until it's pointing straight at you. She looks up at you through thick lashes. Her hollow eyes glazed with sadness.

"Me?" you ask.

Ellen looks away again and folds her arms in a way that pushes up her breasts. "Kyle, you should have stayed far away. You were safe."

"I don't need you to protect me anymore, Miss Ellen," you say firmly.

"I'm not protecting you," she says. "I mean… I was, but not anymore. He said…" she bites her lip, stopping herself.

You could try to force her to tell you, put some power in your voice and make her speak. Maybe. But you don't need to. You have old fashioned force of will. "Tell me," you say, voice low, a command. A threat.

She does. "Truesdale showed me what he was… what he could do, the power he had," she says, speaking slowly, deliberately. "He told me some of the things he'd done, the things he'd gotten away with. He told me that… no one would miss me." She says these things matter-of-factly. "I wasn't afraid… I mean… of course I was," she says. "But when he told me that someone had to do it… someone had to submit and if I didn't… he had someone else in mind."

"Candi," you say, the answer snapping into your mind.

Ellen nods sadly.

"You did this to keep her safe from Truesdale."

Again, she nods. Of course, the tragedy here isn't just what Ellen put herself through, it's that it was for nothing. Candi was never safe. The entire time Ellen's body was a Vessel for Truesdale's captive god, Candi's body belonged to Truesdale's asshat son, Chip. Ellen sold herself for nothing.

Those are the facts, but you're not a creature of fact. You're a being of hate and, brother, you feel it. Red flashes in your mind. Muscles tense, jaw aching, hearty burning, roaring, raging. You could sever flesh and rend bone right now. You're hungry.

"He wants her, Kyle," Ellen says softly. "I wonder if he knows what she can do." Her eyes flick to the scars on your arm. "I don't know why, but he wants her."

Does he know Candi made you what you are? Does he think Dad did something to her to make her special? Dad's Pretty Little Vessel is in high demand it seems.

"That's why I stayed," Ellen says. "That's why I let him do this to me. That's why I don't run away or try to fight back. I can't. Do you understand now?" she shakes her head in impotent disgust. "That's why you should leave while you can, and take Candi with you. Get out of here."

You say nothing. Nothing human would pass your lips if you opened your mouth right now.

The bikers stand up a moment before the TV crashes to static. They pay, tossing some bills on the table, and leave. The bartender shuts the TV off, giving you and Ellen another wary glance before cleaning up.


>Thank you for everything you've done, Ellen. But I need you to maintain the illusion a little longer.
>He doesn't really understand, but I'm the one he should be afraid of. You don't have to worry about him.
>I think Candi can help you. Maybe we can set you free. Maybe you can work for me.
>Write in

>>6355871
Tough call. So Truesdale has always wanted Candi as a Vessel, and we already know The Lake Thing wanted her through their father. Or at least what was left of him at that point lol. But he has Chip keep a leash on Candi for years.

Truesdale can also just force Ellen to talk about our conversations as it stands. Or could Candi give Ellen something to resist that power. He also needs Ellen as the Vessel for the Lake Thing to give favors to his cult and keep them in line, especially Selene and her apostates that want to free the Lake Thing. So if Ellen didn't show up he'd start hunting.

But hes also extremely paranoid by the weakening of the veil, the death of Chip's buddy by monster which he suspects is either Kyle or other forces, and his own rebellious cult. Would he be distracted enough to mistake who has taken Ellen, maybe his rebel cultists took her for themselves. Or he could try to grab Candi as a replacement.

Could we have Candi help hide Ellen. Try to frame the Selene Cultists as having taken her to be their Vessel, and maybe for killing Chip's friend. Convince Truesdale to start a purge so he can get his Vessel back. We get to kill and weaken the Lake Cult. Hopefully keep Ellen safe. Keep killing Chip's friends occasionally.

What would it take to really set the field for the Lake Cult civil war if not that.

>>6355871
>I think Candi can help you. Maybe we can set you free. Maybe you can work for me.
We already have Truesdale a little paranoid, so we can start moving to further destabilize him.

>>6355871
>I think Candi can help you. Maybe we can set you free. Maybe you can work for me.

Ellen could use some time with the fire. Let Kyle protect Ellen this time, as he did against the nightmare.

>>6355887
Yeah I'm leaning that way. See if she agrees here or needs some firm convincing lol. I guess if the scheme goes badly enough theres always the Forest Thing blood.

>>6355871
>>I think Candi can help you. Maybe we can set you free. Maybe you can work for me.

Tbh I say we should go for the head and kill Chip. Not only that, let's ask Virginia if he has a strong enough Soul, and sacrifice Chip so Ellen can stop being a Vessel, just like she offered to Kyle

I have a feeling that maybe there's some bullshit about Kyle being offered this because he's "less" than a Vessel or a while different thing. And on all this shit, I don't even think Virginia has explained fully what Kyle is, and what different there is between a “Nemesis" and a Vessel.

Is it something easy like just a butched ritual to turn someone in a Vessel? Mu theory is that, the reason why Kyle is called Nemesis instead of Vessel is because of the butched Ritual: Because Candy didn't knew what she was doing during the ritual, whatever spirit that was in Dad was transferred, but there's a big difference

Because Candy didn't knew what she was doing, my theory is that somehow the spirit that's inside of Kyle was "detached" from Temu Cthulhu, that's why Kyle monster form looks more like a bloated body of a Horse/Werewolf thing, instead of the Monster in the Lake. There's still the properties of the God of the Lake taint (The bloated body of a decomposed corpse, milky eyes, putrid smell), but because of Candi, and her rituals being from the perspective of the God of the Woods, she ended up morphing and changing the very same essence of the spirit (And that's why it has body parts of horse/wolf/whatever, instead of having gills, fins or a light like an angler fish).

That's why he's being called Nemesis: the God of the Lakes can feel and smell the God of the Woods presence and taint, even if the spirit was originally of the Lake. If this wasn't the case and Kyle was a fish-people, he would maybe be called something like Traitor, Nemesis is someone who you've been fighting for some time already, and if anything, unless there's something like a God of The Hunt, or God of the Moon that we don't know of (maybe Lake and Wood are the only gods in this universe, or the ones that have presence in the Town), it doesn't make that much sense.

>>6355930
Like you said calling someone Nemesis should mean an old enemy not really a traitor.

Those Lake spirits seem to think Kyle should somehow owe allegiance to the Lake Thing, which if the Woods Thing lost the war I could sorta see that. A bunch of drowned werewolves as Wood spirits corrupted by the Lake Thing in their defeat.

The Woods Thing is "dead" so I figure it lost the war with the Lake Thing at some point in the distant past. But somehow the Lake Thing still ended up sealed away so who knows.


But how much of the current situation is fucked up because of Candi's ritual with an absolutely falling apart notebook and self study. Or that the magic in question might have relied on local wood spirits that are all fucked up. Or that Kyle was basically gonna die. Then some sort of secondary ritual with the Ouroboros tattoos. Candi can command him near or far, can sense what hes up to a bit, if hes hurt. Her somewhat unexpected desire to drink blood which is more of a Kyle thing as a sign of Kyle's influence flowing into her.

>I think Candi can help you. Maybe we can set you free. Maybe you can work for me.

Writing. Might be delayed. We'll see!

You smile. For many people, having you smile at them is an unsettling experience. Miss Ellen is either too dead inside or too trusting of you to feel the fear she probably should. "I'm not going anywhere," you say. "In fact, I think Candi can help you."

Ellen blinks. "Help me?"

"She made me this way, didn't she?" you say, spreading your arms. "She might be able to set you free."

Ellen doesn't dare believe it. You see her consciously reject that possibility. Still, her eyes seem to glitter with a sliver of hope. It hurts that residual humanity inside you to see one of your favorite people reduced to the mentality of whipped dog.

"You could work for me," you suggest. Your tone is casual, but the implication is not.

"Work for you," she repeats. "Do you really think I could?"

You'd love nothing better. Humanity and altruism aside, you're stacking the deck in favor of your Cult. Cut the Smileys from their god and maybe pocket your own powerful piece. Sniping Miss Ellen from under Truesdale's nose, stealing his Vessel would only further destabilize his cult. Without their caged God, what do they have?

"Of course," you say.

Ellen tamps her hope down again, sits back in her chair and shakes her head. "No," she says softly. "No, he'd… track me down somehow. He'd find me and then… things would be worse. For everyone."

You know from experience that things can always get worse. "He'd have to get through me," you say, feeling like a hero for a moment. Wow, that's a strange feeling. You haven't felt like a hero in a while. Not sure if that's my fault or yours, but I think you lost the thread there at some point!

Miss Ellen smiles at you. It's a slow, timid thing, but it comes out all the same. "You're going to take him down, aren't you? You're going to destroy them." Her words come out bland, almost dreamy, like it isn't quite real, like it doesn't quite matter.

No reason to lie. If she's a spy or something, she has more than enough evidence to bury you. "Yeah," you say. "I'm going to destroy them."

You pay your tab and leave together. The night air is hot and still. It doesn't get hot here this time of year, but it's hot like the gravel lot itself is leaking heat. A long, empty rural highway runs through the pine-shrouded woods beside the bar's parking lot. No cars pass. No crickets chirp. No owls call. It's dead quiet but the crunch of rock beneath your boots. Somehow Ellen keeps her balance on her stiletto heels. "I don't want to bring you any trouble," she says softly.

No point in answering. Your life has been nothing but trouble.

"It's late," Ellen says, looking up at the faintly yellow overcast night sky. "I can take you home."

Home. If Ellen is going to cut free from Truesdale, she's going to have to avoid him somehow. No doubt he'll go looking for her, maybe with supernatural means. You're pretty sure Candi and Virginia can do something about that, maybe, but she'll need to hide the old fashioned way too.

"Probably not safe for you to go home once you cut ties," you say.

Ellen stops at the car and looks at you curiously. "I don't have anywhere else to go," she says.

"Stay at your home tonight," you say. "Act like everything is normal before I can figure out what we need to do to un-Vesselize you."

Ellen flashes another weak smile. "Okay. Thank you, Kyle."

As she drives you home, racing through the night with suicidal abandon, you're considering options. She's right, once she crosses Truesdale she'll need a place to stay. To hide. Somewhere safe.

If you want to keep a close eye on her, there's nowhere better than your house. It's already pretty crowded, and it will probably be the first place Truesdale will check, but at least you'll know she's defended.

You might also leave her with a trusted member of the Woods cult. Ralphie comes to mind. He's trustworthy and has no clear ties to her.

Another possibility, even less suspected, would be to have her stay with Annie, but you don't have any direct leverage over her. It would require you to work out an arrangement with her, but it would also probably be the last place the Lake Cult would look.


>Make plans for Ellen to stay at your house
>Plan to send Ellen to stay with Ralphie
>Plan to have Ellen stay with Annie
>Write in

>>6356205
Hmm I'll think about it. Originally I was thinking our house because it's already got magic wards and stuff. Or maybe Virginia's house or camping by the alter. Places for magic. When Kyle went into the mine did Candi lose track of whatever bond is between her and Kyle, could work for Ellen.

Ralphie or Annie might work tho.

>>6356205
>Write in
Virginia's house
Unless someone has a better idea I'm in no rush.

Seems like a place Candi could use her magic on against being found, and nightmares. We already bought a bunch of camping stuff months ago for Virginia. Ellen just needs to hide there until Chip/The Lake Cult show up to his house looking for her and don't find her. Unless there's any other hitch in this plan.

>>6356205
>Make plans for Ellen to stay at your house
Think of the hijinks...
Ralphie's isn't secure and Annie's family are full on cultists right

>>6356518
If I remember, I think Annie's parents do show up the civilian level gatherings. Lakeside parties or w.e they were called. I don't think they were part of the inner circle that actually goes into the hidden alter? But it wouldn't be that hard for Annie to have her own place I'd imagine.

No update today. Very busy. Will try to get it out tomorrow, sorry!

>>6356564
Thats okay Nem its a rough season

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>1 Virginia's House
>>6356507

>2 Stay with us
>>6356518

roll and write

This weekend has been a nightmare.

You've got the camping gear and you've got a spot that Truesdale would never think to look. Feels sort of poetic in a way to hide Miss Ellen Virginia's old house. That's for when the time comes, of course. For now, you bide time and plan.

You get home at a fraction of the speed of light. Ellen brakes harder than maybe she needs to and the gravel of your driveway slews beneath the car with a sound like grinding bones. A small dust cloud wafts by.

"Thanks for the drinks," Ellen says, giving you a cold facsimile of a smile.

"Any time," you say.

"I'll hold you to that." Her mirth fades a little. "Think about what I said, Kyle. About leaving."

You owe Candi too much. Maybe Miss Ellen too. You're not going to run away again. Instead you lean a little closer to her and take her chin in your hand. "You should think about what I said," you say.

Ellen blinks in surprise, her lips slightly parted, staring back at you. She's too stunned to speak.

You smile at her, looking between her cold eyes and her full lips. "Don't you get tired of people using you?" you say. "Aren't you ready to push back?"

"Yes," she whispers.

You release her chin. "Then the first step is to stop running away." You open the car door and get out. "Stay in touch, okay?"

Her composure returns almost instantly. "I will. Goodbye, Kyle."

You close the door and watch her turn around. Her brake lights bathe you in hellish red before she vanishes out of sight, plunging you back into blackness. The Mercer farm is almost completely quiet. So quiet that you can hear your sister's music thudding from her room. Pink neon light spills from her window. She's probably camming right now.

The porch steps creak beneath you. You push the door open and step inside. Home sweet home. Everything is dingy and faded. Maybe it was cozy once. A rural farmhouse intended to be attached to a cute farm. Now? Just a reminder of what never was.

You smell the smoke before you see her. Marlboro Reds.

"Now that is interesting," Virginia says. She's beside you somehow though she wasn't there a second ago. She's wearing her new chic. Vaporwave dress and combat boots. Her rose glasses only partly conceal the devious sparkle in her eye. "Fraternizing with the enemy?" She's teasing you.

You walk away from her and head straight for the kitchen. She's in there waiting for you, looking slightly less amused for having had to follow you.

"She's a Vessel," you say.

"Is that what she is?" Virginia asks sardonically. "She's got the stink of the Lake all over her." Her cigarette bobs in her mouth, held loosely between her lips. "Bad news, baby. Bad news."

"I don't think so," you say, pulling open the fridge and rooting around until you find and crack a can of beer. Tastes like cold piss. "She's their conduit to the Thing in the Lake," you say. "She's how they keep it captive somehow. It's like she's a cage for it."

Virginia is both repulsed and intrigued, raising an eyebrow. "That right?"

You chug again. "That's right."

"Awfully bold of them to let you play with their best toy," she says to herself.

"They think they've got her wrapped around their finger," you say, feeling a surge of hate in your chest. "They've got a hostage."

"Hostage?" Virginia raises an eyebrow. "Who?"

You point up, toward Candi's room.

"Candi?"

"That's what Ellen said. Truesdale wants her and if she refused to be the Vessel for his god, then he'd make Candi do it."

"Damnation," Virginia hisses. "That's slimy little toad! If I–"

You hold up a hand to quiet her. "Don't tell her, okay?" Your sister is emotionally fragile at the best of times. No telling how she'd react to this news.

"Not on my life, sugar," Virginia says. If there's one person in the world who cares about Candi almost as much as you do, it's her. Kind of convenient really. "What do you want to do about it, honey?"

"Kill them all," you say. "Obviously."

She smiles, showing you her pearly whites. "Naturally."

You take a moment to collect your thoughts before voicing the question. "If I bring you Chip, could we use his soul to buy Ellen's freedom?"

Virginia stares at you for a moment like she's surprised. "Reckon maybe," she says. "Maybe we could. That something you want to do?"

"What would it entail exactly?"

She considers it, smoking as she thinks. "You get that boy weak and bring him to me, plus that girl." She nods her head vaguely toward where you assume Ellen now is. "And we get the whole cult together…" she grins. "Then I reckon we can break their Vessel and set that girl free."

A heady prospect. Killing many birds with one stone. It would mean setting a plan into motion. Once you take out Chip, Truesdale won't be able to just look the other way. Of course, it also moves you closer to your final goals. As you ponder this, another question springs into your mind. "If we free Ellen… what happens to the thing trapped inside her? Are we destroying it or setting it free?"

"Wish I knew, sugar," Virginia says. She blows a smoke ring at the ceiling, watching it unroll. "I'm just as new at all this stuff as you are. Hellfire, I got locked up on my first day! Ain't like being a Vessel comes with an instruction manual. Our patron's dead as gods can get. The Lake Thing though?" She shudders. "Not a clue what'll happen. I reckon it's gotta be done though."


>Let's plan to do that
>We'd better save that for later
>Write in

>>6357688
>Let's plan to do that
The thing probably can't exist by itself, which is why a vessel is needed

>>6357688
>Let's plan to do that

Sounds good to me. I suppose worst comes to worst we have to fight it which could get pretty crazy with the whole gang. Maybe it jumps into Chip's corpse like what happened to that lady who had the altar in her house after we killed her.

We should be in tip top shape for it, or even stronger though theres not a lot of named targets left. Maybe make sure more of Chip's buddies are dead first, less chance of complications since it would take time to get the whole cult together. Maybe he will be weaker in mind and spirit too.

>>6357688
>>Let's plan to do that

>>6357688
>Let's plan to do that

>Let's plan to do that

Writing

You've crossed every bridge you've come to so far. You'll cross that one next. No matter what. Hell, I'm excited about it! Aren't you? Isn't this exactly what you've been waiting for?

"I'll figure a plan out later," you say, finishing the beer and crumpling the can with a clenched fist. "I've got work tomorrow."

Virginia frowns sympathetically. "Just more reason to get on my good side, ain't it?" She flashes you a playful smirk. "You boogie with me and money ain't gonna be an issue no more."

You can't help but smile back. "Yeah? So how much blood you need me to spill to get a house that's not caving in?"

Virginia laughs. "Honey, if all you wanted was a new pad I bet we could make that happen, but that ain't for you, is it? I know what you want. What you really want. You want what I want." Her eyes glitter, seem to glow, a flicker of the god within. You can almost see her real teeth.

"And what's that?" you ask, unfazed.

Virginia chuckles softly and then starts humming to herself. September. Her song. I guess that's all the answer you're going to get. The god-made-flesh saunters past you and out of the kitchen. When you turn your head to watch her leave, she's gone.

You know, I have to wonder what the upper limit on her power is. Aren't you just a tad bit curious about that? Though, I guess you're not really the type to ask too many questions, are you, killer? I think we both know what mostly occupies your thoughts. It lives upstairs, shares half your DNA, and has the same pale eyes you do.

You don't hear anymore music from upstairs so you assume your sister is finished with her cam show. After tossing the empty beer can, you make your way up to the bedroom and push the door open. The room smells like sweat and Candi's shampoo, two scents you're intimately familiar with.

"Have fun with Ellen?" Candi asks. She's sitting at her computer, doesn't even look up at you. She's going through a chat log and donations it looks like. She's topless though her back is to you. It looks like all she's wearing are panties, fishnet stockings, and fishnet sleeves.

"It was alright," you say, careful not to rise to her bait. "How was the show?"

"Good!" She chirps. Candi spins the chair around to face you, hugging her knees to her chest, more out of comfort than modesty. Nothing you haven't seen before. The black ring of her ouroboros tattoo peaks between her legs. "I hade a private show with a whale."

"A whale?" Normally she just calls them simps.

"A big tipper," Candi explains.

"Ah."

"Gave me five hundred bucks for a JOI video," she says.

"What the fuck is a JOI video?" you ask, utter rube that you are.

"It's–" Candi begins before stopping. She laughs like you're a dumbass. Maybe you are. "Never mind."

You guess you'd rather not know. You are the jealous type after all.

"I could do it for you two if you want me to," she says sweetly, wiggling in her seat, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Maybe you'd like it."

"Not interested." Helps that you don't know what it is still.

"You suuure?"

"Positive."

Candi laughs at you again so you just ignore her, taking a seat on the bed. Her good mood vanishes instantly. "I'm still fucking pissed at you by the way," she says.

Nothing new. "What this time?"

She scoffs that you don't remember. "You promised I'd get to help you kill those assholes and… you know!"

She has no problem letting her brother fuck her ass or selling her body to total strangers, but for some reason "and drink their blood together" is just too much for her to say out loud.

"We can still do that."

"You keep saying that," Candi pouts, turning away. She hops out of the chair and starts peeling off what little she still wears. You watch. "Like… you get to run around fucking whoever you want and killing who the fuck ever and you expect me to sit here on my ass telling gross creeps how to fucking stroke their shit for like an hour! Ugh! I want to have some fun too!"


>Why the hell do you want to drink blood so bad?
>How about we go out and have some fun tonight?
>Be patient. Good girls get rewarded.
>Write in

>>6358142
>How about we go out and have some fun tonight?

>>6358142
>>Be patient. Good girls get rewarded.

>>6358142
>Why the hell do you want to drink blood so bad?
She dodged the question last time

>>6358142
>>How about we go out and have some fun tonight?

>>6358142
>How about we go out and have some fun tonight?

>How about we go out and have some fun tonight?

You do a little trolling.

Writing

You shrug, a half-smile tugging at your lip. "We could have fun tonight."

Candi snorts and looks at you, nonplussed. "Right. You just want to get your dick sucked because Ellen blue-balled you. Again."

"I'm serious," you say more insistently. "You want to go out and have fun with me?" Fun, in this case, will come at someone else's expense.

"Not if you're going to rush me and not let me do anything," Candi pouts. She turns away from you, bending at the waist to pick up her scattered clothes, baring herself to you. "I want to have real fun."

"Real fun like how?" you ask, staring.

She looks over her shoulder at you, apparently pleased to have your attention. She wiggles her hips slightly. "Like I want to be the one to kill them. I want it to be fun! Remember when we killed that rich bitch in her house? I want it to be like that."

You find yourself oddly distracted, and I don't mean by your misguided animal instincts. Something besides your sister's ass occupies your mind. It's almost a voice… a voice you know…

"Kyle?" Candi says, a whining edge in her tone.

"Yeah, we can have fun like that," you say. "I won't rush you."

"And you'll let me do it this time?"

"Yes," you say, still trying to make sense of the wordless voice you can almost hear.

"Now? Don't you have work tomorrow?"

"Now," you say. You don't think you need to sleep anymore. At any rate, you haven't been sleeping and you feel fine.

Candi straightens up and smiles. "Yay! I'll go get dressed. Cheerleader, right?"

It's traditional. "Yeah," you say. By the time Candi starts to dress you're feeling… good! Almost too good. Not quite a buzz, more like a jolt of energy. Power. Like you had a cup of whoopass downstairs instead of a beer. Only it's nothing you drank. It's something else it's…

Please.

The voice. Crystal.

Crystal? Of everyone you expected to hear in your own mind, Candi's former co-worker at the strip club wasn't in the top five.

Please God.

God. Ooh. I see. Well, this is a turn. I don't think you expected Crystal to take you quiet so literally when you told her–in the Sacred Form–that you were her new God. It seems… that she's praying. Praying to you. And she's in trouble. Hurting.

You'd been planning to reconnect with her at some point after she witnessed you kill Allan, but this was sooner than what you'd intended.

Candi is humming to herself as she shimmies up her skirt and zips the side. "There! Dressed to kill!" She cackles a little and looks back at you, annoyed to realize you've been zoning out instead of simping over her. "Something more interesting going on with you?" she asks in annoyance, putting her hands on her hips.

You don't answer, trying to focus on what exactly Crystal's fucking problem is and why it's your concern. All you can tell is that she's hurt and afraid. She's in danger and–if you had to guess–you'd say it was probably mortal danger. You can't imagine she would casually invoke something so terrifying that she nearly pissed herself the last time she saw it. You catch a flash of something–the world through someone else's eyes. A dingy, grimy bathroom and a face you recognize. David. You'd recognize Chip's friend anywhere.

"Kyle?"

Killing David would be satisfying of course, but it's hardly a controlled environment you'd be popping into. Plus, you're just not that sure if she's worth your time but this prayer thing is novel at least.

"Hellooo?" Candi reaches for you and you catch her by the wrist, making her squeak.

"What?" you ask.

"What are you doing?" she asks, equal parts concerned and suspicious.


>Let's turn this into a rescue mission (Go to Crystal with Candi)
>Nothing. Let's go hunting (Hunt a stranger)
>I think now's a great time to pay Chip back. Don't you? (Hunt Chip
>write in

>>6358527
>Let's turn this into a rescue mission (Go to Crystal with Candi)
Thats pretty crazy we can actually hear her prayers, and Kyle saving a stripper instead of killing her? Will wonders ever cease.

>By the time Candi starts to dress you're feeling… good! Almost too good. Not quite a buzz, more like a jolt of energy. Power. Like you had a cup of whoopass downstairs instead of a beer. Only it's nothing you drank. It's something else it's…
Dang We can actually get Power from prayers. Maybe even enough for actual books, that could be wild. Is it because of Virginia, or the weird way Kyle is built from fucky rituals and spirits and magic. Get enough strippers praying and maybe Kyle can make some miracles happen lol.

I'm not sure what the plan should be though. They both drive down there? Kyle teleports down and Candi takes the car?

Once hes there going Sacred Form would maintain the story of something else is hunting down Chip's buddies.

Its in a bathroom, there must be lights. If he could cut the power and kill the lights if its a crowded place.

Or maybe just work towards the bathroom with Candi and hope for the best.

>>6358527
>Let's turn this into a rescue mission (Go to Crystal with Candi)
this is going to be F U N, which spells hurt!

>>6358527
>Let's turn this into a rescue mission (Go to Crystal with Candi)

>>6358527
>>Nothing. Let's go hunting (Hunt a stranger)

>Let's turn this into a rescue mission (Go to Crystal with Candi)
Writing

Sorry for the delay, personal issues came up.

"Nothing," you say. "You remember Crystal?"

Candi looks more concerned and suspicious. "Crystal? Oh… from the club? Uh… yeah I guess."

"Let's pay her a visit." You hold your hand out and your sister takes it. Now normally I don't think this would work, but something is different now. Maybe it's the prayer, or maybe it's your sister's connection to you, but she can come with you. "Ready?"

Candi tightens her grip on your hand, looking a little uncomfortable, but she needs.

You close your eyes and hear Candi gasp. When you open your eyes again you and Candi are outside in a long strip of shadow cast by a single-wide trailer that's seen better days. You're in a trailer park. You're not sure exactly where you are, but you imagine somewhere outside of Lasker. If you had to guess, you'd guess this is Crystal's place.

Candi looks around, eyes wide in the dark. "Wh- Oh shit, you teleported us…"

You let go of her hand and start to circle around to the front of the trailer.

"Wait," Candi says. She catches your sleeve. When you stop she reaches down and draws your boot knife. It's nearly as long as her forearm, more machete than knife. She brushes a finger across the jagged serration on back edge, trailing over to the smooth, silvery cutting edge. Candi studies it like… well, like she studies you. When she looks back up at you she smiles in the dark. "Let's go."

At the front of the trailer you take a look around. There are other trailers here but they're all dark. The next closest one's front door hangs open exposing only darkness within. Two cars are parked in front of Crystal's trailer. The only other vehicle is a rusted out pickup sitting on cinderblocks. It's been stripped for parts.

Candi looks around, apparently coming to the same conclusion you have. This part is deserted, or nearly so. "Spooky."

The primary source of light is a yellow-tinted street light mounted on a wooden telephone pole. It doesn't really seem to matter since there's no one around to see you.

One of the cars is a higher end sports car. Not Chip's, but almost certainly belonging to David. The other car has seen better days, has a Sailor Moon sticker in the back window, and a bedazzled license plate holder. Crystal's.

A woman in the trailer cries out, the sound slightly muffled by the walls. You hear a man's raised voice.

"What's going on?" Candi asks.

"I think he's going to kill her," you say, imagining he's here to try to get more information out of Crystal about Allan's death.

"How do you know that?" Candi whispers, giving you an appraising look.

"She called to me," you say. This would be easy enough if you were alone. David is flesh, bone, and brittle blood. He's no match for whatever the hell you are. But you promised Candi a piece of action.


>Chase him out of the trailer in Sacred Form for Candi to finish
>Go in together in human form
>Lead Candi inside in Sacred Form
>Write in

>>6359191
>Lead Candi inside in Sacred Form
Shock and Awe

>>6359191
Nice Sailor Moon sticker for Crystal. I always liked Mars, considering Kyle's fascination with Fire I suppose he does too if Candi ever made him watch it.

>Lead Candi inside in Sacred Form
Fuck it. We ball. If the trailer weren't constraining I'd even say she could ride on his back but lol.

Hopefully Candi doesn't leave behind any traces or get wounded. I do have an idea for that. If she bleeds then Kyle just has to bleed over it and bam the magic should cover it. Or just leave this place an absolute gore fest.

>>6359191
>Lead Candi inside in Sacred Form

>>6359191
>>Lead Candi inside in Sacred Form

>>6359191
>Lead Candi inside in Sacred Form

Now we're talkin.

>Lead Candi inside in Sacred Form

Writing

"She what?" Candi asks, eyebrows raised. Her brother keeps getting weirder. No reason to stop that progress now. You invite the Sacred Form. Eye closed, in breath. It comes over you like the tide. Muscle swells, bone hardens and lengthens. You hear Candi gasp and then you hear her heartbeat. All your eyes flicker open in sequence and you see the world with a razor sharpness that you found you missed. Now that the blade is drawn it can only be quenched with blood.

"Follow," you growl in a voice that sends a shiver up Candi's spine.

"O-okay."

You glide past her and to the trailer door. You press a forepaw to it and push, feeling aluminum warp and then crumple like tin foil. You push your way inside into darkness. You smell fear, blood, perfume, sweat, everything at once. It's overwhelming.

"Fucking shit," a voice you didn't expect says. Not David. Arthur. He's standing by the hallway door staring at you like a deer facing oblivion. You can't help but smile at him, saliva dripping onto the carpet below, eyes wheeling in their sockets to take him in. He doesn't recognize you, but he should. This form is truer to yourself than the skin you cloak yourself with.

"Fucking shit!" Arthur says again. He backs up and draws a gun from his waistband.

You bound forward and hit him, claws first. His right arm comes away like tissue paper. You feel the bone twist and sheer, meat ripping easily. His screams are a delight as they wash over you. You quiet them a moment later as you clamp down on his head, squeezing, crushing. Only through tremendous force of will do you stop yourself from finishing him so quickly. You promised Candi some fun and you can't do that if everyone is dead.

"Arthur?" David calls from another room, voice trembling with fear.

"He's here." You hear Crystal's fervent whisper beneath everything, clear as a gunshot. She believes. She believes in you.

You release Arthur's head and let him fall to the floor, leaking blood, groaning weakly, mangled arm rolling as he falls back.

Pain lances into your back accompanied by two tremendous bangs. Gunshots. A third bang spikes into you as David fires again. It hurts. God it hurts, but you're no stranger to pain. You leap blindly into him. Your bulk is a hindrance in these tight quarters, you have nowhere to dodge. Your shoulder strikes David and knocks the wind out of him. His feet leave the ground and he's propelled down the hall, back into the bathroom where he lands hard.

You regain your feet, feeling the lines of hot pain where bullets ripped your sacred flesh.

"Kyle!" Candi is beside you in an instant, her hands on you. "Are you–"

You push her away, it isn't safe.

You didn't need to worry though, David isn't interested in fighting. He slams the bathroom door closed. You hear the window frantically pulled open. He's running.


>Kill him now
>Capture quickly him before he can get away
>What's the rush? There's no thrill like a chase. Hunt him.
>Write in

>>6360385
Tough call.
Kill him and it fits with the last sacred form attack. Less complications. Candi already has Arthur.

Capture him and we could get some real info out of him, maybe even sacrifice him which could mean more powers? Unless that is also reserved for bigger fish.

>>6360385
>Kill him now
I'll just say kill him for now

>>6360385
>Capture quickly him before he can get away
We promised Candy some fun, let her kill him

>>6360385
>Capture quickly him before he can get away
Collect them both for a Candi double kill

>Capture quickly him before he can get away
writing

> 6360385 Kill him now

Also tell Candi she can have Arthur

With a snarl you throw yourself against the shitty pressboard door. It gives way instantly, crumbling to splinters. The bathroom smells strongly of blood and it's easy to see why. Crystal is here, lying in the bathtub in torn pajamas, blood trickling form her nose, both her eyes swollen nearly shut. She had the shit beaten out of her. She stares up at you with a mixture of awe and fear. Her heart races at the sight of you, her bloody lips whispering. "He came." It's nice to be wanted, but you don't have time to dwell on it. David is about to get away.

He lifts the window and throws himself out, only you stop him. Your claws hook into the meat of his back, drawing a satisfying scream.

You pull him back inside with a slow, steady tug. Too fast and you'll just rip your talons out. That might kill him too quickly.

David's screaming forms words. "Fuck you! Fuck! You fuck! Fuck!"

You hear the metallic clatter of his pistol drop to the cheap linoleum floor as you pull him inside and throw him back into the living room. The smell of blood is so delicious, so strong, that it fills your nose, fills your mind. David's heart beats like a rabbit trying to escape a running microwave while Arthur's heart thuds failingly, life leaving him as quickly as it can. You can't hold back much longer. You're going to need to Feed.

"Oh," Candi says. She walks into the room taking long, measured steps. Her hips swing, swishing her skirt with each movement. "David. Wow. It's been a while."

David looks at her, crawling backwards, hands slicking in Arthur's blood, squishing in the saturated carpet. "C-C-C-"

Candi smirks at him and stops, squatting on her heels to look him in the eyes. Her gaze flicks across his body and she licks her lips. "Surprised to see me?"

David nods slowly, giving you terrified looks, watching you prowl back and forth behind your sister.

Candi looks back at you, her eyes flickering with admiration and affection. "Mmm." She trails her fingers through your fur, her touch is electric. "I think I like him like this," she says. "He doesn't talk back as much."

You exhale, hard and hot, your blood frenzy rising.

Candi bites her lower lip, heart beating a little faster, a little harder. "Okay," she says, turning back to David. "Take off your pants."

"Wh-what?"

Candi flashes the knife, the blade reflecting red. "Take off your pants or my brother will do it."

"Brother…" David looks at you, not understanding, not really. Still, he understands the threat. He fumbles with his belt and then his zipper, kicking away his jeans. "Look, just let me go… keep him," he looks at Arthur who's barely breathing now. "Keep him and… and you'll never see me again."

Candi answers by reaching over and tugging David's boxer's down. "I don't think you'll need this anymore." Her knife flicks with smooth precision and cuts off a few inches of flesh that David probably considered the most important to him.

His scream rings in your ear, long and beautiful. "God, oh god, what the fuck… what the fuck…"

Candi laughs. "Don't be such a fucking baby." She looks back at you and nods. "Go ahead," she says. "Before he gets cold." She nods to Arthur.

It's all the permission you need. You set on him like an animal, biting, tearing, shaking your powerful neck to rip him to pieces. He doesn't last much longer. You're insatiable like this, but once you've eaten everything worth eating, your hunger is less sharp, more obedient. Pulling back, your muzzle drips, caked in blood. It Mirror's your sister's face. Candi locks eyes with you as she licks bright red from the blade of the knife.

David is saying something, pleading maybe. You're not really sure. Doesn't really matter. No. It matters a little. You need info before you finish him.

"Why. Her." The words come hard. You have to force them out. Projecting that level of humanity is difficult, almost impossible, but you manage it.

David is shocked to silence, staring in disbelief.

"He asked a question," Candi says, dragging her blade across his inner thigh, drawing a thick red line.

David screams and tries to push her away but a snarl from you stops him. "Sh-she knew!" He blurts. "She knew about…about Allan! Oh god… oh god… what the fuck…"

So they were trying to get revenge for their friend. Oops. Guess they fucked that up. Their loss is your gain.

Candi licks her knife again, eyes flickering closed as she hums to herself. You can taste it. You taste David's blood in your sister's mouth. She meets your eyes again and it's like looking into a mirror.

"Please… please…" David mutters, his own eyes becoming unfocused as life leaves him. Obviously there's no chance you're going to let him go. You promised Candi a kill. This is her chance.

You don't need to say anything, Candi knows what you want. Her lips split in a brilliant smile, eyes flashing and eager. She turns back to David, grips the knife in both hands, raising it high overhead. "Hey David. Smile!"

He screams as she plunges it down into him. When she pulls back blood spatters her a moment before it goes back into him again with a soft, wet sound. He raises a hand to ward her off but the knife cuts through that just as easily as the rest of him, plunging into his palm and ripping free. He tries to crawl away, screaming as Candi stabs him again and again and again, painting herself in crimson splashes. She finds his lungs and they foam, his scream cutting off. Soon she finds his heart. A powerful jet of blood hits her as he falls limp, but she keeps stabbing, lost in a frenzy.

You watch, unable to look away as she brutalizes him, stabbing a dozen, two dozen, three dozen times. For the last six strikes, he doesn't move, doesn't react, already dead.

Finally Candi sits back, panting, exhausted. She looks back at you uncertainly. "Did I… do good?"

You only realize that you're in human form again when you lean in and kiss her. You taste blood, feel a tight thrill in your chest. You want more. You need more. You want it right now, right here, soaked in blood, drowned in it, reveling in the kill.

Candi is more pragmatic. She breaks the kiss. "Crystal," she says, glancing toward the bathroom.

Crystal. Things have become complicated for her. Something is going to have to be done.

You stand up, taking your knife back from Candi and sheathing it. You walk into the bathroom and find Crystal as you last saw her, battered, bruised, but very much awake. She sits in the tub, knees pulled to her chest.

"You," she whispers, not looking away. "It was you. It was always you. You are Him."

Impressive in a way. She recognizes you for what you really are. She's one of a few people who's seen you both ways.

"You saved me," she says, holding herself tight, tears running tracks through the blood on her face.

You can help her. Candi can help her. Virginia can help her, but first there's a little matter to settle, the matter of faith. You're her god, but do you want it to stay that way?


>Put your faith in me
>Put your faith in Virginia
>Put your faith in Candi
>Write in

File: Trickle down worship.png (21 KB, 154x636)

21 KB PNG

>>6360815
>Put your faith in me

>>6360815
>Put your faith in me
A true believer is pretty rare, seems like a lot of power. Plus it felt good so why not.

>>6360815
>Put your faith in Virginia
I don’t think Virginia will be very happy if we bring somebody into the fold who is loyal to us instead of her and we can’t necessarily trust Candi not to snitch.

>>6360827
I'm looking at it this way. Virginia has her personal cult believers for power. Candi has her online simps/believers for power, I'm sure not all of them drive out here. I think its fair that Kyle could have someone he personally saved as his believer. Especially considering he has to fight the battles to come.

It would feel weird to try and swing her faith away from her savior. She prayed and the prayer was answered.

After this mess shes gonna need to disappear. I don't think Crystal will have much interaction with the cult as I'd probably hide her in Virgnia's house. I guess she could still show up to the meetings? But if people do take pictures I'd just as soon not.

>>6360853
You make a good point. In that case, switching my vote to
>Put your faith in me

>>6360815
>Put your faith in me.
Pantheon.

>>6361135
The Wild
The Divine
The Order

>Put your faith in me

Writing

"Yeah," you say. You offer her a hand.

Crystal looks at it, at you, awed. Timidly she reaches out and takes your hand, allowing you to lift her out of the tub.

"I heard you call to me," you say.

Crystal sniffles and then pulls you into a sudden hug. The tears come freely. "Th-they were going to k-kill me," she sobs.

You glance over her shoulder at your sister who watches disapprovingly. Whatever. Let her fume. Crystal isn't really your type. Or is she? Not that you feel anything toward her but the normal hunger and lust, but she believes in you. Really believes. It feels good. Really good. Candi has simps, Virginia has her followers, what's the harm in you having your own little fringe collection of worshippers, your own splinter of the cult?

After you feel like Crystal's gotten most of her tears out, you peel her off you. She's a mess. David and Arthur really fucked her up. She was pretty last time you saw her, now she's battered to shit. Still, healing and comfort aren't really your thing. You pass her off to your sister who looks no happier to be dealing with her. Unlike you, Candi can at least make a show of compassion. Or maybe it's genuine. Hard to tell with her.

"Come on, let's clean you up," Candi says, guiding Crystal to the sink and starting to daub blood off her face with a damp washcloth.

"Should… we call the police?" Crystal asks.

Stupid question. "No," you say, looking at the blood-soaked scene in her trailer. How the fuck would you even begin to explain this? Obvious answer is that you can't. If Truesdale or the cops see this then they're going to have questions for Crystal that you doubt she can answer.

You leave the bathroom as Candi cares for Crystal. Your boots squish the bloody carpet as you walk past what's left of your former tormenters. You can feel that latent power surging through you, what you took from them made you stronger.

It would be easy enough to make Crystal disappear, to take her out to the ruin of Virginia's house and have her camp out there. Not a comfortable life or a glamorous one, but maybe a safe one. You could use this power for yourself, grow Stronger but, there are other options too. Looking around at this scene you start to wonder how many people knew where David and Arthur were going tonight. Did anyone know? Doesn't seem like Truesdale would have sent them and if Chip were involved you suspect he'd be here too. If they were doing this on their own… maybe no one has to know what happened to them. Maybe they can just disappear.

With the power you took and your sister's help it would be trivial to use what you took from them to clean this place up, make it like it never happened. It would mean Crystal would be free to continue her life as normal and… dare I say it?

You glance back at her, watching as your sister helps her change out of her ruined clothes. Could this stripper be your own apostle? A priestess to spread the Cult of Kyle? She won't exactly be able to bring you much more faith if she's hidden away from the world. A risk but… maybe one that would pay off.

Or maybe you should just have some faith of your own. A little careful knife work on Crystal could make her look like just as much of a victim as David and Arthur. Maybe she could keep her life and you could keep your power. Assuming Truesdale or the cops don't see right through that charade.


>I'll keep this power for myself, Crystal can disappear to Virginia's house
>Use this power to clean this place and make it like it never happened
>Rough Crystal up and keep the power, hope no one connects the dots
>Write in

>>6361199
Interesting choices. Stronger would be quite nice. We leave a big fucking mess and they'll be doing their best to hunt Crystal down but the Virginia house is a solid spot. I did wonder about how much of David and his severed manhood we could throw in the trunk but thats still a lot of his blood in the carpet, unless they just assume its all from the gorefest of Arthur lol. Then they would try to hunt down David and Crystal rather than just Crystal.

Or the Kyle magic of covering up a crime scene like it never even happened. If it needs a name maybe call it Pulp Fiction lol. David and Arthur are just gone, vanished into the wind, and probably dead without any good leads. We get rid of the fancy supercar by dumping it somewhere far away, since I'd imagine its way too hot to try and sell through that one guy.

Which makes Chip and Truesdale feel worse? Having a lead they can focus on but a couple more bodies, or no leads and these two basically just vanished. Probably leaning towards the latter.

Also if Crystal does somehow make it pay off that would be nice.

>>6361199
>I'll keep this power for myself, Crystal can disappear to Ralphie’s house

I personally believe we should quit using both the stone circle and Virginia’s house for anything. Truesdale/Karlsson isn’t stupid, he knows the monster Crystal described is Woods magic, so either somebody Chip pissed off stumbled across its power or one of the Lake Cult’s rebels has defected just like he did back in the day. That means he’s eventually going to be forced to check on Virginia’s prison and I’d rather he not find anything or anyone that might give us up. All he should leave knowing (not that hiding it is possible) is that Virginia is free.

>>6361215
It seems like Truesdale treats Virginia like shes dead. Maybe he even believes she just starved out there and vanished without worship. He never went back to gloat at her with his victory. Never had anyone set to guard any of it. If he really wanted to he could go down there and check, or send someone, but as far as we can tell he hasn't. Why?

There is nothing stopping him from taking a look but his deeply held feelings. Is he certain because thats what he told himself all these decades, or is it fear that holds him back.

Although maybe hes convinced himself of this rather than face the truth. That he missed someone in the purge of Virginia's cult and now they've raised a witch with real power. All these years and no trouble, it took them a long time because they were basically all on their own. Its not rational because hes emotional, we saw how desperate he was to get an answer out of Kyle.

That said if we want to avoid having her being hunted down leading to a connection with Virginia's house and us, we could just make this entire mess disappear. Neither Chip or Truesdale arranged for this interrogation with Crystal, they're looking elsewhere. Don't even give them a lead.

>>6361228
>There is nothing stopping him from taking a look but his deeply held feelings. Is he certain because thats what he told himself all these decades, or is it fear that holds him back.

I would imagine it is indeed fear, but it wouldn’t make for a very interesting story if he cowers until the end would it? Eventually he’s likely to get over it, at which point he’ll probably go see Virginia to ensure she’s still trapped, or perhaps finish her off.

>That said if we want to avoid having her being hunted down leading to a connection with Virginia's house and us, we could just make this entire mess disappear. Neither Chip or Truesdale arranged for this interrogation with Crystal, they're looking elsewhere. Don't even give them a lead.

We could, but I prefer to have my cake and eat it too where possible. I want Truesdale afraid so he’ll act rashly and he’ll be more-so with evidence of what happened.

>>6361215
I'm only seeing one vote here. I'll hold for a bit longer to get any others in.

>>6361199
>>Use this power to clean this place and make it like it never happened

>>6361199
>Use this power to clean this place and make it like it never happened
Cult of Kyle would be fun, and I do think disappearing without a trace is spookier.

>Use this power to clean this place and make it like it never happened

Writing

"Candi," you say, summoning your sister from the bathroom. "Can you undo all of this?" You look around at the mess to let her get an understanding for what you mean.

"Undo?" Candi asks. She looks adorably serious right now considering she's dressed like a cheerslut and soaked in blood. It's crusted around her lips and chin. You could really do with another taste… but not now. She'd probably get annoyed.

You put a hand on her forehead and brush her hair back, willing her to feel what you feel, the latent power within you–a potent cocktail of Crystal's belief and the lifeforce of Arthur. "With this. Can we make this all disappear?"

Candi looks around at the chaos and then nods slowly. "I… think we can." She frowns slightly, her mind working. "With her help." She looks back at bathroom.

"Crystal," you say. "Come here."

She comes, looking marginally better but still beat up.

"We're going to make all this disappear," you say to her. "But we need you to help."

She nods. "Okay. Yes. Please."

Candi guides Crystal to a relatively clean spot of carpet. "Here. Get on your knees." They kneel facing one another and Candi takes Crystal by the wrist, turning her hand palm up. You pass her your knife without being asked. "One quick bite," Candi says and then draws the knife across her palm before she can protest.

Crystal hisses in pain and tries to pull away but Candi holds her tight. "Drink," she says. Crystal looks at her uncertainly, eyes flicking to you. When you don't object she closes her eyes and brings her hand to her mouth. As Crystal tastes her own blood, Candi dips the knife into what's left of Arthur and traces a circle around the two of them on the floor. When it's done she stabs the knife down into the carpet. "Now hold my hands."

Crystal and Candi interlace fingers and close their eyes.

You can feel the power ebb, flowing out of you like a tapped keg. Here one moment, gone the next.

When the girls open their eyes, it really is like it never happened. The carpet is clean. The bodies are gone, Crystal's injuries are likewise gone, she's back to normal. She gasps, touching her own face, looking up at you with shock and reverence.

Turning away, you pace to the window and look outside. That fancy car is gone too. It's as if the earth opened up and swallowed them whole.

"What… where did they go?" Crystal asks, shocked.

"Straight to hell," you say. "Now no one has to know about any of this."

Crystal is on her feet in an instant and hugs you tight. "Thank you! Thank you! Oh God… thank you." Her breasts press to your chest in a way that your sister really doesn't like but you don't mind.

"Remember," you say, pulling her off of you again. "Not a word. To anyone."

Crystal nods energetically. "No one. No one."

You could leave it at that except… "and if you have any friends, people you trust…"

She understands what you mean. "I'll tell them about… about…" she doesn't have a word for it.

"The Sacred Form," you supply.

She nods. "Yes. About that. I'll tell them. Maybe… if they have trouble…"

"They can call on me," you say, ignoring your sister pouting behind her. As a little icing on the cake you brush your fingers across Crystal's cheek, tucking loose hair behind her ear. "But be careful who you tell. Tell the wrong people and someone worse than these two assholes might show up."

Crystal shakes her head, refusing to consider betraying her god, intentionally or otherwise. "Never. Only my friends." Only the faithful.

"Okay, so you're all good then?" Candi asks.

Crystal nods. "Yes. Thank you both. It was so nice seeing you. We should… you know… hang out maybe."

Candi looks unhappy with the idea at first but after a moment nods. "Yeah," she says. "I mean… that sounds fun."

Aw. How sweet. Your sister has a friend. Maybe.

"Come on," Candi says, taking your arm. "I'm ready for bed."

I bet she is.

"I'll never forget this," Crystal says, standing in her now spotless living room. "You won't ever regret it!"

"Make sure of that," you say, your eyes flickering with a barely repressed animal huger, a reminder of what lurks Beneath, and then you're back home.

"Not going to get used to that," Candi says, letting go of you. "Ugh, look how gross I am," she says, looking down at her ruined outfit. Her eyes go to you next. "You too. Come on, let's take a shower." She pulls off your jacket and pulls your shirt up over your head. As she does so she leans in close to whisper in your ear. "And if you're a good boy then I'll make you forget all about that bimbo and remind you why I'm the best."

You don't have any objections.

After rutting with your sister like animals and only occasionally wondering just how grateful Crystal might be to you, you put Candi to bed and lay beside her sleeplessly. When the sky starts to warm with light you get ready for work. Routine goes by normally until you arrive at the lumber yard.

The parking lot is empty as you pull up. Odd because you're never the first one here. You shut off the Eagle and sit for a moment, watching and waiting for the others to arrive. After a few minutes of nothing you get out of the car and cross the silent lot toward the mill. It's also quiet. The door is open and unlocked. Deserted.

"Hello?" Your voice echoes back at you from the inert saws and stacks of lumber. No one's here.

You fish out your cellphone and note that the time is flashing zeroes. There's a weird symbol you've never seen before. Looks like a satellite dish with a line through it. Some kind of outage. Still, you're able to make an outbound call to the mill's corporate office. You get a generic voicemail. You consider leaving a message but don't. You also consider calling Chip to find out why work is apparently closed.

You don't do that either. It really doesn't matter, you suppose. Whatever the reason, you have no work today. You can recoup this time to finally meet with Selene. She seems to be the next "heretic" in line against Truesdale in the Lake Cult. Could be a good way to fracture that group. Or maybe you don't really care about seeing her. It's been a while after all. Maybe she doesn't matter either. You do have your own plans in motion to take them down.


>It's time to finally go see Selene
>Forget it, there's better ways to use your time
>Write in

>>6361610
>It's time to finally go see Selene
Well I don't have it all thought out right now but its probably worth looking into it. Would they start killing Truesdale's loyalists now that hes slipping? Would they abandon any pretense of helping him and deprive him of their influence over the town? Demand he step down as high priest which could also trigger some kind of civil war or fight to the death lol. Get a bunch of Lake Thing lore for how things got this way.

>>6361610
>It's time to finally go see Selene

File: Screenshot_20260123_07592(...).jpg (469 KB, 1080x1618)

469 KB JPG

No update today. I've got some planning to do and other things to take care of. We'll continue as normal on Monday.

>>6361896
Have a beautiful time, see you Monday.

>>6361610
>>It's time to finally go see Selene

>>6361610
>It's time to finally go see Selene
Could be risky if Truesdale is watching her, but worth it for the chance to potentially destroy the Lake Cult further.

>>6361610
oh shit, we endgame now?
>It's time to finally go see Selene, but first take a look at the frontier between here and the nether... how frayed is it really?

>It's time to finally go see Selena

Writing

Also, apparently my brain somehow turned "Selena" into "Selene" at some point. Whoops. It will definitely happen again.

You dig around in your jacket pocket and produce that blank business card on which Selena Pengrove's number written in her lipstick. Red, like blood. Ignoring the timeless clock flashing on your cellphone you call Selena, listening to it ring for a bit.

"Hello?"

"It's Kyle."

You hear the smile on her lips. "Well, it certainly took you long enough! I was beginning to think I scared you away."

"I've got a lot going on," you say, looking over the deserted parking lot again and starting for the Eagle. "You wanted me to call you." You decide to leave out the weird kids in the dead section of Lasker City for now.

"I did," she says. There's a rustle of fabric. Maybe sheets. "In fact, I wanted to meet you in private."

"That a good idea?" you ask.

She laughs, soft and airy. "Truesdale isn't quite as clever or omnipotent as he thinks. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that I know more about you than he does, Nemesis." The sibilant hiss of the name makes you think of a serpent, but she says it with a smile. "God rewards the faithful. I know what you are," she says, answering a question you hadn't quite voiced. "Come over. Oh, and be careful."

"Careful?"

"Mhm. The neighborhood isn't what it used to be."

You let that idea roll around in your mind for a moment. "Fifteen minutes," you tell her.

"Bye for now."

You hang up and get in your car, slamming the door before you start off. Your course takes you through Roselake which is quiet, unusually so. Not deserted though. You see people in ones or twos, but this is a workday morning, there should be more of them.

At a red light you idle and wait. A man dashes across the street breathlessly, casting frightened glances over his shoulder as he runs. He strikes the hood of your car and nearly falls over before regaining his balance and continuing on without giving you another look.

The light turns green and you go. The Lake is just as quiet as Roselake, but that's normal. What's not normal is the windowless van idling in a driveway while a handful of men in ski masks run in and out of the house carrying out electronics and valuables. You slow as you pass, watching blankly as they loot this seemingly deserted home.

You eventually reach the address Selena texted you. The street is quiet, shaded with trees. Her home is a modern, minimalist style and faces the lake. You see the twin stone pillars jutting from the water as you park at the gate. Rolling down your window, you press the intercom button.

"Yes?" A man's voice, her husband you think.

"It's Kyle."

There's a buzzer sound and the automatic gate unlocks and rolls back so you roll in. Unlike Truesdale's house there's not plantation drive or servants, just a normal driveway and a front door. You don't bother to knock and just go inside.

Roger Pengrove greets you. "Hey! Kyle, good to see ya." He's dressed down, gym shorts and a white tee with a prominent yellow smiley face on it. Those dead black stripe eyes stare back at you at it grins. "Selena's in the den. Want anything to drink?" He's got a glass tumbler with dark amber liquid in it. He also has a .45 pistol tucked in the waistband of his shorts.

"Your neighbors are being robbed," you say.

He laughs and sips. "Mmm. Yeah. Crazy times! I don't think they'll bother with us. Come on, I'll take you back to her."

You follow him to the den. It's minimalist, gray on white, with a broad bank of windows facing the Lake. Couches form a conversation circle. Selena lounges on one wearing red lipstick and a white fluffy bathrobe. "Kyle, come in, have a seat." She gestures vaguely around herself.

You take a seat across from her as Roger pours his wife a glass of whiskey.

"Thank you, darling," she says, kissing his cheek and sitting up, crossing her legs.

Roger leaves, pulling French doors closed behind him.

"So," Selena says. "You're finally here."

"The last time we met," you say, bypassing any pleasantries, "you said that some people don't like the Lake parties."

She nods slightly and sips her drink. "It's not for everyone."

"It's not for you?"

She gives you an enigmatic smirk. "It feels… tacky. Don't you think?"


>Truesdale is making a mockery of the Lake God
>Some strange kids talked to me in Lasker. They told me to kill Ellen or talk to you.
>You said you know what I am. Tell me.
>Write in

>>6363149
>If it really is a God, it doesn't look like a way to deal with them. But I'm not a devout follower so I don't have much to say

Let her talk and then say
>You said you know what I am. Tell me.

>>6363149
Dang shit is falling apart already. Neighbors getting robbed, houses abandoned. Dead or got the hell out of dodge. Are they goons hired by either faction, random robbers, or Lake God influenced.

>>You said you know what I am. Tell me.

>>6363149
>"Gauche. Not a word I use a lot but yeah."

>>6363149
>And what would you do instead?
Being blunt is Kyle’s thing and we need to find out what she wants. Yes to kill Truesdale, but to what end? Because if she intends to set the Lake God free, we should probably kill her and Roger right now. An alliance against Truesdale isn’t worth that eventuality.

>>6363213
I'm this guy. I dig this >>6363497 even more. Changing to...
>And what would you do instead?

>>6362370
Just in case 1 post IDs are getting ignored, this is me. I don’t get it, I have only ever posted from my bedroom and yet my ID still changed.

Changing >>6363151 to +1 >>6363497

https://i.4cdn.org/wsg/1769484355633283.webm
Woods Cult parties are lit.

>And what would you do instead?
>>6363497
>>6363500
>>6363518

Writing-

You study Selena with your pale eyes. "And what would you do instead?"

Her smile widens a little, giving you a glimpse of teeth. "Me?" She takes a long drink and sets the glass down with a clink. "I'd do what God wants."

"Which is?"

Her smile fills the silence for a moment. "To be free."

From what you know of the Thing waiting deathlessly at the bottom of the Lake, the last thing you want is for it to be free. Speaking honestly, you don't like it very much. It's been a largely negative influence on your life. If it makes you feel any better, I don't like it either, not that my opinion holds much sway with you. At least I'm honest.

"Truesdale had his use," Selena says with a shrug. "He was… a prophet. Visionary. He saw what others had forgotten or dismissed, he saw the potential. The power."

"But he got greedy," you say.

"Yes," Selena nods. "Exactly. He stopped asking what God wanted and started asking what he wanted. He thought he could channel it, tame it, keep it in his pocket. I think you've seen where that's taken us."

You remain silent, inviting her to continue.

"I know you can feel it, Kyle," she says. "The Veil. It's coming apart."

Now that you think about it, she's right. If you take a moment to focus you can practically see through the taut skin separating this world from what lies Beyond. The cold, damp breath of the Drowned God pushes back and forth between the Veil. It won't take much to breach it, maybe just pinpricks at first, tiny slits for unpleasant things to wriggle back and forth but eventually the whole tattered fabric will burst.

"God is coming," she says raising her eyebrows. "And I think you need to start considering whose side you're on." It's a threat couched as advice, but you sense no malice in her voice.

"Truesdale's or yours?"

"His or God's," she corrects.

"So what's got you so selfless and altruistic?" you ask. "What makes you different from him?"

"Imagination," she says. "Truesdale's religion is the religion of money. His god is capital. So limited. So… earthly," she says the word as an insult. "Why settle for that when we could do so much more."

"How is any of that my problem?"

She laughs, uncrossing her legs and standing up to walk to the windows overlooking the lake. "You've fooled a lot of people," she says. "Truesdale thinks he sees the real you. But I know you, Kyle. I know who you are. What you are. What you are beneath the skin."

You say nothing, staring blankly, coldly.

"Would you really miss it?" Selena asks.

"Miss what?"

"Everything. The world that is now. The new ways." She gestures around. "Everything which is fixed and static can be fluid again, Dynamic. The world is what we make it. What God makes it." She turns away from the Lake and paces slowly over to you, eyes locked on yours. She touches you, trailing her fingertips down your cheek to your jaw, lifting your chin. "The world could exist for people like you. You wouldn't have to hide anymore."

You know, I just told you I can't lie. That doesn't sound terrible actually. A world for a Hunter. A world for a Killer. Sounds perfect for you but… that's also in direct opposition to this shit you're doing with Virginia. She probably wouldn't like that.


>Where do I fit in in this plan? Pet monster?
>Tell me about this new world.
>How do you know so much about me?
>Write in

>>6363537
>Shift into the Sacred form and kill her and Roger.

Fuck the Lake God, that thing and Truesdale are responsible for Kyle’s shitty past and he’d never serve it. After this we go on a purge, Truesdale Cultists and the Lake Cult’s Hollow teenagers have to die. Hopefully depriving it of followers will be a major setback and by Virginia time to figure out how to kill it.

>>6363537
>>How do you know so much about me?
Before anything else I still want her answer for what Kyle is exactly

We drove the Eagle here, called her, and the killings would be obviously the same as the ones we didn't magic away. I guess we could set this place on fire but thats also a Kyle calling card lol.

On the other hand law and order is already falling apart, but I doubt that stops the rest of her followers who we don't even know yet to discern them from Truesdales lot. Though I suppose hordes of soulless teenagers could rush towards Kyle's house once the Lake Thing knows we stabbed it in the back. Kind of like Weapons if you've seen it.

Cult Civil War would be nice. Selena talks the talk of wanting a world of killers and gods, but I don't see her offering to show her strength, to do any of the dirty work or give support.

>Write in
There must be others who feel similar, or those who just don't like Truesdale running the show. Get them to withdraw support. No more judges and cops in his pocket. Make him feel alone.

No cops on the lookout for Ellen would be a huge boon I think.

I figure this can only make him hate and focus on the Selena Lake Cult more, and no cops patrolling the street would make it easier for us to eventually grab Chip. Especially when we'd have to throw him in the trunk and drive him back, wait for our Cult to show up and do the ritual, all without getting caught or interference.
Hide Ellen > Capture and sacrifice Chip to free Ellen > Truesdale has no Vessel/Loses power? > Capture Truesdale

Somehow we have to turn him into the unwilling Vessel for the Lake God so we can sacrifice both of them to stop the world ending threat, and Kyle can keep his powers lol. But we don't know how to turn him into the lake vessel without Virginia and Candi having time to look at Ellen's tattoos.

You right tho they gotta die, Is now good? I just imagine that as soon as she does the Lake Thing throws all the soulless teenagers at our house which could be fun lol. I guess we could probably kill a good chunk who hang out by the Mall? Or maybe ask Selena to put together a meeting of her own followers to kill them in one big scoop.

>>6363537
>>6363592
+1, better to keep her around to oppose Truesdale

>>6363688
See, I think if we’re going to pick a temporary side here it should be Truesdale’s, not Selenas’. We have a common goal with him in keeping the Lake Cult from breaking free and we are incentivised to cooperate without any funny business until that’s done with because he needs manpower and we need knowledge and taking any further hostile action against each other until the situation is resolved deprives us of that.

Can we really say the same of Selena? The fastest way for her to free her God is to kill Ellen, who we like, and even if she agrees to do it our way (free Ellen) the Lake Gods’ Hollow Teenagers are going to keep doing damage to the Veil which will make it harder to deal with the Lake God once we’ve killed Truesdale.

It’d be a hard decision on a character level because Kyle is awful at self-control, but he can do it up to a point.

>>6363719
Killing Selena now gets us the ire of the Lake Thing when it has a bajillion hollow teenagers dispersed all over town to get in the way, and whatever other actual cultists with power the Lake Thing has. I don't imagine theres any way we kill them without the Lake Thing knowing we stabbed it in the back right? Its in communication with her personally. Their focus is on Truesdale, but kill them and its focus will be on us.

I'm not having Kyle do anything other than ask Selena to prove shes willing to actually do something. Not even start a civil war, just make Truesdale more isolated if she can. Once Truesdale sees his position weakening from his own cult's behavior does he strike at them or ask us to help, and what knowledge can we ask from him in return. Maybe he will even ask us to kill Selena.

Kill Selena now and we cleaned up his mess for free.

I'm pretty sure the main thing breaking the Veil is that we have two Gods awake and in full swing and we need one to "die". Not that the teenagers are helping any either lol.

Also if they only needed to kill Ellen I'd imagine they'd have just done it. Probably need their own ritual to get it done with her or Candi, ideally without Truesdale alive to interefere.

Get Ellen freed first. Then Kill Selena. Then Truesdale.

If we kill Selena then drive to the Mall to kill as many teenagers as possible fine. I just think anything left will become a major thorn in our side before we've even weakened Truesdale and without getting any needed knowledge.

>>6363751
I wonder if the hollow teens congregate anywhere we could strike at them?

>>6363772
The Mall would be my best guess, but there ere actual threats that can pull us through the Veil too when we've gone there. Could be other spots. Holy Places to the Lake Thing if theres any besides the Truesdale gathering spot. Also if we suddenly murder a couple dozen teenagers I imagine it will be quite the scene lol, so some setup would be ideal like asking Selena to gather them up in one spot for a meeting or ritual.

If we had to do it ourselves I suppose aggro every single hollow teen by angering the Lake Thing, bring them into the Mall, and start a massive fire that consumes the entire Mall and hopefully every hollow teen in the town. Quite risky since we can't teleport unless we break vision.

>>6363751
>I'm pretty sure the main thing breaking the Veil is that we have two Gods awake and in full swing and we need one to "die". Not that the teenagers are helping any either lol.

I agree its two gods being awake, but I get the sense it’s the hollow teenagers’ graffiti that is weakening the veil around the mall so I really want to stop that.

>If we kill Selena then drive to the Mall to kill as many teenagers as possible fine. I just think anything left will become a major thorn in our side before we've even weakened Truesdale and without getting any needed knowledge.

I get the sense Truesdale is already pretty weak, our workplace was empty and the town is falling into anarchy. I agree we need knowledge, I just don’t trust her to give it to us. We already betrayed the Lake God once (unkowingly, but it doesn’t seem to care), I very much doubt it’s going to give us any info we can use against it. It’ll only give us info we can use against Truesdale, and we know enough to take him down already. Hide Ellen and he’s just an edible old man with equally edible followers.

>>6363976
I was thinking hes put that manpower to work somewhere else, or else the money he would have paid them to who knows what. Thugs? Bribes? Investigative work? Certainly law and order is fucked so they either fucked off or the cops are busy with something else.

I mean if Truesdale is that weak why doesn't Selena and her teenagers finish him off herself. I doubt he goes down without a fight hes got a juiced up Ken we have to kill a second time. Maybe even three times if he transforms into a fish thing with Truesdale's magic lol.

The Lake Thing cared enough about the last one that it transformed her body into a fish thing that we ran from and burned down the house to kill it. I can't say this time wouldn't be worse after being invited in, presumably Selena is stronger I think even her current appearance has a bit of lake magic, and more valuable to it.

Looks like we're tied up, 2 for kill now, 2 for don't kill now.

I really hate to flip a coin on something this important so I'll hold a bit longer for a tie breaker.

>>6363537
>How do you know so much about me?


Long time lurker coming out of the shadows to break a tie

>>6364017
>Long time lurker
Welcome to the program!

>How do you know so much about me?

Writing

Let's be honest, it would probably be pretty easy to end Selena here and now. With surprise and ferocity on your side you could tear through her like a chainsaw through meat. But.

Ah, that but. Too many unanswered questions. Time to get answers.

"How do you know so much about me?"

You see her eyes flicker with thought, considering the question. "God is watching you, Kyle. God has always watched you. You're very important."

"How?"

She hesitates again, thinking before speaking. "There was once a time when you were the most important person in the world, Kyle. There was a time when God had chosen you for great things. A Vessel. A perfect Vessel."

You hear Dad's voice. You're gonna learn to be strong, boy. Those lessons didn't make you stronger, but they taught you to endure. To hate. My pretty little Vessel. Was that all you and your sister were to this fucking fish thing? Incubators? Clay to mold into something New?

You say nothing and so Selena continues. "Ellen is a cage. You could have been a home."

"But then it all went wrong," you say, unable to keep the sneer from your face, the flicker of deviant glee from your eyes. You feel Dad's blood on your face, on your tongue, hot and sticky. "Didn't it?"

Selena's rapturous smile fades for a moment but then she shakes her head. "Yes. It did. Your father…" she stops, starts again. "Your father was broken, Kyle."

You feel his fists on you. His cigarette burning your arm.

"He was… he'd gone wrong. Gone bad," she says, voice lower, soothing. "It wasn't supposed to be like that."

Your heart beats for blood, but you keep it together. We keep it together. You don't need this mystical god-freak to tell you that Dad was bad. "What," you choke out, "was it supposed to be like?"

"Power's what you want, Kyle. Isn't it? The power to punish… the power to destroy. The power to do whatever the fuck you want." She knows you so well. "That was going to be yours. Your gift. Your birthright. Truesdale happened."

"Truesdale," you repeat, willing your fists to unclench.

Selena nods again. "He tampered. Interfered. His meddling broke your father, made him what he was. And your father made you what you are. Something went wrong, Kyle. Something God can fix."

She doesn't know. Thank the gods, she doesn't know about Candi.

"Then why does your God try to kill me?" you ask, wishing you could sink your teeth into her neck.

"God doesn't forgive easily," she says. "And you turned against it. Knowingly or not, you were an enemy. A Nemesis."

There's more to in than that. There's got to be. She's dancing around the Thing in the Woods. Maybe because she doesn't know what you know about it or maybe because she only has eyes for her own god. Either way, it's a half-answer, if it's even true. She seems to sense your skepticism.

"There are forces at work here, Kyle," she says. "Roselake is… a festering sore on the Veil. It's been stable for a long time now, but it's time for God to wake up. Everything is moving quicker. Even mortals are starting to feel it," she says. "Things are breaking down. Things are falling apart. That won't stop until God is awake again."

You stand up slowly, gratified to see a flicker of concern and uncertainty on her face though it's soon smoothed over with a placid smile. "What happened to me?" You press. "What went wrong?"

"Do you really want to know?"

You do.

"Your father hollowed you out," she says. "Made you ready but… he wasn't finished when you killed him." Her accusation, so simple and understated, catches you a little off guard. You don't like strangers casually repeating the fact that you're a murderer. "You were incomplete, half-formed, half-empty."

Let's be honest, you were more than half empty.

"Something else filled that space," she says. "Something from the Other Side."

But I could have told you that. Either way, she doesn't know about Candi or what she did to you. She doesn't know about how exactly things ended with Dad. She's guessing, and her guesses aren't satisfying. It would be easy to let it all go now. To slip the bonds of your humanity and sever the thread of her life. But not now. Not yet. It's time to pivot back to the whole reason she invited you here.

"You want me to kill Ellen, right?"

"No," she says. "She's important to you, isn't she? Someone from your past? There's a way we can free her and destroy Truesdale all at once."

"How?"

"She can be marked," Selena says. "Marked in a way which breaks the cage. Something I can teach you to do."

"Why not do it yourself?" you say, sneering again. "I'm sure there are others who support you. Others who believe in God."

"There are," she says. "But only a non-believer can harm the Holy Vessel and… well… I think it's obvious that you don't believe."

You believe in the Lake Thing like you believe in cancer, but that doesn't count as faith. "Why make it complicated, just pull your support from him," you say. "Take control the old fashioned way."

"I'm afraid that if we try that, Truesdale will just send you to kill us like he did with Valerie." She gives you an apologetic smile. "A civil war would destroy everything we've tried to build. Truesdale is arrogant, a fool, but he's not weak. The only hope we have…" she reaches out to rest her hand on your shoulder. "Is to work together." When you don't answer she adds: "There's room for you with us, Kyle. You can come home again. You can help us make the Old Ways New again."


>Fuck that [Kill her]
>Teach me what you want to do with Ellen
>I'll think about it. (Leave)
>Write in

>>6363993
I was thinking hes put that manpower to work somewhere else, or else the money he would have paid them to who knows what. Thugs? Bribes? Investigative work? Certainly law and order is fucked so they either fucked off or the cops are busy with something else.

The lack of communication not to come into work makes me think everybody else is dead. The Cops might just be busy yeah, but if they’re so busy nobody can be spared to keep up appearances for the mundane population of town then things are likely real bad.

I think the source of our disagreement, fundamentally is that I think the Lake God and its followers are the bigger threat. Ultimately, Truesdale is just a man, as are his followers and if you take away Ellen the only magic he has left to call on is Ken. The Lake God on the other hand probably has a shitload of drowned things at its disposal and while what it can send is limited for now, I fear that the longer we wait to act against it the veil weakens further and the more it has to call on.

I am reasonably confident that we, or at least Virginia can kill Ken and Truesdale on our own, I do not feel the same about the Lake God. I want an ally, even if it’s only a temporary one.

I want to kill now because Selena and Roger are isolated. I’d really rather not do the whole ‘gather them up in one place’ thing because that means fighting as many in one place as survive whatever arson attack we employ.

>>6364069
>>I'll think about it. (Leave)

This was a hard one. I’d like to kill her, but I’m very interested in starting that civil war she fears so we need Truesdale to give the order. We just need a reason to go see him that won’t draw suspicion from Lake God because even if we’re not being watched, he definitely is.

I’d also like to learn how to free Ellen, but she’d probably not tell us without a commitment and I don’t see any point in doing so until we also learn how to cage it again in somebody more disposable (Chip) and Selena probably won’t tell us that. Hopefully either Virginia can figure it out.

>>6364069
>Teach me what you want to do with Ellen

Milk her for info.

>>6364069
>Teach me what you want to do with Ellen

>Teach me what you want to do with Ellen

Writing

You feel a lot of things about this, few of them are good, but knowledge is power, right?

"Teach me what you want me to do with Ellen."

Selena claps her hands together. "Yes! That's the spirit! It's not difficult, it just requires the right intent and pattern. Just a couple little marks," she says. "I'll show you how to do it before the next Lake Party." She walks past you, picks up her glass, and downs the rest of it before licking blood-red lips and setting it back down. "You'll be there, won't you?"

"Tell me now," you say.

Selena tuts at you, wagging a finger. "I'll show you then. Not before." She pouts. "I think if I show you now then you might not come back." She touches your jaw again, studying it. "And I still need a chance to prove to you that I'm not as bad as you think." Selena, like so many others, grossly misjudges your desires, carnal though they may be. If she understood what you want most she wouldn't dare stand so close to you. "Deal?"

"Do I have a choice?"

She shakes her head.

"Then I'll be there," you say, not 100% sure if that's true or not, but an easy method to free Ellen might be good to have under your belt. Of course, it also commits you to returning once more, something you weren't sure you were going to do.

"Good." Selena says.

Movement catches your eye, something beyond the french doors. You turn your head slightly and see a person, or something shaped like a person. It's one of those hollow teenagers in the hoodies. He's standing and watching you blankly, eyes as empty as open manholes.

Selena follows your gaze. "Mm. I think you've met Jaighden."

You can feel the extra letters in his name. "Him or some of his friends," you say.

"The Children of the Lake," she says with a happy sigh. "They won't bother you." There's an unspoken threat there. They won't bother you, if you don't bother them.

When you look back, the kid is gone like he was never there.


>I'll be leaving now
>One more thing (Write in)
>Write in

>>6364344
>I'll be leaving now (Go tell all this to Virginia)
I don’t know if the sparse new details we have will be of any use to her, but we don’t have anything else to do right now so we might as well go home and she’ll be there.

We could alternatively go kill some of Truesdale’s people I guess, since as much as I wish it were otherwise folks seem to want to prioritise him above the Lake God, but I assume we’d require further votes to pick our target (Chip or maybe one of the party attendees).

>>6364148
I was so out of it last couple days
Yeah those are some good points. If Kyle actually talked to anyone from work we might get a better picture but seems unlikely lol. I was thinking the law enforcement must be doing Truesdales investigation to see if he can find anyone related to the Wood Cult he missed.

The robberies I was maybe thinking either Truesdale or maybe Chip related goons hired to break into houses for potential clues, as well as spoils of whatever they can take. But it could easily just be so many people have fucked off, died, or gone wacko that they can just do it lol.

They definitely are the bigger threat because the Lake God leads it, has an unknowable amount of hollow teens and fish things and the Mall, and however well it can watch us and everything going on.

>>6364159
I would like to try for the civil war too, to really knock out as much of them as possible without us having to do it all in some crazy moves. Selena seems pretty afraid and won't do it, which does pretty much just leave Truesdale. Would he do it now and rebuild? Once Ellen (and Chip) disappear?

I'm pretty sure the one we have to cage it in is Truesdale to kill the Lake Thing. Though if we could do that using Chip and free Ellen in one single ritual I wouldnt say no lol.

>>6364370
I don't believe the inclination is to target Truesdale first more that they wanted to see what Selena would give us, which wasn't much, but we do know she keeps some extra security here. And we are invited back at a later time so we could kill her then.

That said it was already the plan to take Ellen and Chip, but Truesdale should survive that and hopefully be cornered enough to start that civil war. It seems like the best way to counter all those hollow teenagers, unless Virginia could do something? Whether she could do that without exposing her presence is up in the air tho.

>>6364370
Support

No post today. Have some personal stuff to take care of. If I get time I will update over the weekend.

>>6364344
>>6364370
+1

>>6364596
>That said it was already the plan to take Ellen and Chip, but Truesdale should survive that and hopefully be cornered enough to start that civil war. It seems like the best way to counter all those hollow teenagers, unless Virginia could do something? Whether she could do that without exposing her presence is up in the air tho

One of the big downsides of Kyle being a dubiously functional psychopath is that it cuts off certain avenues of investigation. The Children of the Lake are an atrocity and if we had a more normal PC I would have crafted a write-in to investigate them by now out of empathy and fear.

I very much want to know how many of them there are, exactly where they gather and how they’re recruited so we can try limiting the Lake Gods’ numbers when we’re ready.

But Kyle doesn't care so I have to hope that if we vote to talk about them with Virginia, she is still human enough to be horrified. That or we need to bring somebody more psychologically normal into the Wood Cults’ inner circle, though they’d also need to be tough enough to stand up to yet also tolerant of Kyle and Candi’s bullshit, and preferably completely romantically and sexually disinterested in the both of them. Neither of our two named members (Candi’s not-boyfriend and Ralphie) fit the bill.

>>6365696
>One of the big downsides of Kyle being a dubiously functional psychopath is that it cuts off certain avenues of investigation
No ex cop detective on the trail of disappearances or community college professor who studied some of the local tribal mythology on hand. Maybe Annie could have studied up some. If Kyle can't murder it or plow it his options do end up a bit slim lol.

If Kyle went the route of musician instead of working the mill maybe he could have made friends with a local biker gang.

The only place that makes sense to me as the recruitment grounds would be the Mall. Scout it in wolf form looking for a part that's actually important, maybe Candi or Virginia can see through our eyes and point it out so we can destroy it? Bringing them there in person would be a no-no, and hope Sacred Form makes him less recognizable.

>>6365815
>If Kyle can't murder it or plow it his options do end up a bit slim lol.

I’d say the problem isn’t one of ability, Kyle could probably get a hold of missing persons records, school or foster home records or even just find out where the local teens hang out if he chose to. He’s good at B&E and he’s good at beating people into talking.The real issue is he doesn’t care about those kids and he isn’t afraid of fighting the Lake God, which means he won’t investigate. Especially because yeah, it doesn’t involve his two interests, murder and sex.

>The only place that makes sense to me as the recruitment grounds would be the Mall. Scout it in wolf form looking for a part that's actually important, maybe Candi or Virginia can see through our eyes and point it out so we can destroy it? Bringing them there in person would be a no-no, and hope Sacred Form makes him less recognizable.

The mall is definitely where they congregate when not doing jobs elsewhere, yeah. Dunno about attacking them there though, I’d really rather not fight them all at once when we have no clue how powerful they are and there’s a risk the Lake God could send reinforcements through the weakened veil. Much safer to pick them off in small groups, once we’ve killed one it’ll aggro the rest but if we leave the scene they can’t necessarily track us. I agree with taking all action in Sacred Form though, whether it’ll protect our identity against the Lake God as it has Truesdale idk but we may as well try it.

>I'll be leaving now (Go tell all this to Virginia)

Crazy weekend. Back to it.

Writing

Children of the Lake. It doesn't sit well with you. Maybe it's that niggling human residue left inside you, maybe it's just pure self-interest. Color me crazy, but I don't think a bunch of soulless little shits running around is great news!

"I'll be leaving now," you say, starting for the door.

"See you at the party, Kyle," Selena purrs as she sits back on the couch. "I'm looking forward to it."

You say nothing.

"Walk you to the door, bud?" Roger offers, intercepting you the moment you leave the room. "Hope you two had a good talk."

You answer with silence.

"This is big," Roger continues. " I mean, really huge! Big stuff. Big changes and you and I, we got in on the ground floor."

He's going to get buried when that whole rotten temple caves in, smashing that "ground floor" like a hydraulic press.

Roger checks his pistol and then checks the peephole on the door before pulling it open. "Drive safe!"

Outside is silent. The looters next door are gone. You start for your car and stop. Your neck prickles, a feeling of being watched. You look back at the house, but all the curtains are drawn. Instead you look toward the lake and those two stone pillars looming like the crazed line eyes of a smiley face. Staring.

At the lake's edge, backlit by the dark, glittering waters, a congregation of a dozen kids stands in silent testimony, watching you. Their eyes shine like the lake water, glinting from their darkened hoods. Most have skateboards tucked under their arms. A couple have knives in their hands hanging at their side. One, you notice, is holding a power drill.

They say nothing and do nothing, just watch you from the Lake's edge. Gentle waves lap at their sneakers like a loving caress. The one you know as Jaighden smiles at you. It's dark, hollow. He raises a hand in farewell. We'll be seeing each other again, I'm sure.

You get in the Eagle and twist the key. The engines growls to mechanical life as the driveway gate rolls aside. You're off.

Home comes later. You enter and find Candi in her PJs making ramen for lunch.

"Where's Virginia?"

"Hi," she says sarcastically. "I'm good. How about you?"

"Where's Virginia?"

Candi looks up at you, confused. Last night's makeup is smudged in raccoon circles around her eyes. "Don't you have work?"

You stare at your sister.

She sighs and resumes stirring boiling water. "Out."

"Out where?"

"Hell, I don't know, Kyle. Cult shit? Maybe with Ralphie or Lawrence or something. I don't keep a fucking AirTag on her. Jesus." After a moment she softens a little. "Want some lunch?"

You feel mundane hunger. It's less intense than your other hunger, and therefore less satisfying to fill, but probably still important. "Sure." You sit and eat mediocre ramen noodles with your sister in your dilapidated shitty house. It's nice.

A short while later you hear the sound of tires on gravel. A visitor.

There's a flash of concern in your sister's eyes.

"Stay here," you say, walking to the front door. You reach it around the same time as you hear a car door close. Peeking through the curtains you see… Annie's car and Annie. That's a surprise. You haven't seen her since… https://rentry.co/pedfcz3h

Yeah, since that.

Probably better to intercept her before Candi sees her. You step out onto the porch just as Annie is starting up the steps.

"Oh! Kyle." She says, freezing. She wears a tight T-shirt that hugs her chest and skinny jeans that cling to her legs. That unseasonable heat has grown so bad that she doesn't have to wear a sweatshirt or jacket or anything. "I texted you," she says. "You never answered…"

I want to talk about what happened. Come see me.

Oh right. That's more than a week old. Oops.

"I've been pretty busy." You add a word for her, for old time's sake. "Sorry."

The door opens behind you and your sister comes out onto the porch, leaning on the wall, arms crossed.

"Hi, Candi," Annie says, tucking a strand of long hair behind an ear.

"Hey there." Candi gives her a smile sweeter than anti-freeze and then gives you the same.

"Go back inside," you say, fixing your sister with a dark look. For a couple tense moments you think she'll refuse. Instead she shrugs.

"Nice seeing you." Candi retreats.

Annie looks uncomfortable and rubs her arm, looking anywhere but at you.

"What brings you here?'

She finally looks at you. "I'm leaving."

"Leaving?"

"Roselake," she says. "I thought about it and… I have to get out of here." She shakes her head. "There's nothing here for me anymore."

You don't say anything for a moment, just process this. You look back at her car and see it's loaded to the brim with her shit. Bags and clothes and boxes. She's really leaving.

"You should probably think about leaving too." Annie's expression shifts to be somewhere between alarm and confusion. "I mean… don't you feel it, Kyle?"

Not really. "Feel what?"

"How… bad everything is. Haven't you been paying attention to what's going on?"

You shake your head.

She stares at you, dumbstruck, maybe starting to realize just how far gone you are. "Kyle…" she stops herself, shakes her head. "I just can't stay here. I don't know if things are different anywhere else but… I'm going to take my chances. I've got to get out." She stops there, but you sense some words unsaid. I've got to get out while I still can. "I figured… I owed you an explanation and… with what happened between us…"

Her moaning beneath you.

"I came to say goodbye," she says finally.

>Goodbye, Annie. Good luck. I hope you find something better.
>You don't have to go. What if you don't have to be scared anymore? (Invite to Cult)
>Write in

File: oath-fulfilled-aragorn.png (77 KB, 498x281)

77 KB PNG

>>6366064
>>You don't have to go. What if you don't have to be scared anymore? (Invite to Cult)
Very nice. Does Kyle want everyone and everything that was taken from him? I must imagine he does. Its going to be drama of course, but Kyle is stronger now he can handle it. Totally. Kyle's room is even open. Annie wanted to be a Veterinarian if I recall, I'm sure Virginia could help her learn how to heal. This place used to be a farm, we could get some milking cows she might have an affinity for lol.

>Write in
Speak of the Devil to Virginia after we get Annie convinced. What is she up to?

>>6366064
>You don't have to go. What if you don't have to be scared anymore? (Invite to Cult)
Give her a more sincere apology for ducking that text. Kyle has had a loooooooooot going on.

>>6366064
>You don't have to go. What if you don't have to be scared anymore? (Invite to Cult)
Balances out Lawrence

>>6366064
>Goodbye, Annie. Good luck. I hope you find something better.
Dont look back.

>>6366064
>You don't have to go. What if you don't have to be scared anymore? (Invite to Cult)
Any other kind of response just wouldn’t be Kyle. As Virginia and Candi say, he always gets what he wants and he wants her.

Also I notice QM has thrown us a bone having Kyle be a little bothered by the Lake Kids, hopefully we can investigate in future.

>You don't have to go. What if you don't have to be scared anymore? (Invite to Cult)

Writing

You pause here for a moment, just thinking. Annie was a close friend for years, one of the people you cared about the most, someone who was–basically–stolen from you against her will. Can you really let her go so easily?

"Annie," you say. "I'm sorry."

She blinks, looking a little surprised.

"This isn't how I wanted things to turn out." It's the truth. "And I'm sorry I didn't reply to you. Really. I've been… there's been a lot going on with everything. It's a lot to explain but…" you trail off, eyes going to the Pines. "Do you want to take a walk with me? I mean, you don't have to go right now, do you?"

She looks instantly concerned. Uncomfortable. "I… don't know, Kyle."

"I won't hurt you," you say. Your tone is uncharacteristically soft, almost meek. It's the truth. This time you don't add unless you want me to.Bu you do add another uncharacteristic word: "Please."

Annie relaxes fractionally. "Alright. Sure."

You lay a gentle hand on her back, turning her, guiding her past the the barn and toward the Pines. "There's something I want to show you."

You both walk in silence. There's no sound but the soft crunch of pine needles under your feet. You ascend hills and cross creeks, pausing to help Annie hop over.

"Candi doesn't really like me very much, does she?" Annie says, nervously trying to break the ice.

"She's jealous," you say automatically.

"Jealous?"

No reason to elaborate on that, is there?

After a few more minutes Annie speaks up again. "Where are we going?"

"We're almost there."

And so you are. The Pines break ahead and you enter the mossy, bone-strewn clearing where you found Virginia. Annie gasps, covers her mouth, staring at the rings of standing stones.

"What… is this place?"

"A temple," you say. "A prison. Someplace very very old."

Annie looks at you again. This time curiosity has broken through her fear. "Kyle, what is this place?" She can feel it, you see it her eyes. She feels the power here, the potency.

"I'm going to tell you what's been going on," you say. "I'm going to tell you about two gods and the war they're waging. I'm going to tell you how one of them ruined your life." You smile. "And how the other can set things right for you."

You tell her everything, well, almost everything. You leave out the incest and murder on your part, but you tell her everything you know about the Lake Cult and the Thing in the Woods, about Virginia and the cult. To her credit, she listens. It's easy for her to believe when she's felt the power at play here, seen what you've become.

When you're done talking she sits on the altar, staring at the woods.

"You don't have to run away," you say. "You can stay here. You don't have to be afraid anymore."

"That's easy for you to say," she whispers back. "You don't… you don't have anything left to lose." She looks guilty as soon as she says it. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean–"

"I'm different," you say. "You're right. But you can be like us."

"I'd be going against my family, Kyle," she says. "They're a part of this. My dad…" she trails off.

Her dad, as far as you know, sold his daughter to Truesdale for Chip to have. Part of a pact of some kind. You don't tell her that. "You don't have to hurt anyone." That's your job. "You just deserved to know the truth." You take a moment to collect your thoughts. "Annie, I don't really know what happens next or what the future holds, but I don't want you to be afraid."

She's trembling slightly. She leans a little towards you and then stops herself, pulling away. "This person… Virginia… she can do that for me?"

"If you believe it, she can do anything," you say. "Come to the next ceremony. You'll see."

Annie takes a breath and lets it out. "Alright. Okay. I'll come. I don't know what I'll do but… I'll be there." She looks at you closely, studying your face. She's searching for the boy she used to love. You're not sure she finds him. "But I'm not unpacking my car."

You consider inviting her to stay with you but you're out of places to sleep unless you wedge her between you and Candi. Somehow you doubt Annie will agree to live in a tent in the woods. "That's alright."

Annie hops off the rock. "Take me back now."

You do so. The trip back out is no less awkward than the one in. Finally you reach the Mercer farm.

"This is all really fucked up and weird," Annie says, turning to face you again. "I mean… this is a lot to take in."

I guess it does sound crazy when you string it all together like that. Like a fucking schizo fever dream. "Yeah."

"Keep in touch, okay? Let me know when this next ceremony thing is."

Soon. "I will."

You watch Annie get back in her car and back out of the driveway. She pauses at the end, gives you one more uncertain look and then drives away. What a nice gal. A shame you fucked her up so bad. Well, I hope it pays off!

Candi's watching you from the porch, arms folded. As you start walking toward her she turns away and goes inside. Never easy with that one.


>Speak of the Devil to Virginia, see what she's up to
>Go comfort Candi, remind her she's the only one
>Wait for Virginia to return on her own
>Write in

>>6366503
>Write in
Bring Candi along with Speak of the Devil? We did it last time, although that was with prayer power in hand.

If we cant do it again
>Speak of the Devil to Virginia, see what she's up to
I'm curious what shes up to. Although to be fair it could be as personal as going to her brother's grave. Or spying on the enemy. Or just shopping lol.

That said its not a bad idea to comfort Candi either before she makes trouble for Kyle.

>>6366503
>Speak of the Devil to Virginia, see what she's up to
We can ask her about getting worshiped

>>6366503
>Speak of the Devil to Virginia, see what she's up to

>Speak of the Devil to Virginia, see what she's up to

Writing

She'll be fine. You've got bigger fish to fry. Closing your eyes, you think of Virginia and then you're there. It's a place familiar to you, Ralphie's house. The setting sun bathes everything red and orange. You look around the quiet Roselake street. Quiet except for the thudding music coming from Ralphie's house. There are a dozen cars parked along the street. A party.

You walk up the sidewalk and let yourself in. The pungent musk of weed hits you first, as do the strains of Virginia's new music—dreamy, slowed, reverbed pop music. It's got a melancholic quality to it, like nostalgia or old memories. There are people here but none of them really matter. They're part of the Cult–the good one. They look at you with a mix of surprise and awe, stepping aside as you walk the house, weaving your way into the living room.

There she is. Virginia, the Faye Disco Queen. She's sitting on a couch beside Ralphie, her long legs crossed, cigarette between her fingers. She's laughing about something he said and he's grinning back. They both look at you about the same time. Ralphie's surprised for a second. "Hey, bro."

Virginia flashes her teeth. "It's the Boogie Man. What brings you around, sugar?"

Seeing Ralphie and Virginia socializing strikes you as unnatural. Odd, since they're both pretty dedicated to this whole cut thing.

The music–which you realize now comes from nowhere in particular–changes. September. Say do you remember…

"Something came up," you tell her, glancing at Ralphie. "We need to talk."

Virginia frowns a little. "Now? I'm a little busy, darlin."

"Now."

Virginia sighs, giving Ralphie an apologetic smile. "We'll pick this back up, honey." She puits her cigarette in her mouth, stands, and gestures for you to lead the way.

You take her back outside. First, a question. You can't help yourself. "What the hell are you doing here?"

She laughs. "What's it look like? I'm having fun, baby!" She wiggles her hips. "Maybe you remember what that was like."

Your idea of fun is a little different now than it used to be.

"What's got you so hung up, Boogie Man?" She blows a smoke ring.

"I talked with the Lake Cult heretics," you say. "Selena Pengrove."

The name doesn't ring any bells with Virginia but she listens blandly as you explain her offer about Ellen.

"Don't do it," she says.

"Why not?"

"Cause who the hell knows what'll happen if you do! I know you're sweet on this girl, but it ain't worth dabblin in. Take my word for it, honey. They draw you in with all that 'quick and easy' talk and then hit you with the bill when it's too late to say 'no.'"

"You can free her right?"

Virginia's casual disinterest flickers to concern. "I reckon I can… I'd have to get a close look at her, see just what the hell Karlsson did to her. Then it's a matter of payment. Making sure we can get the power we need."

You stare at her, your ghostly reflection staring back from her glasses. "I need to know that you can do it."

Virginia's expression hardens. "And I said I think I can! Hellfire, what's gotten into you, Boogie Man? Ain't no guarantees in life. Nothin's for sure." She shrugs and glances back toward Ralphie's place and the party. "That all you needed to know?"

I guess she's trying to make up for lost time but it also seems like maybe she's lost the thread a little here. That's the price you pay I guess when you make yourself a Vessel for the Divine.

"There's more," you say, keeping the impatience from your voice. "Selena showed me her son."

"So?"

"She called him a Child of the Lake."

This seems to snap through Virginia's haze. "Child?"

You explain to her the strange aspect of these kids. "You know what that's about?"

She only shakes her head, eyes fixed at a point behind you, thinking. "I… no. Never heard of that. Ain't good though." She looks back at you. "Reckon you ought to just steer clear until we get a bit more power under our belts. No tellin what that's about."


>You remember why I set you free, right? It's not so you can party. Truesdale–Karlsson is still out there. Remember?
>I've picked up my own little sect of worshippers. That going to be a problem?
>Don't you think we should be making some plans? How much more power do you need?
>Write in

>>6366952
>Virginia I get you wanna have your fun, but if you wanna keep having it forever we gotta make plans. The Lake God wants to break the veil and if it does everyone here is gonna die or worse. And if Truesdale discovers your free and we aren’t ready he’ll kill everyone you care about a second time.

The pre-written choices make Kyle sound like he’s just bugging her to do what he wants, and while that’s the truth it’s not helpful when she’s already getting mad at him. Gotta appeal to her own desires. Kyle has shown he can be manipulative before.

>>6366952
>I've picked up my own little sect of worshippers. That going to be a problem?
Maybe this can accelerate the timeline a bit

>>6366952
>>6367135
Support

>>6366952
Man I was tired yesterday. Now then

>Virginia I get you wanna have your fun, but if you wanna keep having it forever we gotta make plans. The Lake God wants to break the veil and if it does everyone here is gonna die or worse. And if Truesdale discovers your free and we aren’t ready he’ll kill everyone you care about a second time.
I mean we can see the world actively getting worse in real time lol. Straight up daylight looting of houses, people leaving like its the exodus. Dead cultists rising up as fish after Kyle killed them. Children of the Lake.

Are the Children new or old? Someone or something once had knowledge and power to trap the Lake Thing, and its probably Wood Thing related. Deep in the past, deep inside the memories of past hosts or the dead Wood Thing itself. Which only Virginia can do. I suppose it might be a bit of an ordeal to delve that far into it. Not easy, not fun, and not satisfying.

It is what it is tho and I think Kyle can understand real Hunger. Virginia, or the Divine inside her, wants to party after being denied so long. Needs to feel satisfied. Would not getting satisfaction break her form or cost her even more memories? At least it must be hard to focus on anything else without being satisfied. What can Kyle do to properly satisfy her so she can focus on whats important? He can ask that, and the answer is probably pretty simple lol. Fuck.

Ideally go home together, grab Candi before she does anything really annoying, and throw them all into bed so they can work it out to focus on something constructive afterwards. No mentally unstable addicts left behind.

The most constructive thing I could imagine would be knowledge of past lives like I said before, or securing where we are going to have Ellen hide against magic and nightmares and spies.

It would be fun if that works out, we get a glimpse into the past on what happened at various points. Ancient spirit war or who knows what.

>>6367360
>Man I was tired yesterday
Rest up, Anon. You're going to need your strength. Things only get worse from here.

>Virginia I get you wanna have your fun, but if you wanna keep having it forever we gotta make plans. The Lake God wants to break the veil and if it does everyone here is gonna die or worse. And if Truesdale discovers your free and we aren’t ready he’ll kill everyone you care about a second time.

Writing

Frustration rises in you. Frustration and hate and furious rage. These things come easily to you. Creature of carnal urges that you are.

"Virginia," you say, swallowing those feelings down. "I get that you want to have your fun, but if you want to keep having fun forever then we have to make plans."

So you're human after all.

Virginia stares at you, just as surprised as I am. I'm proud of you, reigning in your base impulses. I know that wasn't easy. We can treat ourselves later, I'm sure.

Pushing my seductive whispering out of your mind, you continue. "The Lake God wants to break the Veil and if it does then everyone here is gonna die or worse, and if Truesdale discovers that you're free and we aren't ready then he'll kill everyone you care about a second time."

This last remark finds purchase. Virginia's features had been slack with weak confusion until that line. Her eyes flash with anger and she grits her oh-so-sharp teeth. "You think I don't know what's at stake, Boogie Man?" she hisses, prodding your chest. "You think I don't know what kind of a monster we're dealing with?"

You say nothing.

"You don't know what it's like to wait all this time and everyone is… everyone you know is…" she stops, trailing off. Her anger fades like hot metal cooling. She unclenches her jaw, her expression apologetic. Her eyes glitter in the dark behind her rose shades and for just a moment you think she might cry. "I'm sorry, Kyle," she says. Virginia takes the cigarette from her mouth, looks at it in disgust and shoots it into the sidewalk with a flick, then she turns her back on you, arms folded over her chest like she's cold.

A stiff, icy breeze makes that idea a reality a moment later, rushing unbidden through the neighborhood, tussling your hair and hers. It stops after a second and all is quiet.

"I forget sometimes," she says, voice quiet. She turns back to you, all smiles. "You know what that's like, right?"

All too well.

The muffled music starts up in Ralphie's house again now that Virginia's self-control is back. "Didn't mean to bite your head off, darlin. I hope you don't take it personal."

"I don't."

Virginia's smile sweetens and she pats your arm. "You're too good, sugar. You're right. We gotta get ourselves ready for a war, don't we?"

You nod.

She nods back, thinking. "Can't let that nasty fish wake up or we're gonna have real problems." The more she thinks about it, the more concerned she looks. "Hellfire… with both of us awake at the same time…" she trails off. "Ain't good. Not a bit. Time's short." She swears under her breath. "I been locked up too long…" her attention goes back to you. "We got a little time before our next big gettogether. I'll put some feelers out and get things rolling, get people ready for what's coming next."

"What's next?"

Virginia looks troubled. "I reckon things might get a lot worse before they get better."

"How can I help?"

Your offer brings a bit of genuine joy to her face. "We gotta do somethin about that other Vessel… Ellen. Your lady. So long as they got that conduit, then they got their God on speed dial." Virginia sighs "However we do that, that needs to happen before we can go after Karlsson. Plus," she adds, "we gotta break up their cult. All those folks putin their faith in him and in that slippery Lake Thing only makes them stronger."

"And you're going to need a soul to break Ellen free?"

She nods. "A strong one."

Chip.

"Plus it'll take the cult's help. Won't be easy. Not easy at all. I think…" she trails off. "It'll be tough."

So far your two options for Ellen are to "kidnap" her and keep her away from Truesdale until you can get Chip where you want him or to go through with Selena's plan which she'll teach you at the next Lake Party. Something to consider. But for now…


>Have fun with Ralphie. I've got to get back home.
>Why don't you come back with me. We can have our own party.
>Mind if I stick around? It might be nice to unwind.
>Write in

>>6367423
>Why don't you come back with me. We can have our own party

>>6367423
>Hey Virginia, you thought about telling some stories about the old cult at the next meeting?? Might get everyone fired up.

I feel cruel because this will cause her pain, but this serves multiple purposes. One, it keeps her focused. Two, it will reinforce the hierarchy in the minds of others because the Mercers have legacy in the cult. Three, it will hopefully fuel the lay members with righteous fury and make them more willing to go to war.

I don’t mind what we do after saying this. That said, at some point I feel we should find out where her family and friends are buried. Her parents and old cultists were likely laid to rest in town and her brother might have a local marker. Visits might be good ways to remind her of her humanity long term.

>>6367488
It will be painful. At worst I suppose they ask what happened to the last cult, then if she tells them they all died well lol. I guess if they're all true believers they would certainly stick around, although idk if everyone dying and she got trapped for 50 years is putting a fire under them. If anyone could sell it I suppose she can.

Will there be anyone that can actually fight? I think we've seen what happens to people who get a little too much juice in them, but maybe its not as bad with Wood Thing power. Although there were beings in the grave of the Woods Thing, perhaps they used to be people.

>>6367423
>Why don't you come back with me. We can have our own party.
Lewd

Can't do the update today. We'll continue on Monday with whatever horrible degeneracy you decide on.

>>6367423
>Why don't you come back with me. We can have our own party.

>>6367672
The point is to humanise the old cult, to make the new members fond of these people’s memories just like they’re fond of her right now. So when she tells them about how the betrayal, how the old cult was murdered and she imprisoned they get angry.

And no I doubt any of them can fight, but that’s ok, Kyle can do that. Virginia says she’ll need the cult’s help to free Ellen and bind Chip (I assume to empower her), that’s why I want to motivate them.

>Why don't you come back with me. We can have our own party
>>6367425
>>6367722
>>6368431

Writng

"You should talk about them at the next gathering."

Virginia blinks at you. "Talk about who?"

"The others. The ones you lost. The old cult." You shrug. "It might connect the thread, you know? Show everyone what's at stake and what we're a part of."

There's a flicker of surprise on her face and it's met a moment later by sorrow. "I'm… I'm not sure I can remember well enough to do that." She tries to smile but it comes out sad. "But I reckon I can try. It's hard to hold them in my mind, sugar. It's…" she trails off again. "Well, I reckon that's the cost, ain't it? That's the price to play the game." She tries to look confident again.

"You can say what you do remember," you say, voice low, almost soothing. It's almost like you feel bad for her.

"I might just do that."

You glance over her shoulder at Ralphie's house. Music thuds."Why don't you come back with me? We can have our own party."

Virginia's sorrow quickly becomes amusement. She smirks at you, eyes glittering behind her shades. "Oh? A party? You mean… just you… and me… and your sister?"

You shrug, but the way her smile spreads across her face you get the distinct impression that she's plucking the thoughts from your mind, reading your intent like a book.

"Mmm. I reckon that could be a lot of fun," she says. She takes a step closer and the smell of her cigarettes washes over you, her breath tickling your face. "A good way to… blow off some steam. Right?"

"Could be."

She touches your chest, looks you over, then steps back again. "Might be. But I ain't your pet." There's no animosity in her voice, if anything she thinks it's funny. "I ain't wrapped around your finger like your sister is."

"No one's wrapped around anyone." Yet. "Doesn't have to be like that," you say.

"No," she agrees. "But you'd like it."

"I bet you would too."

She laughs. It's a warm sound, natural. "I just might, honey! I just might." She looks you over again, glancing you up and down. "It's crossed my mind once or twice. I'm a little hurt it's taken you this long to bring it up."

"I'm a busy guy."

"Mm." A silence lapses. VIrginia considers it. "Maybe someday, honey. Not tonight. That ain't a 'no.' It's a 'not right now.'" Another pause. "When the time's right."

For all your vices, you take this rejection in stride. "I'll be around."

"I'm sure you will." She pats your cheek. "See you at home."

When you open your eyes your back at the Mercer farm. It takes you a moment to realize that Virginia did that. Interesting. You go inside and see Mom passed out on the couch while the TV scratches through an infomercial for some cleaning shit. Upstairs Candi is asleep, or pretending to be asleep. Still pouting over Annie probably.

You undress and slip into bed behind her, putting your arms around her. She stirs slightly, scoots back into your warm embrace. Surprisingly, you fall asleep. Content.

You wake up as Candi pulls free of you and starts dressing. "I'm still pissed at you about that stupid bimbo."

You sigh and choose to ignore her. She'll be fine. Morning continues without incident until you get a phone call close to noon. The caller ID says it's Truesdale.

"Hello?"

"Kyle," Truesdale says. "I'm so glad I caught you." You hear road noise in the background, he's in a car. "I'd like to meet. I have something important I want to show you. Do you have time today?"

"What is it?"

"It's something you need to see," he says. His tone is unreadable. "I can pick you up."


>Sure
>Today is a bad time. I'm busy.
>Write in

>>6369203
Dang, Virginia turned us down this time eh. Maybe next time.

>Sure
Unless someone has a pitch for plans.

So hard to get info out of Truesdale when he has social powers of his own we suspect can tell if we lie. Could we say Kyle remembers some of what his father had to say before he 'left'. Then ask what the Children of the Lake are, the implication that his father must have said something back then.

Gradually getting supplies for Ellen might not need a scene. Kyle's Cult if he was inclined to actively interact with it. Killing more of Chip's crew. Scouting or, God forbid, researching some of the mysteries we've encountered or at least how to kill them better. Or anything else that was high priority I might be forgetting.

Could Kyle kill the Lake Teens in Sacred form and not be identified? What if he got a rifle to shoot them from far away? What if he could pull them into his own wackass blood demon nightmare zone that his dreams used to be.

>>6369203
>Sure
>>6369216
If we focus our questions on the Lake Cult’s heretics I don’t think it will matter if he can tell we’re lying, he’ll answer because, for the time being we’re useful. He wants us to be his pet murderhobo after all, so he’ll be happy to tell us about his enemies.

I assume you want to get supplies for Ellen because of the suggestion we hide her at Virginia’s old house. I’d like to reiterate that I really hate that idea. First of all it’s a literal ruin, we don’t need to go that far to hide her. Second of all it’s a location Truesdale may very well check out if he pulls his head out of his arse and stops treating Virginia like she’s dead, which he may very well be forced to do if there are more sightings of the Woods Monster and evidence of a surviving or new Wood Cultist mounts.We could stash her in the house of any trusted cult member and it’d be fine, it’s not like she’ll be going out to be seen.

I didn’t think there was anybody left from Chip’s crew? There were five of them, weren’t there? Ken is hollow, we murdered the first one in his own home and then the other two at Crystal’s trailer park.

I would support investigating the Children of the Lake as an action, but it can probably wait. We should start by breaking into our old school come nightfall, see if we can find any student records on Jaighden. Teachers’ notes might include things like odd changes in behaviour, names of friends, things like that. Another place to break into might be the police station, you wouldn’t believe how often people report teenagers for stupid reasons, and if by chance the cult is recruiting vulnerable kids missing persons reports might be a good avenue of investigation. We should also check out where teenagers hung out back in our school days, stake it out and see if anything suspicious is going on.

Our priorities, really is figuring out if the Children are continuing to recruit, if so if any particular demographics are targets and where they might gather aside from the mall and by the lake. That way when we go to war we know where to hit them for maximum effect, which places to go ripping and tearing and which places to scare the normal kids away from so they go home and can’t be recruited.

I’m suggesting this very indirect approach because the Children seem very good at disappearing so I doubt following them will work.

As I see it, we’ll only know if any of the methods you’ve suggested will work by testing them and there’s no point in doing so because we don’t want to start the war before we’re ready lol.

>>6369203
>Sure

>>6369203
>>Sure

Some more real life shit has come up that I have to deal with. Since this next bit is important I don't want to half ass it. I'll continue the game on Monday and try to find a way to make it up to everyone.

Thanks for being patient.

>>6369753
Thx for keeping us informed Nem, hope things work out alright. See you then!

>>6363536
>"The Veil. It's coming apart."
well, fuck

>>6369203
>I'm so glad I caught you
oh, is he now
>Today is a bad time. I'm busy.
let's see how he likes that

>>6369755
>Thx for keeping us informed Nem, hope things work out alright. See you then!
We're cooking with gas now. Thanks, Anon.

Let's return to the debauchery.

>Sure
Writing

"Sure."

"Good. We'll be there soon. See you then."

We.

"Who was that? Another girlfriend?" Candi asks snottily.

You flash her a warning glance. "Truesdale."

"Chip's dad?" She wrinkles her nose. "Why?"

You shrug and start dressing. "That's what I'm going to find out."

Your sister seems to have forgotten her attitude problem. She watches you with concern. "Shit… you think it's about Chip's friends?" She sits on her gamer chair and pulls her knees to her chest.

"I don't know."

"What if he knows?"

"So what?" You don your jacket, become the man. "Who cares? Then we deal with him too."

"I guess," Candi says, looking away.

You go to her, cup her chin and make her look up at you. "You don't need to worry. Nothing will come between us. Nothing. No one."

Candi smiles, but her eyes are still wary. "Teeth and Tail."

You raise an eyebrow.

"That's us, isn't it?" she asks. "Teeth and tail. Two parts of one whole."

You can't help but smile. "Yeah," you say. "That's us." You plant a kiss on your sister's soft lips and she leans into it a little. "Stay here."

"Be careful."

You rarely are. Outside a car pulls up, shiny and black, smooth and polished. You exit the house and meet it outside. Miss Ellen is driving and Ken is in the passenger seat, staring ahead at nothing. Ken's eyes are hidden by mirrored sunglasses, but the scar running across his hairline is clear as day.Though Miss Ellen doesn't look at you, you imagine she has more light behind her eyes than Ken does.

You open the rear passenger door and slide in.

"Kyle, so good to see you," Truesdale says with a smile.

Everyone here is in their sunday best. Everyone but you. Ken wears a white suit while Miss Ellen has her normal business professional attire. Truesdale also wears fine clothes. The only bit of color is a smiley face signet ring on his hand.

"I hope things have been going well for you," Truesdale says as Miss Ellen pulls out of your driveway and onto the road.

"I've had some free time," you say. "Since the mill is closed."

Truesdale looks momentarily confused. "Closed?"

You nod.

"I'll have to ask my son about that," Truesdale says, his jovial facade cracked for a moment. He looks troubled by that. In fact, he looks pretty terrible all around. His face is lined with exhaustion, his hair a little mussed. Doesn't look like he's been sleeping well.

"Things have been a bit… out of sorts lately."

That's an understatement, though you don't say so. "I saw some looting in town."

He nods absently, looking out the window. "That's partly why I came to see you. There's another piece of this puzzle or maybe another side to this coin that you don't know about. Something I think it's time you learned."

You're not sure what to make of that, but you decide to try to glean a bit more information. "Something about the Children of the Lake?"

"Children?" Truesdale looks even more lost, more confused than before.

He doesn't know.

Whatever is going on with Selena and her hollow son has nothing to do with him. You're not really sure if that's good or bad. You decide not to sell out Selena quite yet. Better to let the heretics persist under Truesdale's nose.

"Monsters," you say, lying. "I've seen them. They look like they look like people but all slimy and mutated." Mercifully it's been a while since you've seen any of those grotesque, bloated creatures, but you're sure they're still out there. "That's what I've been calling them."

"Ah," Truesdale says, laughing, relieved. "The Drowned Ones. It does have something to do with them actually. Think of them as an unintended byproduct. Happily or unhappily, they're an artifact of what happened."

"What was that?"

"You'll see," he says, looking out the window again. "But know that they can't hurt you. They're behind the Veil. Just…" He drums his fingers on his knee as he thinks. "Afterimages. Distorted reflections. "

You're not sure if he's wrong, delusional, or lying, but they can definitely hurt you. We've been hurt by them before and I suspect we'll be hurt by them again. Either way, you don't press the issue, trusting that Truesdale is going to get to it soon.

"I'm surprised you can see them at all," he says, narrowing his eyes slightly, studying you anew. "Maybe you're more attuned to the Veil than I'd given you credit for."

You don't like being scrutinized in this way. I don't like it either. You change topics. "Where are we going?"

He's all smiles again. "Somewhere important. You'll see."

Ellen turns away from town, speeding into the rolling pine-covered hills, weaving through the desolate countryside. You've never been this way before. So far as you know there's nothing out here but pine wastes and poverty.

"You know, two more of Chip's friends are missing," Truesdale says, looking pointedly at you.

You do know that, but you don't say it.

"Kyle, I need to know." He reaches out and takes you by the arm, his fingers tightening on the leather of your sleeve even as his smile likewise tightens. "I need you to tell me and I need you to be honest." He emphasizes this word in a way that makes you wonder if he's trying to compel you supernaturally. "I promise that I won't be angry with you, I'll even understand, but I can't help you if you don't tell me the truth."

You stare at him.

"Did you kill them?" He looks a little nervous. This is odd because he isn't afraid of you, not that you've ever seen.
>Yes, I killed them.
>No, I had nothing to do with that
>Write in

>>6372134
>Yes, I killed them. They went after Crystal and she’s Candi’s friend. And well, I enjoyed it.

Pretty sure he’s nervous because he doesn’t want to have to accept the idea that he missed one of Virginia’s followers, or that she’s recruited somebody new.
I think it’s for the best we let him continue to delude himself for the time being.

>>6372134
I'm pretty sure we can let him keep stewing since its got him so worked up.

Candi killed the one guy and we killed the other.

>Write in
I didn't kill the two of them.

Bam. Its true and he can keep going on his wild goose chase.

>>6372134
>I didn't kill the two of them.

Thats the the kind of verbal jewry I can get behind

>>6372134
I killed one of them.

>>6372134
>I didn't kill the two of them.

>>6372134
>I didn't kill the two of them.

Dude thinks the old jedi mind trick will work on us. Nope.

>I didn't kill the two of them.

Writing

You show Truesdale your teeth. "I didn't kill those two." Technically a true. Who knows if that counts for anything, but it seems to satisfy him. Actually, the opposite. It seems to make him very unhappy.

"Hm." He stares at you for a bit, hoping to glean what he wants from your eyes. He'd have better luck staring at a serpent. Eventually he relents and looks away. "That's what I was afraid of."

You let him stew in silence for a few moments. "What do you think's happening to them?"

He looks over at you. "That's partly what we're going here to see," he says. "I have two suspects. Three, excluding yourself. While none of those boys were anything like reputable upstanding citizens, they didn't collectively have enough enemies to get rid of them. Certainly not the way in the way it was done."

"Who then?"

A long silence. For a minute you think he won't answer. "More of a 'what'."

You leave it at that for now.

Miss Ellen slows enough to take a turn, using a stop sign as a suggestion rather than a rule. There's no one else on these back roads anyway. Your sense of direction is pretty good now and you get the feeling you're headed back the way you came, but everything out here looks the same.

"Here," Truesdale says finally.

Miss Ellen slows, pulls off the road onto a rough gravel shoulder and stops the car. The engine cuts out and silence fills the vehicle until Truesdale opens his door,

You do the same, getting out at the same time as Ken. You catch a flash of your reflection in his sunglasses as he looks at you.

"We walk from here," Truesdale says.

Truesdale forges ahead into the woods. You start to follow, pause, and look back at Miss Ellen. She sits on the hood of the car, arms crossed over her chest. She looks back, her face a mask of sorrow and worry, polar opposite of the yellow smiley pin on her lapel.

Then, you turn and follow Truesdale. Ken falls in step behind you a few paces away.

At first you think you're aimlessly walking into the woods. After a moment you realize that the undergrowth is less thick here, forming a sort of alleyway through the woods. A moment later it dawns on you that this is the remains of a gravel driveway, long ago overgrown. Rock crunches beneath a thick coat of pine needles.

Truesdale walks with confidence, following the ancient driveway. He's been here before.

So have you.

You realize you're coming up on Virginia's house after a moment. Normally you take the back way in. Evidently this is the front way. In a minute you come into sight of Virginia's half-burned down home. Truesdale keeps walking, hardly noticing it. You're very glad that your cult cleans up after its ceremonies so diligently now.

"Where are we going?" you ask.

"Further."

He's going for the stone circle.

You don't normally feel fear, but you feel something adjacent to it. Adrenaline pumps in your veins, your jaw is clenched so tight that it aches. You keep your eyes locked on the back of Truesdale's head, mind racing with possibilities. pEventually you reach the mossy clearing. The sky overhead is thick and gray. Not a bird or bug stirs. The only evidence of animal life are the dry bones littering the area.

Truesdale pauses at the edge of the clearing and looks around, studying those bones with a half-frown. Eventually his attention goes back to the stone circle. He points to the altar. "A god is buried there."

"A god?"

Truesdale nods. "Dead. Sealed away forever." He takes a few steps closer and stops again, looking at the burned tree ring, the desecrated stones, streaked with dried, bloody runes. His frown deepens. "Something… always something. Remnants." He laughs to himself. The sound is unnatural and harsh in this quiet place. "Desperate fools trying to bring their god back." He turns back to you, smiling a little uneasily. "But there's only one now. One True God." He moves closer to the circle again with slow, hesitant steps like he isn't sure what he'll find.

You sense a presence behind you and look. Ken looms close, close enough for you to see through those mirrored lenses to the blank, empty eyes behind. One of his pupils is blown wide, a window to the abyss. The other is shrunk to a pinprick. He stares emptily at you. Then, he smiles. Ken's lips peel back from pearly whites, muscles going taut as bowstrings as he beams crazily at you.

"You see?" Truesdale calls.

Ken isn't smiling anymore. He's back to being blank. Truesdale doesn't seem to notice either way as he gestures to the stones. He hovers around the outer perimeter, apparently unwilling to get any closer.

"Dead. Gone."

He doesn't know. Oh, what a delicious surprise.

"Who's dead?" You press. "What god?"

He turns around to face you. "A pretender. A woman who thought she could hold the world in the palm of her hands." He shakes his head. "You don't know this, Kyle but…" his smile faces to a somber seriousness. "The woman buried here is the reason your grandfather was killed."

"Killed?"

He nods. "It's ancient history at this point. But there was once a cult in this town which worshipped a False God. A God of the Woods. Something even deader than she is. It was…" he thinks. "It was a trap for fools and suckers. The desperate and naive. The promise of power for only a little hard work, a little devotion. All lies. I was a part of it once. A long time ago." He looks around the stone circle as if reveling in memory. "Before she lost her mind. Before she killed your grandfather."

You say nothing.

"I didn't want to upset you with all of the details," he says. "But that was the reason I ended up leaving them. That's the reason why I've taken care of you and your sister. For him. She was jealous, I think, of his popularity in the cult."

"Who was she?"

"Virginia Stevenson." He says the name like it's the punchline to a joke. "And I buried her right there." He points to the dogwood tree flowering in the center of the ring. Truesdale pauses, as if he just noticed it. His frown is back.

Whether or not you believe his story, you don't really care about your grandfather. You never met him. Never knew him. Honestly, he'd probably be horrified by what you are, what you and your family have become. Who could blame him? "Why did you bring me out here? To brag?"

Truesdale is distracted away from the tree. "No," he said. "No. To show you a glimpse of the past so you can understand the present, navigate the future. The Woods Cult is dead. Those who wouldn't convert, those who clung to their delusion… well, you've seen what happened to them."

The Drowned Ones. You see those bloated, distorted, inhuman figures in your mind. The things Truesdale thinks are trapped Beyond.

"They're all dead," he repeats before glancing at one of your runes, frowning. "Almost all."

"So?"

"So!" Truesdale says. "So the future belongs to us!" He smiles more confidently. "To me." That confidence doesn't last. "But something has to be done." A pause. "I had to come out here to be sure. To be sure that what I did took." He looks around the stones again as if trying to reassure himself. "Because if She isn't what's causing all of this…"

"Who is?"

"I think God is waking up," he says softly, haunted. "I think it's trying to get free. We can't let that happen."

You say nothing.

"Kyle, do you have any idea what would happen?"

You don't. You shake your head.

Truesdale's mouth opens and closes a few times as he tries to find the words. "Death," he says. "Total death. Not physical death but the death of the world as we know it. A return to the Old Ways. The Old Times. I know you can feel it coming. The world is ending."

You say nothing.

"It has to be drowned back to sleep," he says. "I think it's killed my son's friends. I think it's eating at the Veil. I think it's ripping at its bonds." He sounds unwell. A little frantic, like the man who caught the sun and is about to get his hands burned. "It has power. Unimaginable power. We only siphon a fraction of that off but if it gets loose…" He shakes his head, starts pacing around. "I can't figure out what's changed. I can't figure out how it's doing this, but I know what we need to do. It's time to find our faith." He stops pacing and fixes you with his gaze. "A meeting. A big one. One to root out the heretics and the non-believers. One to reaffirm our purpose."


>I think it's too late for that. I think it's too late for you too. [Take him]
>It's Selena. She's in communion with God and she's trying to destroy you
>I'll be there.
>Write in

>>6372608
Noice. Kind of odd he didn't bring Ellen to this talk, her connection to the Lake Thing I suppose, but he doesn't think of ol Ken here lol.

I don't like Ken's reaction there lol. Did the Lake Thing see through Ken for a moment then go back to being blank when it left? This thing that used to be Ken was surely pumped with enough Lake juice. I guess the questions would be is it still listening. Did it figure out that Virginia is free just from seeing this and then leave when Truesdale turned around.

Those are some juicy options to consider...So he does think Virginia is dead and thats solid. He also wants to do a big meeting to purge the cult. I think I'll have to weigh this one. The civil war we've wanted, but he wants to do it at a meeting and can that happen if Ellen and Chip disappear? Could it be timed just right.

>>6372608
>I'll be there.
I'll put this down for now, I suspect my fellows may have some ideas and pitches.

Taking him means we won't get civil war/cult purge. I think pointing the finger at Selena mostly ends up with just a dead Selena and her family? Not enough dead cultists? and I think it might be listening through Ken lol. So I suppose the best way is 'I'll be there',

Take Ellen and kidnap Chip before or after the purge?

Gotta make sure Annie doesn't go to the party, comes to our house. Although if her parents are non-believers I guess they might die.

>>6372608
>I'll be there.

>>6373015
>Take Ellen and kidnap Chip before or after the purge?
during. come down on them like a ton of bricks while they're fighting among themselves, make sure neither Truesdale nor Selena survive

Going to hold off on an update today. This vote is pretty important so I want everyone to have time to consider options and weigh alternatives.

See you guys tomorrow.

>>6372608
>I'll be there.
>>6372617
>Those are some juicy options to consider...So he does think Virginia is dead and thats solid. He also wants to do a big meeting to purge the cult. I think I'll have to weigh this one. The civil war we've wanted, but he wants to do it at a meeting and can that happen if Ellen and Chip disappear? Could it be timed just right.

I think we’re going to have to chance it. If we kill him now we may not get our civil war, and we didn’t actually agree to Selena’s deal so the Lake God has no reason not to kidnap Ellen while she’s a sitting duck. Maybe we could convince it to let us have her, but if we fail we’d have to fight Ken and then all its forces would be against us. It’s just not worth it.

And if we betray Selena right now we risk the Lake God finding out due to Ken and bring its full forces to bear against us anyway.

I think we need to find out some more detail from Truesdale. What exactly is his plan? Is he relying on Ellen to kill the non-believers? Will he have the place filled with armed men to shoot them? Does he have sorcerous power of his own to do it? I think he’ll tell us, he’s expecting us to fight for him after all.

After that, well we need to decide whether we’re fighting for Selena in exchange for that ritual, fighting for Truesdale or grabbing Ellen and running when it begins.

Regardless we’re gonna need power, I think we need to talk to Virginia. Maybe if the whole Woods Cult are actively praying to her she can channel that into buffing us?

>>6372608
I realised I messed up. Should be
>I’ll be there. How are you exposing them, and how are we gonna kill them?

>>6373167
Support, thats a fair question we should definitely ask how hes doing this thing. It is just my suspicion that we get Annie to not show up just in case lol.

>>6373164
Good thoughts. Definitely not quite sure on the decision of who to fight for in return for what we'll get.

>Power
Well theres always the blood of the Woods God we didn't drink lol. Or hoping our Kyle Cult takes off. Woods Cult prayer for another power would certainly be nice. Maybe asking Virginia to make us some kind of weapon with the Cult's help.

Candi certainly does know how to make magic happen to. If they do a ritual during Truesdale's big meeting how much power can they channel towards Kyle?

>>6373186
>Well theres always the blood of the Woods God we didn't drink lol.

Not worth it at all. Not only did we nearly die down there last time, it was heavily implied that drinking that blood would turn us into a lesser rival to Virginia.

The Kyle Cult is an investment but it’s really too small to count on just yet.

>I'll be there

Writing + add ins

"I'll be there," you say, "but tell me something: how are you going to expose the heretics?"

"You mean how will I sort the sheep from the goats?" Truesdale smiles. "I have my suspicions. Besides, the easiest way to separate heathens from believers is to ask for an act of true faith." He pats your shoulder and turns away from the stones, starting to walk back for the car. He passes Ken who stares blankly at you.

You afford him only a glance before pushing past, following after Truesdale. "And how will you do it?"

"Do?"

"Kill them."

He glances back at you, smirking before turning away and ducking under a pine bough. "It will partly be a self-resolving problem, I think. Two birds with one stone. The faithful will send the unfaithful to meet God."

You hate this coy half-answer shit, but you keep that tucked away.

"And," he continues, pausing as he comes into sight of the ruined house. "That's really more of a question for you, don't you think?" He gives you a cold smile. "How are you going to kill the ones that need to die?" He glances over your shoulder. "I've seen how Ken does it.

Ken looms silently behind you. The only sound he makes is breathing. Slow in, slow out without deviation or interruption.

"But I haven't seen you work yet." Truesdale says as he walks down the overgrown gravel drive. "I have no doubts you're capable enough. Your father certainly was."

You all emerge into the dim sunlight. Ellen stands up from where she sat on the hood, looking slightly relieved to see you.

"Home," Truesdale tells her. "But let's drop Kyle off first. I think he's had enough hiking for today. Right Kyle?"

You say nothing.

Everyone piles into the car and you race off in silence, weaving the back country roads before finally, mercifully closing in on the Mercer farm. Ellen parks out front.

"I almost forgot," Truesdale says as you reach for the door handle. He starts rummaging through his pockets I've got to make a few preparations before the big party. Invitations have to go out. I imagine we'll do it in a few days. Ah! Here it is." He pulls out a small yellow disc—a smiley face button. He mirrors that empty grin. "For you. I think it's about time we make it official." He offers the icon.

You take the button. What choice do you have? Your fingers curl around that cool metal circle.

"Wear it at the party," he says. "So I know that you're serious. And…" a pause. He glances over at your house. "Bring your sister." His smile widens a little. "I'd love to see both of you there."

"Candi?" You ask.

"Why not?" There's a dark gleam in his eyes. "Think of it as an act of true faith." He shows you his teeth.

You catch Miss Ellen's eyes in the rearview mirror silently urging you to refuse. He wants her, Kyle. I don't know why, but he wants her.

My Pretty Little Vessel.


>We'll both be there
>I don't want her involved in this
>Write in

>>6373528
>We'll both be there
one way or another

>>6373528
Anything Kyle wants or needs in terms of a demand for bringing her? Ask him to let us have Chip or Ellen would be a funny one as an example, if we weren't planning to take them. Truesdale is the one that needs our help to clean his house while they steal his son's friends. Shouldn't true faith be rewarded? Ask him to clear the debt just so it looks like we're somewhat invested in going? Make us his heir to the cult and give us the knowledge we want?

Whether we bring her or not how many people are we gonna have to bring out of there lol

>>6373556
...out?
it's going to be carnage and mayhem any way we play it
unless Selena plans to do a preemptive strike

>>6373813
To bring Ellen out, Candi if we do bring her. I suppose he wants Candi to replace Ellen if something fucky does happen.

Funny idea if Virginia can shape shift into Candi's appearance lol.

I wonder about the drowned things that are former wood cultists. Could Virginia do something with them. Return them to her influence. Lure them to the party on the other side of the veil, pierce the veil so they can just attack everyone in the party so it's even more chaotic lol.

Poetic justice where the woods cultists truesdale betrayed and cursed destroy his current cult and house he bought with his betrayal.

>>6373829
details
better question, what is our plan for dealing with the drowned god?
we should definitely kill Selena and her cultists if we want it to stay imprisoned, if that's even true anymore
otherwise, what is the plan for balancing its influence? it does not seem friendly at all

>>6373841

Ellen not being a Vessel when we free her. Then of course kill cultists and destroy altars like the one in that one lady cultists house. Without a vessel, cultists, and altars the Drowned God is presumably back in the seal. If it isn't then we'd know by the veil deteriorating.

But Virginia seemed to think to 'kill' the Drowned God is sacrifice it while its in a vessel, we wanted juice to keep Kyle's powers and deal with the parasite instead of turning back to normal, fix Candi etc...We don't want that to be Ellen so we need someone who can act as a vessel. Truesdale or Selena. Chip is to be our sacrifice to free Ellen. So there is a bit of logistics and timings to be arranged, and how far we are willing to trust the most treacherous man we've ever met especially considering the next points.


Truesdale wants Candi as a hostage, but Ellen pointed out hes wanted her for a long time. The next Vessel. Why would he need his next Vessel now?

Would he turn Ellen into some kind of single use weapon, unless we take that option away. What can he do while we're busy killing a bunch of cultists. What is he willing to give us in return for bringing 'Candi'?

If we bring Candi and play along with Truesdales plan we kill Selena and all her cultists. Hopefully he doesn't fuck over Ellen and us once his enemies are dead (hah). Then we'd still need to get Chip and bring Ellen home if we can't arrange that before the party. Then also take Truesdale at the same time or later so we can force him to act as the new vessel and sacrifice him, but after his enemies are dead we have less leverage to ask for things.


Truesdale wants us to clean his house which is burning down as we speak. His sons friends and presumably his son are being hunted down by the Drowned God. Hes worried hes next. He once implied he would give Chip to us under the right circumstances. Its looking like Chip might vanish before we even get the chance as far as Truesdale can see.

If bringing Candi is so important to us cleaning house then he can give Kyle what he wants. Chip and Ellen. To replace Chip as his heir or whatever sounds good. Also if Kyle and Candi can tell Chip that his father sold him out I imagine that should make them both very happy, Annie as well. We'd have all the time before the party to figure out Ellen's seal and break it with the sacrifice ritual before the party. Deny Truesdale his Ace when the party does happen. If Chip knows where his father keeps the books of how to do this lake magic that would be good intel to rip out of him so we can later turn Truesdale into a vessel for the big ritual

Bring ""Ellen"" Virginia in disguise and Candi as juiced up as possible. Lure the Drowned Things that used to be Wood Cultists to the party so Virginia and Candi can unleash them on the Lake Cult as poetic justice. Kyle kills Ken, takes Truesdale, burns the big mansion down. Scene.

At least thats my exhaustive thoughts on it lol.

Oh and burning down the mall because thats also seemingly a fucked up place for the Drowned God.

>>6373528
>Write in
"True Faith should be rewarded right? Make me your son. Give me Chip before the Lake Thing takes him like his friends, and let me borrow Ellen until the Party. Then I'll bring Candi and you'll see how I clean house."

I think it all works out. Curious what my fellows will say. Truesdale could always turn our offer down and then we won't bring Candi lol.

>>6373854
>If it isn't then we'd know by the veil deteriorating.
the veil is in tatters m8
>Truesdale or Selena
both must die
>Why would he need his next Vessel now?
plans to sacrifice Ellen or some shit, plus she was supposed to be THE vessel

>>6373860
spectacularly bad idea and not at all in character for mr. Nemesis
"borrow" Ellen? cmon, man

>>6373872
>the veil is in tatters m8
Anon asked what the plan was to contain the Lake Thing. I mean if it continues to deteriorate after theres no Lake Thing vessel, dead cultists, and broken lake thing altars then there must be another issue or we missed some.

>both must die
No remember we talked with Virginia about our parasite problem and how to get rid of it we'd have to go back to being without powers unless we can sacrifice the Lake Thing. Which I think meant we needed it in a vessel to sacrifice it. If both of them are dead who is left for the sacrifice when we are already trying to use Chip to free Ellen?

>plans to sacrifice Ellen or some shit, plus she was supposed to be THE vessel
Exactly. So either we don't bring Candi so he doesn't have the next vessel on hand when he sacrifices Ellen, or we free Ellen before the party so he can't pull some shit. Dunno what would happen if we just didn't show up tho and just went ahead with our own planned ritual to free Ellen.

>>6373873
Part of it is seeing if he would actually agree to something so ridiculous if he thought it would get us to agree to bring Candi. Part of it is we then have Ellen immediately so Virginia can study the runes which we have to do unless he do just grab her before the party on our own. I wouldn't be surprised if he turns it down, but I'm saying if he wants us to bring Candi into this he should be making us an offer of something significant to atleast pretend to go along with this.