Part I: http://archive.easymodo.net/cgi-board.pl/tg/thread/13796767#p13796767
Part II: http://archive.easymodo.net/cgi-board.pl/tg/thread/13808265#p13808265

I highly suggest you read both because a shitload of things have happened and although I'll try to summarise shortly I won't be able to get down all the details.

Skills:
Guns - all guns, rifles, semis etc
Bartering - The bluffing, the negotiating, the double dealing, it all comes naturally to you.
Intimidation (basic) - You can scare civilians if you give them the evil eyes.

Spells:
Summoning (Level Four) - you can now summon people up to 3 years dead, faster and with less energy than you used to.
Bind (Level Three) - You can bind a ghost or a spirit to your cause for 3 days.
Life Leech (Level Two) - you now have the ability to heal minor wounds. If you're already healthy and use it you get stronger, quite a bit faster and gain some stamina. Your target feels like they've run a marathon unless you decide to only take a little. You still cannot leech from magicians.
Rip (Level One) - essentially ripping out the souls of living people from their bodies by summoning them. Makes them unconscious for about 30 seconds since their souls return to the bodies relatively quickly.

Items of Note:
Magic Knuckleduster, with ONE charge left in it. Each charge that connects is a killing blow. The kid was quite clearly an amateur so he could only throw the energy a few inches forward of the knuckleduster. You're experienced so when you use it you can punch from several feet away and the knuckleduster's energy will take a man down, permanently. You noticed the two times you've used it so far that it wanted to be used.
Happy Magic Juice - a high quality concoction that mystics use to power their astral wanderings: some laudanum, a some rare chinese opium, and a dash of Ghost. You've got enough in the bottle to get a mind and soul high and keep it there for a whole weekend.
Brown Stick - Recovered from Freeman's unconscious body. You're not sure what it does or how it works but you can deduce that it's something offensive from the context he was getting it out for.
Weak Physical Protection Amulet - Recovered from the Freeman's unconscious body. If he had been smart he would have invested in something a bit more powerful that would absorb the blow and spread it out around the shield instead of just taking it one point and letting some of the force through. It offers very basic physical protection.
Medium Astral Protection bracelet - This will protect you from attacks on the astral plane, whether you're a sleep or you're awake although it does require a ritual in the mornings to activate it for the rest of the day.

General:
- 1 Browning Automatic Rifle.
- 2 Tommy Guns with straight mags.
- 2 M1911 Colt Revolver's
- 2300 dollars.
- 1 apartment.
- 1 office + sanctum.
- 1 car

Money generation: 300 dollars gained per night. It used to be 200 but now with the addition of the disputed territory you get bump in pay.

Your underlings are as follows:

- Randy, an innocent sounding name for a dangerously cynical 16 year old kid. Loyal beyond death, really, because you helped him kill the judge that sentenced his father to death. You've taught him a bit of magical theory but he's not your kind, so for now he's a low level elemantal magician until he gets some real training. But boy can he set fire to shit. Special Items: 1 Elemntal Booster stone.
- Big Jim, a muscular behemoth with no magic whatsoever. He resents the fact that he is the same age as you and yet you give the orders. Nevertheless he obeys because you've got the juice and he don't. He ain't all that smart but he's good in a scrap. Special Items: 1 Medium Strenght Amplifier necklace.
- Chandler Raymonds. A punk kid you killed that has agreed to work for you for a time as a ghost, to spy on your enemies for you on the understanding that you keep his brothers safe if he finds out they're in danger. Because he's a free ghost who you haven't bound he can show initiative and do things on his own away from you and for extended periods of time without having to constantly rebind and set the parameters of his mission to him.
- O'Leary, a cop you killed. You've got him Bound for 2 more days at which point he turns into a free range chicken, err..ghost.

Locations of Note:
Doc Green's - Where you just had your final victory over Freeman, a lieutenant of similar rank in the Opposition.
Squeaky's - A speakeasy where you once killed a cop in front of 20 people and then bought the house a round of drinks.
Van Gogh's Parlor - A chess parlor with offices in the back. It's a legitimate front that you run out of, with a special room to the side that is your inner sanctum containing all sorts of neat things.

>M1911 Colt Revolvers
Actually, no such thing. Those are M1917.

The M1911 Browning is a semi-automatic handgun.

All right, Harlem Quest for the win.

Matters for our attention:

1. We need to get some loyal ghost minions who have been dead a while and are willing to stick with us long-term. Chandler's cool but too weak, and Cole is a chickenshit who hates us. There was a solid plan last thread for this- find dead people with regrets they care about more than reaching the afterlife, take care of their business and they work for us.

2. Need to look up Jackie and figure out what she knows so that we can start tracking down those crystals.

>>13868088
My bad! That's the one I meant, I (somehow) miscopied from the other thread where it's actually correctly labelled!

Present:
You've dumped Freeman's comatose body in Opposition territory. Disputed territory is now yours by fait accomplit. You've just finished having meetings with Freeman's former underlings in disputed territory and with a mixture of threats and offering of opportunities they've grudgingly accepted you, and thus Olukwele and the rest of the Outfit management, as their boss. There are a few who have question marks next to their names and they are ones you'll definitely have to meet with again to truly be able to call them loyal. Don't forget them. Meanwhile, underlings of yours like Winston and Doc Green in disputed territory love the crap out of you because they get to play a larger role in that zone now that they don't have to be super careful about treading on dangerous toes.

In the previous thread you guys decided that your medium term goal was to settle things in the disputed territory, follow the Jackie/Panther lead and work on levelling up before heading to the Financial District to deal with the problem of Lord Pitt.

Dealing with the outcome of Freeman's absence took the rest of that day and that night. It's now a new day (early afternoon, about 2) and you get to choose whate you want to do.

Talk to me.

1. First thing, go around to all the guys in the disputed territory and firmly establish it as our stomping ground if we haven't already.

2. Talk with Chandler. Tell him that we'll give him a choice. He can stick around and work for us in his dead form, we'll 'pay' him by watching out for his brothers. Or we can dismiss him and give him a bit of a shove along in the Journey.

3. Try to summon Freeman.

Goddammit, OP, I need to leave and run my DH game.....
You better not quit this, or I'll hunt you down.

>>13868141
We left Freeman alive; can't summon him.

There was a good idea being batted around last thread. What we need to do is summon up a couple weak ghosts who are loyal to us. Chandler is a good example of this. We "pay" them somehow, either through promising them a boost when they end service or helping them do things they couldn't when they were alive. Then, we have one scout ahead of us like Freeman did with his double, and one watch our back/look for people eyeing us/things like that. Sort of like an invisible, portable surveillance system. It will help us avoid ambushes like we did to Freeman and keep our back covered at all times.

>>13868156
Or can we? We don't know, Ellington never said. See the argument about this at the end of last thread. There are reasons to think we might be able to.

You create as heavy duty a circle as you can in your apartment, it's nowhere near as good as the one at your office but you're not quite sure you need it. You take your time to get in the right frame of mind and then attempt to summon Freeman.

It doesn't work. (OOC explanation: his soul is still in his body, although you could have ripped it out at the site you don't have the range to summon a live soul all the way there. At the moment you can only Rip someone within 20 meters.)

With disgust you turn to other matters.

You call to Chandler with your mind, and just like he did the previous day he arrives in short time with you feeling his movement across the city. It takes a bit longer because it seems after you dealt with Freeman he somehow found to Brooklyn.

After he arrives, looking like quite the dandy with his sharp black suit and a bow tie this time, you make him the offer of helping his brothers out in exchange for him being your ghostly bodyguard, keeping an eye out for potential assassins and dangers. He thinks about it and then agrees.

"I was going to stick around anyway, I don't feel ready to move on yet, there's so much in this life that I ain't seen. You play it straight with my brothers and you've got yourself a man, while you're awake. I take time off while you sleep though, watching you sleep ain't my idea of fun, and I get two days a week to myself. Is that fair?"

>>13868148
Haha, I might have given up at the beginning of the second thread if it looked like nobody was interested in more after the first one but I got quite a few emails this week so I know for sure there are some of you out there are enjoying this and having fun.

>>13868226
Sounds like a good deal to me. I'm guessing we don't have much chance to get to Freeman's body since we gave it back to the Opposition.

I think after we took care of Freeman we wanted to check in on Jackie. Let's do that.

>>13868226
"'sfair enough, though I choose the days off and if I ask you to stick around while I'm asleep, you do and make up double the time off later. Deal?"

>>13868226
Yeah sure, fair enough. We just need to find someone else to cover the downtime.

What about that promising kid whose brother we helped get freed from being "interrogated" by the cops for a couple months? (no miranda rights yet! yay!) He got killed in a shootout a year or so ago, but he was a real go-getter.

We should stroll around our territory as is customary. Remember, cops didn't do shit to properly police non-white communities in the early 1900's generally and everyone basically looked to the mob to be the police in those areas.

>>13868269
How? All you've got is her name (Jackie!) and the fact that she turned up at Squeaky's once. Give me a game plan.

>>13868276
"That's alright by me, bossman. I understand how emergencies work. I may be dead but I ain't a fool."

GAINED - Chandler, permanently rather than just until Freeman was dealt with.

>>13868273
Considering his go-getting attitude you dismiss the idea because that kid has definitely reached the end of his journey by now. Man, what an overachiever.

>>13868269
>>13868314

Sorry, good point. Ok, well, she seemed pretty interested in us, and I assume we know some people in Squeaky's. How about we take a stroll down to the speakeasy, checking out our territory on the way? The guy who mentioned the lack of police presence had a point, we may want to look in setting up patrols of some sort to discourage trouble.

>>13868314
>Considering his go-getting attitude you dismiss the idea because that kid has definitely reached the end of his journey by now. Man, what an overachiever.
Bloody teacher's pets.

Oh awsome, this thread is back!

Now on the hit list we have:
Step 1 Get gost bodyguard
Step 2 accumulate gost army to tackle Lord Pitt
Step 3 Tackle Lord Pitt

Maybe theres some place we could go to find a gost who knows pleanty of other gosts who got somthing against Pitt.

You step out of your house and the heat doesn't bother you today. Some blessed saint listening to prayers, or annoyed elementalist, must have decided mere mortals needed a break from baking of the city. The clouds dispersed the rays of sunshine and the dark ones in the distance promise some rain later in the day.

The feeling of relief carries through the streets. The lack of heat and the victorious day before has people relaxed and feeling free with their money. In a few days time Olukwele will be sitting in front of the books, notice a significant bump in profits for this day and smile to himself.

Your underlings and their employees all smile at you like you're the AllStar Quarterback who took their team all the way to state.

Options:
1) Continue your daily patrol into disputed territory to shake down the guys you thought needed further talking to.
2) Head to Squeaky's.

>>13868409
Eh. Squeaky's wouldn't be open yet according to the last time we went there immediately after waking up. Go for the guys in the disputed territory.

>>13868409

Continue daily patrol.

>>13868390
> Maybe theres some place we could go to find a gost who knows pleanty of other gosts who got somthing against Pitt.

You already know the existence of one such ghost: Lenny Brokowitz. See details in previous thread.

P.S. I don't want to make things too easy for you guys so from now on if there's a detail which I reckon would be helpful to you guys but I've already mentioned it before, I'm not going to mention it again like I did just now about Lenny. You'll just have to re-read the archive or muddle through.

>YES. WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN

>>13868409
Yeah, lets go walk our rounds, see who's still being a stick in the mud and who's a smart cookie. Have Chandler give us an ear to the ground to see the reaction to our...gift...and let's take Big Jim with us. Just get paid, talk to folk, be that smiling devil we are.

Anyway. Daily patrols must take place, secure the disputed territory rather firmly. When we pass by Squeaky's, drop in and ask after Jackie.

>>13868435
>>13868437
You continue into the disputed territory (from now on to be referred to as Portertown since it's no longer disputed).

Portertown is much more active than it used to be. Now mothers and children walk around freely because they're no longer terrified that part of the daily crossfire will have them dying. Already you can see signs of growth as more runner boys that you recognise personally are ducking into alleys. With quick calculation you think about how much profit you'll be making from the area and it pleases you. It's good to be King. No you have too many bosses for that. Prince? That would be Olukwele.

It's good to be Duke.

You make two quick visits but they're not ones that would take long anyway. Two cowards who looked like they might just take a few weeks profit and make a run for it. Scaring the life out of them with promises of retribution was enough to get them back into line.

Sweet Johnson. He was the one that would give you a headache.

Sweet Johnson is a 25 year old man, a full decade younger than you. Smart, ambitious, and quite talented as a magician. Like all with the craft, he was slightly cagey about exactly what he could do but you got the feeling of serious potential from him. He runs nearly all of the prostitutes in Portertown, with minimum brutality and maximum profits.

But that very talent, intelligence and ability was what made him so hard to deal with. He is independent minded, had obviously had very little respect for Freeman as an operator and is just bristling to make a name for himself with those who matter. He's no kid.

He sits a coffee table, one from which Freeman had saluted you mere days ago, waiting as you requested when you saw him they previous night.

Respectful. Terse. Suspicious.

>>13868542
"So, how's business? Good? That's good,

See, I been doing some lookin' round and heard from those who tell that your business always does good. Now it's even easier, no bullets flyin' and all. Makes a man think. About himself, about his business, and about what he could be if he started taking care of business for himself.

'Course, ain't that hard to see what happens if you go into business against the Duke. Just look at Freeman. But going into business for the Duke... now, that's interesting. What does Sweet Johnson think about that?"

>>13868542
And that's why we go in all smiles and friendly. "Heeey, Sweet Johnson, hope I'm not too fashionably late." Sit ourselves down, and grin like a cat.

Now, quick question: But do we have free run of Portertown now that's it's not disputed and the underboss that looks over Prostitution should be taking a handle on this or not?

>>13868542
Now that this is no longer disputed territory, are we still left with control of all operations? Or do we cut back to just our usual speakeasies and numbers, letting the rest of the outfit pick up the rackets and whores?

>>13868618
I ask because I wanna offer him some magical support - teaching and learning how not to pull rabbits out of hats and that shit, but we ain't gonna move in on his racket, unless we can.

>>13868618
I was thinking that since we secured Portertown it's straight up our territory now, and we get to assign the lower bosses that work under us there. Though... I don't know, really. If the upper bosses all have a specific purview it's weird. Most gangs/mobs I know of work on a territory basis rather than an area of expertise basis.

The ranking of the Outfit seems to be like this:
The Boss (Papa)
Upper Level Bosses (Olukwele)
Mid Level Bosses (Duke)
Low Level Bosses (Doc Green, ect.)
Grunts

>>13868679
Also sounds like a recipe for trouble. Giving up money making enterprises in territory you took over yourself to other bosses? Sounds like a recipe for disaster.

Unless the bosses all have "territory" and get the profits from all the businesses there, even the businesses they don't control directly. And it's just like... everyone does their own specialty in all the territories they are assigned, but get the profits from the territory they "own"? Where the owned territories are always one they are assigned, but they might be assigned territories they don't own too? But then that would cause massive distrust and second-guessing, as every boss would think they could run it better and perpetually be in fear of another boss undercutting them to try and undermine their power.

>>13868679
Well, we're working on who knows the Numbers & the Speakeasies - us - the Protection and the Whores. We don't know them yet, but I'm assuming we will. Anyway, use our barter on Sweet. No need to put on the teeth yet.

[Captcha suggests Popa Ewhour for one of them]

You brought it in, as long as profits improve until it reaches what Olukwele and Papa would expect from an Outfit territory, it remains your personal fiefdom. The other Olukwele-level bosses definitely have their own personal fiefdoms that they brought in and run fully, outside of the specialties they run. It's like incentive for expanding.

---

"Morning Duke," the man responds politely, if not as effusively as your own greeting.

After you finish talking he nods.

"Let me make one thing clear, I have nothing against you or yours, you've never caused me trouble that's for sure. As things stand, I wouldn't be so stupid as to try to take you on." His speech is polite and you notice well mannered. You look at him really closely for the first time and notice just how expensive his clothes are and how well they suit his handsome face. His light face. It might be that Sweetie here has a white father. It's interesting that he wouldn't try to hide by talking differently. Johnson is Confident with a capital c, considering all the shit he'd probably take about his background.

"I think you're a man who appreciates honesty, so I'm going to lay it out for you. If we can't come to the kind of agreement I feel comfortable with I'm more than happy to walk away and leave things around here to you."

"I've got connections in Chicago and Atlantic City, I might have to start over and it might take a year or two to get things running the way I've got them here but there would be progression, understand?"

"What's my future with you, Duke? Because sitting around getting overlooked for the rest of my life, as lesser men that you reckon you know better head up the ladder...well...it doesn't sit right with me."

"What I'm saying is unless you got a real, genuine, place for me in your Outfit I'm walking."

>>13868742
>You brought it in, as long as profits improve until it reaches what Olukwele and Papa would expect from an Outfit territory, it remains your personal fiefdom.

So, if we make it awesome then it gets taken away from us? Or we keep it forever as long as we make sure it turns a proper profit? Pic related, it's my confused face.

>>13868775
Sorry, I meant it remains yours as long as you maintain the bottom line. If you show yourself to be an incompetent bungler and profits dive and it looks like Opposition might retake it, it'll get carved up into the common territory. Clear?

>>13868742
Laugh that deep laugh of ours and put our hand on his shoulder, gesturing around. "Brother, I made all this happen in just one day on this job. You do right by me, I'll see that you start running the ladies in more then just a little fiefdom. Don't know if'n it'll be soon or not, but trust me, you're move up in ladies, the Outfit, and Magic.

For anyone who has to leave midthread:

http://archive.easymodo.net/cgi-board.pl/tg/thread/13868014

and

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/13868014

>>13868742
"Well now, I appreciate that. And if you feel you gotta walk, then tellin' it to me straight like this means I won't interfere. I'll even see what I could do about helpin' you along the way, if you return the favor and make it a smooth transition from you handlin' the ropes to one of my boys.

But see, I think you've got potential. I see how you run the place, and it's good. No fuss, no muss, just money rollin' in and good times all around. I like that. But you also gotta understand here, I don't have much room to move you up on my own, not yet anyways. But I got some things, some stuff in the pipe, and it may not be that I'm always able to have the time a man needs to walk around Portertown and talk with people. If you stay on here, well, when that time comes I'll be lookin' for a man to do the walking for me. A loyal man, who knows how to handle business. See what I'm sayin'?"

>>13868742
"There's always a place in the Outfit for someone competent and loyal. If you're willing and able to be both, you can climb. I don't forget those who work for me, and I always pay my debts. If you're not both... if climbing is so important that you're only willing to take the fast track, and you keep harping on how tempting Chicago is a year or six from now... then leave now and good riddance."

>>13868786
Sounds good to me.

rolled 9 = 9

>>13868742
Humm... the kids got a point. What can we offer him that he can't get for himself? Aside from not being his enemy.

We have that plan with Pitt. Do you think we could move this boy into the office tower he's in when we take it? Or shall we take the office in the finantial district for ourselves and leave him in charge of the no-longer-disputed-desputed territory.

"What you know about finance kid? How you run dem buisnesses o' yours?"

>>13868844
>>13868844

This.

>>13868844
I like this it's diplomatic and good for us either way he chooses. Second.

>>13868823
>>13868844
>>13868846
"Yes. I see what you're saying. And it sounds reasonable, if not ideal."

His eyes narrow in anger, at the last part. "I'm not expecting any fast track. Look at me, do you really think I've ever been given anything the easy way? I've had to fight and earn every scrap of respect and power I have. I learnt early that whining about how life is unfair gets you nowhere."

He stands up and extends his hand.

"I've never heard you to be a man who breaks his word once given. You tell me you won't forget me down here and you've got yourself a man who'll make you money."

>>13868924
"It's a deal, Sweet Johnson, it's a deal." And shake on it.

>>13868924
Why would you do that? Why would we antagonize him at all? That's retardomax, and why I didn't voice support for that route.

Fuck. Great. So we just insulted the man while promising to make him powerful eventually. Smooth.

>>13868924
Shake on it, he seems like a man we wouldn't want to forget anyway.

>>13868951
agreed

"leave now and good riddance"? fuck so stupid we're supposed to be smooth and smart you don't say that to someone

>>13868945
You shake hands and Johnson is satisfied. With a respectful nod he walks away to deal with all the whores and their damn whore complaints that he never hears the end of.

GAINED - 50 dollars per night more. You now make 350 dollars a night because Sweet Johnson is just that good at his job. People look to him because they know he's smart and now that they see he's stayed in line, you're further entrenched in Portertown.

What next?

>>13868974
>>13868951
Don't worry, you haven't made a huge enemy out of him or anything. I would've made it 75 dollars a night if you hadn't, that's all, because he would've worked even harder for you.

>>13869005
P.S. If you think something is massively stupid then you need to say so or else I'm going to try to find a way to incorporate it into my responses.

Ghost intelligence time, perhaps?

>>13868992
Who's next on the question list - any more we gotta see in the Dukedom of Portertown? And check any mean looking hombres. I don't want no motherfucker trying to cap us as we're on the celebration parade.

rolled 5 = 5

>>13868885
>>13868885
>>13868885
>>13868885
Probe to see if he'd make a good banker/finansier.

>>13869020
Will do, boss.

>>13869030
I kinda hope that Chandler is still scoping out Freeman so we know what his bosses thing about a damn wheelchair bound gimp.

>>13869037
No. The two cowards you already dealth with and Sweet Johnson was it.

>>13869030
Chandler has been breezing around the place looking for mean motherfuckers with a grudge, but he's found none. No assassins trying to bushwack you. Once he cleared a certain area he went walking around his old haunts to see how people were dealing with the new administration. Nothing seems to be out of place.

Although you can probably expect some pushing from the Opposition eventually. That's just the nature of things. For now Portertown is calm.

>>13869043
He would not. The efficiency of his business dealings has to do with his Abilities, not his accountings. And that was something you couldn't get out of him. There's only so far you'll go with someone you just met, even if he's your boss. Imagine you start a new job on Monday and your new boss immediately starts asking you about your sex life and whether or not your girlfriend is open to being DPed.

>>13869079
Well, have we made the rounds on the old haunts? Don't want our old boys getting all testy because we're playing with the new babe so much.

>>13869123
Yep. You completed your rounds before dealing with three meetings you needed.

>>13869005
I didn't feel it required to point out every single little stupid thing. This is 4chan, dude. There are going to be some MASSIVE idiots. This is a communal quest. As the guy running it you're supposed to be able to fill in the blanks. What if someone said "Duke shoots himself?" Would you do that? What about "Pull down our pants and moon Papa."

In short, penalizing us for a retard saying to do something stupid when there was a perfect response written out in character is, well, retarded.

>>13869146
You just used some very extreme examples. Dealing crassly with a character is not within the same realm.

Please move on.

>>13869137
Huh. Anyone needing hustled, or any feathers ruffled? If there's nothing to do, drop in on Squeaky's and ask about Jackie.If shes' not around, just get her info, and where she may be found, and then go back and rebind the fucking mick. I don't want him running free on us. After that...not sure. Practice rip and leech life on a chicken?

>>13869146
Fuck, I'm so buttfrustrated I'll elaborate even more.

There were two people backing
>>13868844
in addition to me, who wrote it. Then we lose 1/3 of our potential profits because some idiot says "lol insult him"?

Fuck, I so mad. Time to watch animu and cool off.

>>13869186
You walk from the meeting and begin making your way to Squeaky's. While nearing the entrance of Squeaky's you see Chandler racing towards you, from inside.

"Boss, we've got serious trouble. Don't go in there. Don't make any noise, don't answer me until you're away from here."

"You hear me?"

>>13869191
Bake a cake, have a milkshake.

>>13869117
Everyone knows your boss, and for now thats a hot topic, are ya gonna just steal everythin away or can you actually provide stability?
I say that if this is our fifedom we better act like it.
- Declare a holiday representing your victory, throw a street party with pleanty of food tables and tell everyone to put your colours in the shop window.
- I say the colours are yellow and purple.
- Then we annonce how we are going to run this outfit.

I say we are just that arrogant.

>>13869230
Well, that's ominous.

Let's back off for now- after all, if we don't take his advice why have him around?- but he'd better have a good explanation for this.

SHIT YES HARLEM QUEST

>>13869230
Huh. How abotu we don't, you know, go in there. Follow his lead, and once we're away enough for him, ask him what is deal is. Because this had better be important, because we were gonna find a gal that could use so care, and we need some info from. And it has been a day and we haven't gotten any.

>>13869262
DISREGARD THIS.

>>13869308
Agree

>>13869288

You walk away from Squeaky's and while you're walking Chandler lays out the situation, which he's fine with doing since you're the only one who can hear him.

"Squeaky's dead." he announces.

He let's that sink in for a moment.

"I was in there for at least 30 seconds and I didn't hear them say a thing."

"There's four of them sitting there in the darkness together. Squeaky's all layed out on a table, his fat stomach dribbling out with bits and giblets. Jesus Christ, that's some nasty shit."

"Who would kill someone just like that?"

"They probably going to ambush you and kill you the moment you walked in. Who knew you were goigng to Squeaky's?"

You can see Chandler panicking slightly, despite already being dead.

>>13869230
Humgh... op is a great writer...
We ask the guy to watch our back an now i dont trust him.

I say we go and find a good spot to gumshoe, and listen to what he has to say. I'm about ready for a shootout anyway... but maybe we should do it quietly, so everbody knows this is our place.

>>13869332
"Who knew? Anyone could. I walk around the neighborhood all the damn time. But I'd bet that this is tied to O'Leary's business. Did you get a good look at them?"

Whistle up O'Leary. Find out if he recognizes these bastards, and keep him under tight control while doing so.

>>13869321
>>13869308
Oh, well screw you. U just mad about losing that $25. Now yer all insecure.

>>13869332
"Well, shit. I like Squeaky. Right, round up the boys." And if Chandler can't, we will. We go in heavy, and we put heads on pikes.

[And, with that, I sleep]

>>13869395
>>13869376
You call up O'Leary and wait a few minutes for him to arrive.

You see him sauntering up the street, despite having been dead for less time than Chandler he's already more coherent than him. Once again it seems O'Leary's luck in life is giving him a serious boost in the afterlife.

He looks up and down at Chandler and says "Master Duke, surely you're not the man to be having mere riff raff such as this jungle bunny working for you?" he says with more than a little relish.

You give Chandler his mission, to round up Big Jim, Randy and a few others and he goes off.

"I have been waiting anxiously for you to call upon me, Master Duke, rotting away in that rotten office with those stinky old men, I say! What can I do for you?"

>>13869436
See if he can ID the people inside Squeak's.

I have suspicions of Jim being behind this. He's jealous of us. Sees how easy it was for someone to kill their rival and move up. Maybe he figured he could do the same.

>>13869395
Thats a good way to:
A) Turn 'the boys' into gosts
B) Show everone in town that Duke hasnt got the territory locked down.

I say we wait the fuckers out. Cut the phone lines. Bitches'll wait untill night, then they'll be scared to leave! We dont even need to kill em.

Or.

Ram the car through the front of the shop to destract them so they dont notice us get the drop on them with the Tommy having climbed over the roof.

>>13869436
See if he can recognize those people. Give him strict orders not to reveal himself in any way or otherwise give them any cause to suspect his presence; he seems like the type to fuck us over by being a loophole-seeking jackass.

>>13869476
I dont think he is that stupid. Also when O'Leary is checking the men in the building have him inform us if the back/side enterance is unwatched. If we are quiet we might be able to mannage a sneak attack.

"Oh Duke, it is my honour, my absolute pleasure to be of service to yourself." He announces with great flair, arms waving and feet dancing several feet off the ground.

But even as he does so you can see his eyes narrowing in true hatred. With your strict orders not to reveal himself to those inside you've foiled a plan of his, as he was going to interpret your previous order to not show himself to anyone to only be restricted to the office. Seeing him for the loophole seeking jackass he is, you've tightened the noose around him and he goes off to serve you.

His fat ghostly body saunters into Squeaky's, through a sidewall mind you, and you don't see him again for several minutes.

"Those feckless bastards!" you hear from behind you.

"Those teat sucking cunts!" you hear again as you turn and see him with his first real emotion since you bound him. Genuine anger.

"I'll tell you who they are. They're my fucking brothers are who they are."

"Patrick, Liam, Neil and little Neil."

"I haven't seen them in ten fucking years but they hear I'm dead and decide they have to avenge me? Fucking wankers. Hypocrites! Where were they when I had pneumonia in 21? Where were they when I needed money in 24? Cunts. Cunts. Fucking cunts. Oh those fucks."

He paces back and forth in front of you, spilling with brotherly hate.

>>13869535
"Any of them boys got the talent?"

Have him go in there and show himself to them

Ask them why they're there. Tell them to leave. He had it coming to him, and the guy who did it was protecting a girl. He (O'Leary) had a mean side, and in death he's been able to reflect on that.

He's not to reveal in any way that he's under our control or summon.

>>13869535
"And i thought they'd be trouble..." You say to provoke him.

>>13869560
>>13869517
"Oh they're watching the front entrance like the stupid fucking arseholes they are, Duke, three of them are."

"The only person they've got round the back is fucking little Neil, dimwitted cunt that he is."

"I beg you, Duke, Master Duke, kill those arsefaced, cocksucking, whoremongers. Kill them dead and torture their fucking ghosts for all eternity."

"I needed that money in 24! I really did. Jeanine left me and took little John with her because I was so broke. Kill them all!!"

"As for talent. Well, let me put it this way. I was the youngest of them all and I had the least of the luck. Patrick he's the one you want to keep an real whore's eye on. He was in bloody Ireland last I knew, I've got no clue how he got here so fast."

>>13869591
Looks like dude can teleport or the like.

Ok you guys need to vote on a plan:

1) Send in O'Leary to try to talk them out of it like one of you suggested, although they'll know that you know they're there so you'll lose the advantage of taking them by surprise since they'll be more on guard for you.
2) Figure out some way to bushwack the bushwackers.

>>13869591
fuck, if they have strong luck magic we will need every advantage we can get.

hey, is the bar attached to anything important? we could have our arsonest burn it while our boys watch the entrances.

>>13869591
Thats rediculous, i'm not going to kill your family, not when i gots better things to be doin. You sort it out ya seff.
Go in there and tell them whats up. Like anon said:
>>13869582

>>13869640
i vot for any plan that is not #1

>>13869643
The BAR is available to be picked up and moved around. You didn't ask me to attach it to anything.

>>13869643
That's what I was thinking.

Bar the entrances. Make up some old fashioned molotov cocktails. Have Randy start is magic, have the others toss in molotovs, then open fire with heavy weapons. Thompsons and the BAR.

>>13869582
This is a bad idea.

>>13869591
Patrick's the lucky one? Wait, does luck actually manifest itself as a kind of power here, we may want to keep Patrick around and kill the rest, if only for the simple fact that Duke getting a knife in the chest from Patrick tripping on spilled blood is the shittiest way to die.

>>13869659
>>13869643
I vote with these two. Make the place a burning fucking wreck and kill anyone who comes out.

Going into tight quarters with all that luck magic on their side with both entrances being watched is suicidal!

>>13869655
By bar I meant the drinking establishment curretly occupied by murderous irishmen.

>>13869653
OH FUCKYOU 1000x!

I'm not having the "sure i'll help you kill my brothers in hope you'll lose and then act all surprised when you win" crap.

>>13869677
>>13869659

Fuck allof you for ruining this thread. With your live through sombody ellses fantasy, boring, violent, wankery!

10 minutes pass and the boys arrive.

Big Jim is carry a Tommy gun, so is Randy, the four guys who you used the last time are also back for some repeat action. Between them they have two revolvers, and two Tommy Guns. Big Jim carries the BAR to you since you're the one best able to use it.

You're standing in an alley ready for a serious battle.

"Jim turns to you and says, what's the plan boss?"

>I've just refreshed and the majority of you asked for the ambush plan: continued in next post.

>>13869738
>>13869691
I thought you were going to cool down with some animu man? Bake a cake man!

Bake a cake, masturbate, just don't hate.

>>13869765
No, i'm the guy he angered by being angery in the first place.
Am i right? Animu man? Your still around 'been shooting down my ideas twice now and now you want some violence?

Does that sound like the choices of an angry guy to you? It does to me...

Rule 1: Blood is thicker than water... always.

I ain't pulling no rabbit out of a hat.

>>13869748
You take a few moments to outline the plan. You silently bar the back the entrance and then have one of the henchmen stand by there just in case, and the rest of you lined up at the front.

Before this however, you have Randy go off to buy some strong spirits and then fashion two molotov cocktails.

Unfortunately you can't really open the door since it only opens from the inside. The molotov cocktails will have to be kept in reserve.

What you do have is Randy.

You ask him to set the biggest fire he can inside, and if there's one thing he's good at it's fire. You tell him to aim at the place where the alcohol is stored and he knows exactly where you mean.

He uses the Elemental Booster stone that you bought him and he's relieved by how easy it is to set the fire.

He does. And it begins to burn inside faster than you could have possibly imagined. It's already blazing like a fire that's been going for half an hour.

Now you wait...

Have Chandler check on it for us. Like, just at the wall with his head stuck inside.

>>13869811
Dude this is Harlem in the roaring 20's. Violence is going to happen.

Let's all calm down. Sending the ghost into talk to them is silly since Ellison already pointed out that they'll know we're on to them.

Burning down the bar is more direct, but in a cramped Harlem neighborhood? We could burn down all of Portertown, and that would not look good at all to the boss's. I believe Ellington is writing us up an ambush since he said he was continuing, I'm hoping he goes in through the sides/back, possibly even the wall, though I'd rather not run our set of wheels into a building. Also, we may want to think about just where we're shooting; this is an illegal speakeasy and there is quite a lot of very expensive alcohol sitting around.

>>13869885
*Ellington.

Well, ok. Fire it is. Can we at least direct Randy to focus on keeping the fire contained in this building? I don't know how precise his control is but if he could keep it from getting out of hand that would be lovely.

>>13869874
Chandler's job was an interior lookout. He's keeping his head inside and says you've already got one of the O'Leary brothers dying, Little Neil, the one at the back is on fire and trying to put himself out. No amount of luck does him good in this situation.

He can't see the others.

You're still waiting for something to happen on your side.....

>>13869897
>Can we at least direct Randy to focus on keeping the fire contained in this building?

Definitely. That boy eats fire for breakfast.

>>13869900
Waiting makes me nervous. If he can't see the others I'm guessing they somehow "luckily" managed to get blown out of harm's reach from the explosion of liquor or some such. Might want to watch our own backs, and have someone check on the boy at the back of the shop.

Dammit guys, we're burning down our own speakeasy. That's like burning money.

Damn this shitty plan.

keep an eye of the roof, also do we know if there is a basement? those are the only places they can go if we have the place surrounded

>>13869968
the man who ran it has been tortured to death, and we just killed someone in there the other day. Even if we didnt burn it down buisness would have been pretty bad.

>>13869968
Agreed.
I thought my suggestion of ramming the front with a car was better coz it could be repaired.
But you cant have everything i guess...

- there is no basement, the whole of Squeaky's is one large cavernlike room with an office at the back and a small exit attached to that.

Suddenly it happens.

You get attacked but not from the front door. Three of them come streaming out of a portal at one end of the alley.

One of them has their arm on fire, the other one is coughing and pointing his gun straight at you, but one of them, with an orange glow around him and a mean look in his eye gets the drop on you from your left side.

Despite the nerves you had making you keep a wary eye on the roof top and behind you, the speed of their attack gets you by surprise.

The coughing one manages to get off two quick successive shots, managing to kill one of your henchmen, while the other tries to put out the fire on his arm and the third closes the portal behind him.

You've got one move to make for yourself, Big Jim, Randy and the two remaining henchmen.

>>13870037
We unload with the BAR. Jim does the same with his Thompson. Randy tries to set the glowing one on fire directly. The henchmen throw molotovs if they have them or unload with bullets.

>>13870011
To be fair, while speakeasy's are valuable properties, automobiles aren't exactly a dime a dozen either at this period in time. I thought we were just gonna bust through the sides and the back with guns blazing, maybe a few contained blasts of fire. Y'know, ambush. But now we'll roll with it. Priority 1: get our butt and those of our subordinates out in one piece. Priority 2: keep our property standing.

We can always rebuild it, mabey with improvments of some sort.

>>13870037
Dive for cover, tell the others to get down. We're a great shot, we can work on them (though these portals could be trouble). But standing in the street exchanging shots is going to get a lot of our people killed.

Randy does the smart thing and immediately sets fire, or more fire, to the brother who was already struggling. This pretty much takes him out of the fight as he blazes up and falls to his knees, screaming for breath.

The other one is pretty much shredded to pieces by the hundreds of bullets shot at him from your BAR, and four Tommy Guns.

The remaining one is Patrick.

He somehow stops the hail of fire of fire by raising his left hand, which creates an orange field of protection that blazes up purple every time a bullet connects with it. So what you see is an orange curve to the air in front of Patrick which has dancing purple lights across it while the walls surrounding him are filled with holes.

He makes the shape of a gun with his thumb and index finger and makes a firing motion.

An orange sphere flies straight towards you, it's definitely not fire and it's not lightning or some form of electric ball. All you see is the crackling of a sphere the size of a golf ball hurtling towards you much faster than you wished it would.

The basic physical protection amulet you're wearing takes a lot of the blow to your torso but it's just not enough. The sphere connects solidly and breaks your rib, the direction of the break puncturing your left lung.

You have a serious wound. Your move.

Use rip followed by leechlife. If that fails try to use our awsome gun skills to hit him with a ricochet.

>>13870247
At the level you have Rip and Leech Life don't work on magicians, and this guy is definitely a magician.

Talk it out.

>>13870257
What do y'all think, maybe use Freeman's unknown brown-stick-looking-weapon?

We do have that stick thing we picked up from Freeman. I say we use it. He was clearly trying to use it against a known powerful magician, so I'm guessing it'll at least be effective.

Alternatively, will our leech life skills work on the incapacitated Irishmen?

>>13870286
They're quite definitely dead and your leech life doesn't work on ghosts until level three. That's when you can begin to consume ghosts just for giggles.

>>13870257
Oh, I thought that was just leech life. Molotov cocktails + trying to get a ricochet with bullets is the best I can think of. anyone feel like taking a gamble with that brown mystery stick?

>>13870308
casting my vote for the mystery stick.

>>13870308
Ok. At this point I am seriously worried about our defensive situation. I'd love to take a shot at the guy but unless we one-shot him we're probably in for another smiting. On the other hand, I don't know if physical cover will even have an effect on those glowy balls.

I do think now would be a good time to try the Stick.

>>13870173
How about we use that Mick ghost. Now he get to relive some brotherly revengege fantasies. Kill your brothers that just came out of the burning building in front of us O'Leary, the one that just shot magic at us.

And everybody shoot him!

And open fire and call ghost of the recently dead grunt to kick butt.

>>13870351
Guns have shown to be pretty ineffective against this guy, I figure we might as well save our ammo. Also, "recently dead grunt" just got his ass SHOT thanks to us, so I doubt he'd be all for helping us at the moment. Calling Mick in for backup might be good if we can be sure to keep him under control while we're wounded.

You break the stick and you hear the crack.

It's not just any crack.

It's the crack of a several hundred year old oak tree deep in an untouched forest. You feel it reverberate through your body, as do your henchmen. The feel of it stretches out for several blocks as people miss steps and drop cups of coffee for no reason that they can tell.

Some light blinds everyone in the alley for a second and when you open it up again you see a monster attacking Patrick. It's a blurry sight, you don't know if that's because it's moving so fast or if that's because it's not fully in this plane but all you see is black fur, talons, horns, and gaping mouth rendering limbs.

Patrick is occupied so he can't make his move.

Your move.

>>13870341
I am a bit iffy about it what with the portal and the luck magic but I think his attack and defence magic is some sort of force redirection, by that I mean we hat hit by the force of our own bullets.

>>13870378
Ok, true. No bullets, but calling in O'Leary and the recently dead grunt - who we paid, were not mean to, and who just got killed by some Irish fucking wizard bastard deserves a shot at said fucking mick.

>>13870392
Well shit that actually makes sense. Running with that hypothesis for now.

>>13870378
Ok, we bought ourselves some time. I'm just hoping this "monster" doesn't turn on us once we're done. Also wishing we had identified that stick earlier. I figured it would be a wand of some sort. NOPE.jpg

>>13870419
Wow I am terrible with names tonight. I'll vote for throwing O'Leary at this brother. That sounds like A+ use of resources right there. I just wish there was a suitable target around for Leech Life, a punctured lung is going to seriously hurt our prospects very soon.

>>13870378
attempt to rip the soul from the creature, because it's invariably more powerful than patrick if it;s tearing him to shreds.
failing that, i think it's time to use the old 'spray and pray' tactic.

>>13870378
regroup and recover while the irish mage is busy, if we can do anything about the rib poking a hole in our lung we should do it now before it gets any worse. Shout or groan if its safer for our men to get cover, randy to put out the fire in the building and for whoever has the molotovs to get reaady to throw them the second it looks like the irish ist winning.

>>13870392
>>13870428
Doubt he redirects force, since the bullets were deflected that means they retained their energy. Plus, if he hit us with the force of all the bullets he blocked, in one spot, it would have put a hole through us and our basic shield.

Anyways, vote against ghost summoning in the middle of battle. See if we can put an aimed shot on him now that he's distracted.

>>13870378
Fuckin' dead branches man! They never call what you want them to!

>>13870443

Please don't do this one! I doubt leechlife works on the monster if it's so powerful and spraying at patrick at this point we will hit the monster and definitely turn it against us for sure

>>13870457
Not sure it's smart to be shooting at him while he's in close combat with that... thing. If a few stray shots hit it it may decide that Pat isn't the only target around. We're still not sure on what this thing is and how controllable it is. Same goes for ripping the spirit out of it. We could possibly use it as a Leech Life target, but right now it's doing plenty of good holding Patrick back. If we succeed we'll be removing an advantage, and if we fail it'll have good reason to be pissed at us.

Alright fellas, you've talked for a bit: time to vote.

1) Regroup, i.e. fall back from the alley, get in cover behind something, leech life from nearest civilian.
2) Attack, i.e. ordering O'Leary to attack while telling the henchmen to start their fire again at the monster and Patrick.

>>13870505
I'm gonna suggest unleashing our Irish Lapdog agasint his brother while falling back.

We really should have had that stick looked at.

I vote for #1 and have O'Leary try to distract his brother.

>>13870505
i'm going with 2 on this one.

#1#1#1#1#1

>>13870533
>>13870526
Agreeing, fall back and send in the Irish. Also, while using Leech Life against a civilian or 6 sounds like a good idea to get ourself up to fighting trim, can we please put a little care into not severely hurting anyone? We're still in our own territory and I don't want a reputation for drinking the souls of our constituents for our own benefit.

>>13870505
I retract my own shooting vote, and agree that our own health is most important. The beast should be providing a good enough distraction that we can regroup and look for a pick-me-up. I don't particularly want to get O'leary involved unless it looks like Patrick is going to beat the beast. Although if the beast wins and doesn't respond to our commands then sending in O'leary to chump block for us is next on my list.

You give some quick orders and your henchmen, seeing what the fuck they're seeing, waste no time in walking backwards while keeping their guns aimed at both the monster and Patrick.

Patrick is just about holding his own against the creature. It attacks his shield in one place, it's blocked, attacks in another, it blocks, attacks in a third and just about gets a claw or bite in. The pattern repeats itself as you head out.

When you're out of the alley you run across the street and set up camp with your guns behind some cars on the other side. On the way you see your the third of the hired guns, the one that was covering the back, run to join you. He confirms that no one came out of the back and he heard sounds of fire and came to help out.

All of you aim your guns and weaponry at the entrance of the alley. The alley is so deep that from your angle you can't hear quite what's happening. Only the bestial screams of the monster and an Irish accented scream.

There's people hiding inside a shop right behind where you and your boys have set up camp. You feel their essences and begin pulling from a young man. You Life Leech from him for about 20 seconds and already the pain of the wound lessens. The puncture heals itself and the rib is no longer broken, just very cracked.

Should you re-open fire with the BAR you will definitely be feeling some serious pain.

And so you wait, with all your firepower ready.

Patrick's battle with the monster will take several turns, with you waiting. Make contingency plans now.

>>13870612
send in the irish to fuck with his brother, have chandler get on the roof of one of the buildings that make up the alley so he can signal or just shout to us whats going on. Make sure randy put out the speakeasy fire.

>>13870612
I'm hesitant to hit him with... pretty much anything physical =/ He's already shown that not only can he block things, he can redirect them. Bullets embedded in the walls around him, what will fire do (either the molotovs or Randy)?

Hang on. While we're waiting, call O'Leary out and ask him about Patrick's powers. Hopefully it'll be better once we know what we're dealing with. Also, ask him if he's still raring to kick some fraternal ass.

>>13870684
Another vote for getting tactical advice out of O'leary.

>>13870667
>>13870684
>>13870711
O'Leary: I've got no clue. He was always talented with the luck, he could always make things go just his way but this is all new to me!

It seems while O'Leary spent the last decade since he saw his brother lining his pockets as a piece of shit fuzz, Patrick did some hardcore Rocky style montage training when it comes to magic.

You send Chandler to keep an eye on the situation for you and signal when something happens. You then give strict orders to O'Learly to go damage his brother somehow and absolutely no more. Randy begins to control the fire, it's definitely limited to just the speakeasy now, but he would need to get much closer to fully eat it up.

Time passes....

>>13870723
Whoops, that's me. Dropped the trip for another thread and forgot to put it back on. Not used to it.

>>13870723
if the ally is wide enough we could try ramming him with the car. Regardless of that make sure everyoue is ready to charge into the ally and let lose a hail of bullets if it looks like the mage may try that portal trick to run off.

>>13870723
Ok. I feel like we definitely need to be spending this time wisely, but I'm not sure what else we can do. Wait. There are still people around. Anyone agree we should politely but loudly recommend that civilians back off for a little while? Make it clear that the Outfit is taking care of official business and we don't want to see innocent bystanders get hurt.

Seconding the car idea. Though we probably shouldn't be in it when it collides.

Other good ideas include leeching some more life, throwing him back into the burning building, attacking from multiple points simultaneously, and shooting him point blank.

>>13870757
This has my full support. Croud control and first aid if any one needs it.

>>13870774
Thirded, but stay on guard.

Chandler shouts to you "It's over!"

Just moments before see the monster walking out of the alley.

It's about 8 feet tall, standing on two feet with horns that stretch upwards another two feet giving it a truly gigantic appeance. It's fully black, with large red patches all over. It has the facial characteristics of a goat, but the teeth of some large cat (perhaps a tiger or Lion.).

It's covered in blood and it's coming straight towards you.

You specifically that is. It can tell that you're the one who broke the stick.

"Greetings mortal," it shouts in a booming voice as it stands on the other side of a car, with you pointing your BAR at it still.

"I do not recognise you. What is your lineage?"

>>13870774
We may not want to use up our energy on first aid for others. If anything, I may try and LL a bit more from the civilians as we direct them away. Also did we move far enough the LL tree that we can put energy into others? If we've got time I'd take a small chunk of life from a bunch of people in the crowd, and use it to buff our posse.

>>13870802
If this is a thing a magician is used to, then give him your pedigree with all the pride the Duke should. If its unusual ask him to elaborate.

>>13870821
This.

>>13868014
It's a thing that magicians are used to.

Give me some really good mumbo jumbo now, the name of your first master and the name of the line of magic that he's part of. e.g. Duke of the Blablabla taught by Wotsisface who In Turn was taught by You-Know-Who.

Make it good. It'll be part of your background from now. I'll choose whichever one I think sounds best.

>>13870855
Duke of the Warrens, born with the Gift and refined to an edge by Alexander the Magi.

>>13870797
>mfw

>>13870904
I like this.

>>13870904
Changing it up a bit.

"I'm Duke of 17th street, student of Maurice of Harlem, student of Michael the freed slave, student of his grandfather Kunta Kinte, stolen out of Africa. I carry on the traditions of my fathers and theirs before them. I mean you no offense."

>>13870904
this one sounds good to me, eloquent enough to satisfy the thing, but still vague so we don't give it any hints.

I am known by the name Duke of Harlem. I was taught the black arts by Master Dengue Streetwise, who earned his title under the tutelage of Shaman Ezra Eliaphas herself. My people come from the land of the Old Ones, and it is their power that runs in my blood. Black is my skin and black is my craft, in the land of the dead all men are equal and all will bow to my power. I have taken the rite of Sha'Is'Kent and my name is written within the Dark Ledger of the shadowed lands. I do not know your name Summoned One but I bested the mage who possessed your vessel and took it from him. I mean not to challenge you or disrespect you, but I submit that it is now your turn to identify yourself in my realm.

>>13870944
>student of his grandfather Kunta Kinte, stolen out of Africa.
no.

Duke, student of Soul Stealing from Thelonious the Monk, student of Corpse Stitching from Blue Bolson, student of Reanimation from Louis the Saint.

>>13870944
Oh, that is much better.

>>13870944
I do like the line of teachers you set up here, and would like to combine it with mine in >>13870950 . I had a hard time coming up with authentic-sounding names.

>>13870904
"Born with the Gift" is good, but I'd rather the whole thing be a bit more grandiose.

>>13870855
I am Duke, spirit-talker, as taught by Aurioch The Darkest, who sat at the foot of Regetal; taught in the ways of the shamans of the Shouleé, who had practiced for as man may recall.

>>13870954
Thelonious the Monk...? really? i bet you're the same person who was the grandson of kunta kinte.

>>13870983
Nope

>>13870950
I like this one a lot. Well, parts of it more than others.

>>13870950
Like this mostly, except that I expet in our line men learned from men. Would prefer we didn't boast about all bowing to our power.
>>13870972
Was my own, only posted because I was worried since everyone was taking awhile. I would still like to salvage the name Aurioch the Darkest and our line stemming from ancient shaman.

>>13871043
Yeah. >>13870950 was mine, but the names in it are rubbish. Feel free to pick and choose the better names other people have come up with to build a more impressive line. Also, I kinda butchered the "all will bow to my power" part, but I was trying to get a subtle Segregation jab in with the "all men are equal in the land of the dead" part.

>since this is a one time introduction it's ok if we give a full reckoning

This is your first contact with a being from a realm further than that of the dead so you take it seriously, as seriously as you would a meeting with Olukwele or Papa himself.

"I am known by the name Duke of Harlem." you begin, "I was taught the black arts by Master Dengue Streetwise of Harlem, who earned his title under the tutelage of Shaman Ezra Eliaphas. My people come from the land of the Old Ones, and it is their power that runs in my blood. Black is my skin and black is my craft, in the land of the dead all men are equal and all will bow to my power. I have taken the rite of Sha'Is'Kent and my name is written within the Dark Ledger of the shadowed lands. I do not know your name Summoned One but I bested the mage who possessed your vessel and took it from him. I mean not to challenge you or disrespect you, but I submit that it is now your turn to identify yourself in my realm."

>note that is some good fluff you who came up with that. I'll enjoy working in those details in the futre.

"Duke....Eliaphas....Black black black." the monster says, repeating worlds and feeling them roll across its forked tongue like a middle manager trying to remember the name of someone he once met at a dinner party.

"Yes. I do believe I once played chess with a master of yours, 15 or so times removed that is. We wagered a few souls, some of them were his grandchildren's if I recall correctly, and he lost rather badly." the demon says with a smile.

>continued

"It is a good thing you are not one of those mindleeching Mbutu's. One of my sticks was sold to them a long time ago and I really do hate it what that happens. I swore that the next Mbutu to summon me would die at my hands."

"You wouldn't be lying would you? Duke...of the Mbutu?" it's tone changes getting malicious suddenly. "No that doesn't roll off the tongue at all." it announces, the whimsy returning to its voice.

"You are quite young yet and know not how to make calls to my plane. One day you will though, maybe even soon. And should you wish to wager a few souls or need introductions, you must find me. You understand don't you...Duke?"

"My name is Kharlazhar. Work on your chess game. You never know when you'll need it." And with that fire appears beneath the demon and it sinks into it, smiling at you through many bloodied and overlapping teeth.

>>13871043
Aurioch the Darkest was one of the names I really liked. I'm keeping it in the official roll for the future. You might come across a spell or two in your grimoire, created by him.

Well, sounds like we picked out some good office space.

>>13871109
*breathes gigantic sigh of relief* Olukwele had a chess board didn't he? *goes to check the archive* In any case, I personally wouldn't mind if we did brush up on our chess game when we have the time, maybe see if one of our boss's is willing to tutor us. It might help some Int stats, and you never know when we'll have the chance to take that demon up on his offer.

For now... though I shudder to think of what it'll be like, I think we need to go check the body of Patrick and the other brothers, and evaluate the damage done to Squeaky's. In the long run we're gonna need a new bartender.

>>13871125
Well, we only gave our resume back three generations. It probably goes back more than that, and it's likely more complex than simple linearity; after all, one can study under more than one person. There's plenty of room to work in all the other names.

>>13871109
"Kharlazhar. I shall not forget."

Now get that damn fire put out and salvage what we can from this mess. See if we can recover any of Squeaky's body, and definitely get something from each of the O'Leary brothers. We're going to enslave them all into one big hateful undead Irish hit squad, once we work on our binding game a little more.

Before we go any further I just want to give you a heads up that you guys really dealt well with the cards you had available.

Getting Chandler to be a lookout straight off was hugely smart because I was going to have those Irish guys ambush you the moment you walked into Squeaky's otherwise. If you had anyone with you they definitely would have died and they would have hounded you throughout the streets of harlem causing all sorts of damage to you and your reputation. The lookout and the counter-ambush were great and both surprises to me. If you had tried to go in from two sides you probably still would have won but their luck would've had much more space to work in and Randy and Jim would've died too.

With that said:

GAINED - Contact in the Tertiary Nether Realm - Khalazar. Although you can't summon beings from there or travel there, yet, you have been given some of the essence of this being as a calling card so you can summon him in the future. He has given you leave to summon him for chess, to make deals and for introductions to others (although that will probably be a deal in and of itself).


GAINED - The Three Amigos, they are three henchmen who have been with you through thick and thin and work well together as a unit. Their loyalty will never be in question. They have a slight resistance to being mindfucked by magic as a result.

RANDYGAINED - Pyromaniac Feat. Although he can barely use air, earth and water, his fire skills are quite advanced

And no we move on.

>>13871227

>>13871227
>GAINED - The Three Amigos,
Shit, didn't one of them get shot? We need to see if we can medic him up... Can we yank life force from one person and give it to a second, rather than keeping it for ourself?

Randy completes the process of eating the remaining fire. He literally stands in front of Squeaky's and breathes it into himself. For a few moments his body is outlined by fire and you can see his chest glowing and it looks like he's over reached but the moment passes and he collapses to the ground.

He cackles and laughs while breathing heavily, like he just had the biggest orgasm a man has ever had. What a rush.

"Duke, any time you want a fire you let me know," he says through a fit of giggles.

You stand over the corpse of Patrick O'Leary, noticing how the Bound O'Leary stands over him quite literally doing a jig. You check through his body and find no artifacts or interesting items. All of that was natural talent. What a waste.

You grab a lock of his hair, and then grab a lock of the shredded one. Unfortunately Little Neil and the one that was set fire to outside have been burnt to a crisp and nothing remains with which you could call them. Probably in a few years time when their spirits have had some time coalesce, there will be sightings of burning Irishmen and legends will grow about how they died here.

A look inside reveals that Squeaky's is busted, a real write off. The smell of burnt wood and burnt flesh will linger here for a long time to come.

It's a good thing that this is just one speakeasy out of almost a hundred that the Outfit run out of little rooms, houses and upstairs of all sorts of places in Harlem. It was pure profit though and that will be missed.

What next?

>>13871282
They were four to begin with, one was killed instantly in a luck-amplified double shot from a coughing Irishman. And then there were three amigos. That doesn't include Big Jim and Randy. They're separate units.

>>13871282
The one that was shot is dead, thats why they are three. Although perhaps we could summon his spirit and show respect to the dead. Let him say his peace and perhaps give him a push (although we may be feeling rather low at the moment so that can be put off till later).

>>13871282
And yes, you can, although it's slower than if you bring it to yourself.

Unless we have some other pressing business, we should head back, rest up and regroup.

>>13871314
If you do that, the Three Amigos will gain another extra level in loyalty. At which point if someone tries to mindfuck them into turning against you, they'll say "What? Fuck that." and then shoot them in the face.

>>13871336
Yeah, we'll go ahead and do that then. After we heal up the wounded of course, the living take priority.

>>13871295
>Unfortunately Little Neil and the one that was set fire to outside have been burnt to a crisp and nothing remains with which you could call them.
Wait, literally to a crisp? I'd have expected to be able to recover some charred bones or something. I didn't think that Randy was managing incinerator-level intensity of flames... damn.

Anyway. A couple matters to deal with. If we can recover anything of Squeaky's body, I'd be inclined to call him up and apologize, send him on his trip faster, and while he's around ask him if he knows anything about Jackie.

We should go for a stroll and grab enough life force off randoms to fully heal, and likewise make sure that our men are top shape.

Summon the poor bastard that died and see if he has any postmortem requests. He died for us, and we should respect that.

>>13871317
You head back to your office with your guys in tow, also with the body of the Fourth Amigo (RIP!) because you don't leave a body behind. You head to the chess parlour, to rest up and regroup, bandage wounds and what now.

You still have a cracked rib and are very low on energy. You're not going to be doing much else, magically speaking, for the day. Everyone else sits around drinking whiskey and talking about the crazy shit that just went down. Bonding really. You got through another scrape together.

>>13871336
Well I say we do that then. Sit the fourth amigo in the alleyway, his eyes closed and arms crossed in proper repose. Take a single hair. We'll keep him as pure and in one piece as possible. Do a small circle, hidden from view by the rest of our gang, and then help him say his final words and wishes. He died in our service, he deserves a little bit of respect.

>>13871336
Well then. That's on the To Do list. Preferably soon.

For now yeah, I think recuperation is necessary. It may also be a good idea to do the rounds of those other speakeasy's, making sure everything's running smoothly and that business doesn't take too much of a hit. Also, what's the plan to do with this building, now that it smells of burnt Mick?

>>13871368
>>13871373
In that case, sit his body in a nice chair in the parlor. A chair of respect. And do the same. Last will and testament and all that.

>>13871368
>You still have a cracked rib and are very low on energy. You're not going to be doing much else, magically speaking, for the day.
Wait, can't we go sit in a bar for half an hour, suck a smidgen of life from everyone else inside, and be back to 110% in no time? I thought that was the great strength of the whole leeching life ability tree.

>>13871379
Tear it down, and wait until The Outfit builds a fine new church for the people of Harlem.

>>13868014
I want to play a journalist. I'll get his side of the story. How he feels about the rising of the ku klux klan, and how they mock his religion by putting on robes to resemble ghosts, how he feels about The United States and see if he has any relation to the untimely demise of both Coolidge and Woodrow Wilson.

Then... if I think I have a "shot". Try to put a bullet in this crazy nigger's ass before he can become any more of a threat to our nation.

>>13871361
Randy was definitely managing that level of fire. Before he could have done regular arson but with the Elemental Booster stone you bought him it's THAT hot.

You have a separate part in your grimoire for hairs from your underlings that you've collected over years. Squeaky is in that so you can summon him at a later date despite his burnt-to-crispness.

>>13871402
What kind of range can Randy manage with those flames? Could he play pyro from a couple hundred yards away?

You can do one more summoning for the day and by the outpouring for theFourth Amigo I'm guessing that's who you'll want.

You sit him in a chair in the chess parlour, at the back with the boys and then you step into a room (one that isn't your sanctum) and summon him out of sight.

You explain to him how he died and what went down afterwards, and he just smiles and takes it. He's more embarrassed that he got killed by someone coughing than that he was killed. "Damn. I ain't never going to hear the end of this when the boys come round my way," he mutters good naturedly.

You take him out in to the room and let him have his final moments talking with the boys.

You step outside to give them some space, so they can talk freely without feeling restrained around the Boss or having to hide how they feel at seeing him.

Half an hour passes and the ghost comes outside and sits next to you.

"I'm ready." he says.

You nod and say goodbye. With that you -push- him with all your energy and he knows exactly what to do with it. He takes off into the distance, not physically but your bond with him weakens and you can tell he's going far.

You pass out in the main chess parlour, face down on a chessboard.

>>13871472
Oh hey chessboards. Let's get our ass some sleep. And I'll reiterate my idea to work on our chess game. From what the demon said, we may soon have the opportunity to call him up for little chats. And when we do, I'd like to be able to give him a run for his money.

>>13871397
>JimProfit0000.jpg

Jim Profit, aren't you supposed to be doing some awesome backstabbing at some corporation somewhere, manipulating your secretary into killing people for you while you live in a box in your apartment? Kudos for being a master manipulator!

>>13871433
Nope. At the moment he can only manage that relatively close up, keep in mind you were pretty much right in front of Squeaky's when he set the fire. Eventually he'll be able to give his fire small levels of sentience, like creating an elemental, and giving it orders. Once that happens he'll be setting fires in India if you want. That's quite a while away though since he has no real master.

>>13871472
Oh snap, I forgot to say.

THREE AMIGOS GAINED - Loyalty (Level Two). Resistance to medium levels of mental magic and completely resistant to financial coercion.

Well, I suppose that our next move is... to remain unconscious until we wake up. Then go on a stroll and start nibbling at the life force of everyone we pass until we feel like we can take on the world again.

>>13871535
Unless our mind is free to wander while our body rests !!
Which may not be such a good idea right now since we are magically depleted, but an interesting possibility. Maybe a skill to work on.

You wake up eight hours later. And it's just gone past midnight.

Still got some time in the working day.

To your amazement the cracked rib you had has completely recovered. It seems you leeched in your sleep just a little bit at a time from the people playing chess over the whole sleep period, only enough so that they'll go home and have the deepest sleep of their lives excluding death. This is something you might want to keep an eye on in the future.

Now that you're using Leeching more often and skillfully your body will get more used to the condition and begin to leech from the surroundings, a dangerous thing if you're not careful.

GAINED - LEECH DISADVANTAGE - if you're mortally wounded and you get knocked out you will drain until death whoever is standing closest to you in order to recover and wake up. This disadvantage will stay with you until you gain better control of leech life (i.e. Level Four).

What now?

Yeah. Let's sleep for about 8 or 24 hours, and then see what's transpired during our slumber.

>>13871570
We should inform our good buddies of this fact. Maybe not explicitly, but perhaps let them know that they shouldn't fall asleep next to us if we are bleeding. I'm not sure how to word this delicately or if we should just be up front with it.

Anon?

>>13871570
Well hell, we obviously need to practice us some Leech Life and work our way up soon. Don't want Randy or Jim or some other ally going down because of that.

First things first. Summon up Squeaky and tell him about what happened. Also it would be nice to get any last local gossip out of him along with info on Jackie and this Panther fellow.

>>13871570
I suggest we go and speak with Olukewele again. Bring a chess board with us and discuss some events. Inform him of what's happened, in case he doesn't already know, and practice some moves. See if he knows anyone near downtown who can give us a bit of room to work with in order to hit Pitt.

>>13871570
>It seems you leeched in your sleep just a little bit at a time from the people playing chess over the whole sleep period, only enough so that they'll go home and have the deepest sleep of their lives excluding death.
It occurs to me that we've now repeatedly drained the life from people in our chess parlor. This is probably not good for their long-term health, particularly as this is not exactly a hangout of the young and energetic.

We should consider habitually draining life from people elsewhere and then quietly pumping it INTO the people at our chess parlor, to make sure that they're healthy and vital against just this kind of eventuality.

>>13871631
I don't think we need to talk to him immediately, since we don't really have anything new to report (unless we find a connection to the O'Leary brood and greater conspiracy beyond blood vengeance [summoning]) , but when we talk to him next I do think we should address our contact with the demon and get his opinion on such matters. I vote contacting squeaky and recouping what info he had on Jackie, since I expect thats our only lead on the crystals, and squeaky is our only mutual contact. Could be others though.

>>13871631
No, let's not. He's the boss, has made it clear that this is our problem to handle, and last time we gave him news he pretty much knew it all already. Unless something is utterly beyond our abilities or is a potential threat to the Outfit as a whole, we shouldn't be bothering him.

Particularly not less than forty-eight hours after last doing so.

>>13871598
It might be just as effective to get our minions minor protective items so that they get passed over by the greedy life-sucking of our unconscious mind.

>>13871631
As much as I like the idea of practicing chess with Olukwele, I feel like he wanted us to handle this on our own. It's our chance to step up and take care of business. I'm gonna keep my vote for summoning Squeaky. Once that's done, we could also summon up the new Irish boys. Get some good Binding experience that way and make them a resource for future use.

>>13871631
Seeing Olukwele before we've even begun to deal with the task he set us? Nuh uh big guy!

Plus we've already got leads. We've got Jackie to follow up on and we've got Lenny Brotsowski or whatever his name is to follow up on. Two different avenues we could take towards Pitt. I say we do like we did last time and wait for a long time before we see him again. He seems to like independence and initiative.

>>13871663
I like the idea of making wards for our men. It even sounds like something we could do ourself and intro crafting, since it just needs to resonate with our own unconscious mind.

You enter your sanctum, you're in energy conservation mode, and begin the process to summoning

Like with all newly dead it's easy and the effort is negligible. Ten years ago you would've struggled for hours, calling again and again to get Squeaky to appear, and now you call him like he's on the other side of a phone line. Reflecting on that makes your chest swell with pride. Reflecting on the things you'll be able to do one day makes your mouth widen with greed.

Squeaky appears and he's mournful.

"I had plans, you know?" he says "That's the bitch of it all. I wasn't gonna be no small time bartender all my life. I had vision damn it. I was going to open a huge place, have all sorts of singers and entertainers come to get people in. I'd've been fucking rich and at the center of high motherfucking society."

He sighs the regretful sigh of the just dead, so many lost causes. The fatass probably wouldn't have done any of that and been content bartending but he'll tell himself that for a long time.

"Did you at least kill the fuckers that got me? That shit hurt man. They kept me alive much longer than they needed to. No fucking class those, Micks, none."

>>13871694
"We got 'em Squeaky. Sorry you had to go out that way."
If he has anything to get off his chest let him but then-
"You know I'm not just calling you up to shoot the shit. There's work to be done, and I think that Jackie girl can help me find out how. What can you tell me about her?"

>>13871724
"Jackie? Jackie who?" he asks.

>>13871724
I'm ok with this.

>>13871737
That ho the mick I had to put down was hassling the other night

>>13871737
"Remember that girl the Paddy was hassling when I came in that night. I'm sure you remember him. He ended up on the floor of your fine bar."

"Oh! Jackie with the legs! Man, you shoulda just said."

"Yeah, I overheard what they were talking about and I knew what he was after too, though she pretended not to know, sly bitch."

"There's a secondstory man calls himself the Panther's Ass or something. Some fancy shit. Word is that you need some rare shit taken, he will make sure that rare shit gets took - for a percentage."

"Now here's the thing most people don't, but yours truly did."

"That Jackie really is a sly bitch. She pretends just to be a frontman who sets up deals for him like some kind of business manager, but I'm damned sure she's the Panther's Ass! Nobody's ever seen him but her. It's got to be her right? She's that ass."

>>13871803
Sounds like we need to buy a lady dinner.

"That's my man Squeaky. Always got the straight shit. You know where I can find that bird?"

>>13871803
Excellent, knew you were a keen one Squeaky. Any idea how I can get in contact with her? Anyone that might know her?

>>13871824
>>13871836
"Hell yeah, I do."

"There's a drunk by the name of Willy Dean that lives on the third floor of that building by the pharmacy just before the main road to Portertown. She's been shacking up with him for the past three months. Dunno what she sees in him but he done bragged about their nasties endlessly. Damn tiresome, if you ask me."

>>13871889
Have Chandler run on up there and check it out.

"Hey Squeaks. You got anything you need finishing? Any last requests?"

>>13871908
"Anything you got stashed away anywhere?"

>>13871889
Welp, even though its the obvious course of action, is there anything we need to get a handle on before we talk to Jackie? Oh, and its midnight I think, so maybe we should put that off until tomorrow and find something else to do anyway. What are our priorities, gentlemen?

And Chandler is off.

"Nah, I was never a squirrel type never saved nothing. I do have a request though. If you ever open a big place, a real happening place, the kind of place that's packed night in night out and the good times never end? Call it Henry's. Not Squeaky's. Call it Henry's."

And then when you release him, he fades away with a smile and rather formal looking salute.

>>13871933
Haha having Chandler is the best. Have to remember that he gets days off. Though what a ghost will do on his weekends is beyond me. Besides, he probably wandered off while we were sleeping. Still, I think we should call him up and have him keep an eye on Jackie and the drunk. I don't think Squeaky's right about her being the Panther, but that "drunk" she's rooming with... I'd like to have our little ethereal scout do some recon.

In the interest of keeping up appearances, we should see if there's anything we can do for Squeaky before we send him on his way, though let's not go overboard. Maybe ask him if he wants to stick around or move on.

I think our next item of business is to summon up the Irish Boys.

>>13871964
Ellington, love you. I just went 'aww.' It was mental, but the "Fucking Sweet" from the second demon post was out loud.

>>13871964
>damn Ellington. That was some beautiful characterization right there.

>>13871986
A young man like him who didn't get to fully experience life? Who's invisible?

Only one thing to do. Locker room.

>>13871986
Sneak into girl's showers. Watch women change at department stores. Spy on the mayor's daughter. The usual stuff.

We've got quite the hivemind in Harlem Quest, it seems. And oh yeah, nother vote for summoning and binding the Irish. At least Patrick (if ghosts are combat capable, has this actually been stated yet?), and asking them if they have connections to Lord Pitt, etc.

Well I'm pretty wiped out, guys. I'm calling it a night now. I hope you had fun.

I've got plans for Saturday night but I'm available on Sunday night so if you guys don't mind we'll pick things up Sunday evening round about the same time we started today.

>>13872057
>has plans for Saturday night
>on /tg/

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

See you next time.

>>13872064
I didn't say they were great plans. It's just dinner, drinking and lots of kaluki at a friend's house! Let's not get carried away haha.

>>13872079
>friend
>on /tg/

>>13872057
Oh, a question. I was originally just lurking and archive reading, but then there was the Welsh/Pitt bonus prize and I got really interested, realizing I can contribute to the quests knowledge base when it comes to things like that. When the astral dragon was first described I wanted to ask the medium if it was "A welsh dragon or a beijing dragon" would that have got the point?

>>13872114
Yes, you would have got the bonus. The medium wouldn't have known the difference but because you stumbled on to the egg I would've informed you OOC.

You guys can ask questions btw and I'll answer now as long as it doesn't spoil anything story wise. I'm still around for another 15 minutes or so, I just wanted to stop at a decent place.

>>13872150
There have been suggestions for using ghosts in combat, what kind of utility do they have in that arena?

What do you think about the astral projection and ward crafting suggestions?

>>13872168
All the ghosts you've been using have been new ones, Chandler, O'Leary, etc. Older ones who are more used to affecting the real world can definitely be used in combat situations.

You could probably learn to astrally project but it would be very difficult for you. The warding suggestion is something you can accomplish with ease once you get Binding lvl4.

>>13872168
Oh, you said utility. Well the obvious shit I guess. Punching, kicking, choking, etc. All that without the fear of getting damaged would be very useful. Especially if you have several ghosts doing it at the same time. The older they get the better they are at manifesting so they get more strength, eventually they can rip limbs off like crackers.

buuuuummmoooopppuuuuu

This is my favorite quest of all time