What's new

Trust Neither Snarling Wolf nor Smiling Fox (Astarte) GMed by Hafnium


OP
Hafnium

Hafnium

Despair Fetishist
RP Moderator
Joined
Jan 5, 2011
Messages
2,151
Reputation score
310
: HP = 61, PP = 47, EP = 44/56, Status = Other warning for readers: Senka smells French.
Stuff
Full disclosure:
I rolled perception and stealth for Senka earlier to determine if she'd successfully find an isolated place to kill these two. These rolls met the DC required.
From there, I decided to make 2 interruption rolls based on the amount of time it took her to kill the two men and the amount of noise they managed to make before she did it.
Interruption roll for during the meal result was no interruption.
Interruption roll for after the meal result was no interruption.

Senka gains +4 Body in total from eating the hearts, based on a bit of GM fiat around the difficulty of the fight versus the rewards gained. We'll have more discussion about house ruling further balancing fixes to Feast of Flesh as we go, as while I want to reward her for her cannibalism (what a sentence), I don't want her to scale too quickly to be able to provide a decent fight for her.

Senka doesn't gain a dodge buff from eating the livers because she already ate their souls with their hearts. It's a good source of iron though.

Also she finds 2 denarii. Good job.

The kumiho's methodical nature served her as well as it ever did. Her earlier efforts had ensured that she'd picked a nice, isolated alley for both hunting and feeding. Now, as any predator would, she set about the task of securing the remains of her prey to ensure that none would disturb her meal. After sidetracking for a moment to clean off her knives with a quick cantrip, Senka would summon her privacy veil without issue. While the patch of inky blackness would almost certainly look out of place enough at that time of day, even in the shadows provided by the alley, to warrant any passersby calling the guards, but it would provide valuable time and hide her identity even in the worst case scenario.

And time and privacy were extremely important for Senka, given her nature and the state she preferred to take when sating it. A young, half-nude woman stripping the shirts off of dead bodies in the alley and beginning to surgically remove their organs would be difficult enough to explain, but when she revealed her fox-like appendages and fangs and took a bite out of the newly liberated heart of the lanky man, staining her chin, cheeks, and hands in his flowing lifeblood, it would've gotten her burned at the stake by witch hunters even in fractured Badarian territory.

But for Senka, the risk would be well-rewarded. There was nothing greater for a kumiho who had given into their basest instincts even once than to consume the vital organs from their fresh kills. In most it was an addiction. For the demonic fox, taking that first bite out of the man's heart would cause a sense of euphoria and satisfaction to wash over every inch of her body. Like a smoker who'd lit up after a few weeks spent abstaining or an alcoholic who'd taken a drink after a time spent sober, her body rewarded her efforts to feed that base impulse with a rush of general pleasure powerful enough to make her shiver.

And whether she was knowledgeable enough or simply introspective enough about her maligned race's feeding process to figure it out, the animalistic consumption of the hearts of the men also allowed her to feast on fragments of her victims' souls. Happiness, love, friendship... a little bit of terror. She tasted some of their emotions with every bite, only adding to her own sense of bliss and fullness. And if she let them, those stolen feelings might take her back to the sense of belonging and love she'd felt when she had still been with her mentor. Perhaps they might even briefly fill in as a substitute for the happiness that she'd been deprived of so long ago during her childhood, given the harsh realities of growing up in the backstreets of Acheron without her parents. Or maybe she'd just accept it all as raw bliss without allowing herself to think too deeply about it or dwell on her own past.

Because the souls of the men had already been ravaged beyond repair when she'd eaten their hearts, their livers were noticeably less satisfying, though that wouldn't stop Senka from enjoying them and using them to sate the more physical side of her hunger. A sense of deep satisfaction would wash over her after she finished the second liver, leaving her feeling something akin to an afterglow. For a brief while she would be sated and free of the ever-present hunger of her race. Though for one such as Senka, who had long since given into the impulse and become a full-fledged predator, it likely wouldn't be viewed as an outright relief. It was probably more akin to a cooling off period that would only serve to make the next hunt more enjoyable.

From there, she would be able to clean up, though it took several applications of her cantrip, redress, and make herself presentable again. Rifling through their belongings, she would only find two denarii between them. If they were ransomers, they either hadn't been successful at it or were keeping their wealth elsewhere. Once she was satisfied with her search, Senka would also find no sign that anybody was anywhere nearby, at least as best she could tell. Given the state she'd left the two men in, her choice to use her spiritual powers in order to warp away as a precaution was likely wise regardless of her level of confidence in how populated the surrounding area might be. But she'd be able to return from the direction she'd arrived without incident.

That left her to decide what she wanted to do next. Putting as much distance between her and the dead men was probably a wise starting point. There was also still the matter of securing lodging before nightfall. The sun had noticeably moved across the sky in the time it had taken her to indulge, and by any best guess it was probably late afternoon. She could also make her way elsewhere, if she'd changed her mind on her priorities. The choice was Senka's alone.
 
Last edited:

Astarte

Tentacle Monster
Joined
Dec 28, 2014
Messages
382
Reputation score
15
Unfortunately, she'd been right when she'd guessed that the two men wouldn't have much coin, but she'd hoped for more than this. She was back to where she'd started when she first reached town, and while it would suffice to pay for a room, she would still need more to pay for the dress she'd ordered. For most people that might mean looking for work, and she had tried that life for a time, but Senka had fallen back on the old habits she'd picked up when growing up in Acheron: Simply taking what she needed. Fortunately, stealing from humans tended to be easier than stealing from demons, though she'd still have to pick her target carefully. Somewhere that would have currency, not valuables. She didn't want to have to try to find someone to sell things to, not in this town at least. If she picked up anything that might be identifiable it would be better to hold on to it and try to sell it in another town, but she needed some coin to use while she was here too.

Senka allowed herself to bask in the sensations of power and fulfillment from her meal for a few moments longer once she'd transported herself out of the alley, also taking a moment to check for anyone who might be nearby, before she began to make her way back to the inn she'd spotted earlier. It was somewhere out of the way enough that not many people were likely to see her coming and going, which was good for avoiding attention as a result of her nighttime activities. She didn't even necessarily need to sleep there yet—though she might take a nap at some point, when she had some spare time or started to get tired—she just needed somewhere to temporarily store her things and somewhere she could safely change. She kept an eye out for potential marks along the way, shops or wealthy-looking residences she might be able to sneak into, though not wealthy enough to be under serious guard. she didn't expect to see anything worthwhile on this route, however. Properly scoping out a target would likely have to wait until after she'd stopped by the inn. She'd have until it was time to check out that invitation to find something.

Updated Senka's sheet for the new body score. Only thing relevant at the moment is her HP increasing by 4 and PP/EP by 2 each.
 
OP
Hafnium

Hafnium

Despair Fetishist
RP Moderator
Joined
Jan 5, 2011
Messages
2,151
Reputation score
310
: HP = 65, PP = 49, EP = 44/58, Status = Early Soylent Green investor.
Rolls
Senka's Perception: 2 Successes.
Unfortunately, there wasn't much of interest in the way of targets on the trip to her next destination, at least unless she was interested in burgling apartments in various states of disrepair. Senka would be able to backtrack her way to the inn without much issue though-it wasn't as if she'd been under any real duress when she'd passed it earlier, after all. It was a tall building, likely two-and-a-half stories tall, with an off-white plaster exterior and metal shingles with an easily visible patina on them. A wooden sign that looked to have been long in need of repainting hung above the heavy wooden entrance door proclaiming the place the Backstreet Inn. Like the vast majority of the other buildings the kumiho had seen so far it was built touching the neighboring buildings. It appeared that they'd tried to make up for the lack of space for windows elsewhere by placing two large windows on either side of the front door, along with an additional three in parallel alignment on the second story.

Assuming she was still interested in the place, she would be able to open the door, the action causing a bell mounted to the top of it to jingle, and enter into what appeared to be a combination reception-slash-common room. It was a spacious room, likely taking up the entire front half of the bottom floor. Directly opposite the door was a large, mahogany-colored wooden counter, though the finish had rubbed off on the customer-facing lip exposing that a much paler-colored wood had actually been used in its construction. To the left of it, from Senka's perspective, was a set of wooden stairs which almost certainly led to the second story. To the right was another door that led somewhere unknown, though based on the sweet scent emanating from that direction it likely housed at least some form of kitchen.

"Be with you in a minute," a gruff voice shouted from behind that very same door. "Can't let the sweetrolls burn!"

Assuming the kumiho decided to take the delay as an opportunity to get a better idea of her surroundings, she would be free to further look around. On top of the counter, she could see a weighty ledger, a quill and accompanying ink pot, and a hand bell. Eight hooks were mounted on the wall behind the counter, with four currently empty and four with keys currently hanging from them. And to the side of the hooks was a slateboard which she could read if she liked.

Window room: 3 denarii/night.
Small room: 1 denarius/night.
Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner: 1 denarius/meal
(No Requests Chefs Choice Only)
Pay In Advance

Looking around further, Senka would notice that to her right was a long couch upholstered in a light blue color which had unfortunately picked up some brown stains on one side of the seating, and the armrest on the other side had been ripped and was slowly bleeding out its cotton innards over the years. To her left was two tables and with a set of four chairs each around them. One of the tables was positioned in front of the window, giving a view of the street, while the other was just far enough out from the corner to allow room for seating on either side of it.

Three people were seated at the latter table. On the side nearest to Senka and with their backs facing to her was a short, feminine figure with long, black hair, who from what the kumiho could see was wearing a black longcoat with a sword hanging at her hip, and a seemingly unarmed, man of average build with short, black hair who was wearing a formal suit. On the opposite side of the table and facing the demonic traveler was a powerfully-built man with a crew cut who was wearing a green tank top. There was a brown parchment unfurled on the table and a leather pouch sitting next to it, though Senka was unable to make out any details from her position. Likewise, the trio were discussing something in hushed tones but the kumiho couldn't quite discern what they were saying with only her human set of ears. She would be able to make a more concerted effort to eavesdrop on them, but failing to be subtle about it would almost certainly draw their attention to her.

Regardless of whether she decided to try to listen to the other inn-goers or not, however, the man who'd called to her earlier would emerge from the backroom door and take a place at the counter no more than a minute after she'd arrived in the inn. He was slightly taller than an average human, likely an inch or two over six-feet, and he had the look of a man who'd been strong and fit in his youth but was seeing all his muscle slowly transmute to fat in his middle age. His head was shaved but, as if to make up for it, he had a salt-and-pepper colored beard that went down to his gut. Perhaps more strikingly than any of that, however, was that he had piercing brown eyes that seemed to almost look directly through the kumiho.

"Right. Name's Ted. What can I do for ya?" He asked the demonic traveler, his voice still far too gruff for somebody in a customer service role. "I've only got one window room left, if you're after those ones. Plenty of the small rooms though."
 

Astarte

Tentacle Monster
Joined
Dec 28, 2014
Messages
382
Reputation score
15
Senka frowned slightly as who she presumed to be the owner of the place called out from another room for her to wait. No other employees? Not that she was too surprised. She came here looking for some place quiet and affordable, not high-class. A glance around the inn proved that her initial assumptions about the place appeared correct. A bit worn out, but not terribly maintained, and the prices were within her current range. The place didn't seem too rowdy, and the other guests—if they were all guests, this looked like some kind of meeting, but at least one was likely a guest—who she saw looked reasonably respectable. The man she could see most clearly was the least well-dressed, but he at least didn't look as unkempt as the usual thugs who'd harass her, and who she typically made a meal out of. A mercenary, perhaps. The other two were facing away from her, so she couldn't make any judgements based on their features, but their clothes appeared to be of reasonably high quality.

Any further contemplation of the three was cut short by the arrival of the owner from the kitchen. The man towered over her in both height and overall size, but that was something Senka was quite used to. Besides that he didn't look too unusual, however. Not enough to cause any suspicion from her. His statement about rooms made her consider her options. With the current state of her funds the cheap room would be the best choice, especially since she barely needed to use the room to begin with, but she'd never been one to take the cheapest option, even when she was looking for value over luxury. A window would also make coming and going unnoticed far easier.

"My name is Senka," She introduced herself in turn, just in case he needed to know her name for his records, "I'll take the window room." She said simply, fishing three coins from her once again nearly-empty coin purse. She didn't want to spend much time here, more interested in getting out and finding a source of more coin right now, so the sooner she had her room the sooner she could be on her way. Though the prospect of sweets was tempting, based on the man's words when she first entered, she wasn't interested in eating food that she didn't choose for herself, so she'd handle her own meals. Fortunately she had just eaten her fill, so she'd be fine for some time yet in terms of both her ordinary and supernatural hunger.
 
OP
Hafnium

Hafnium

Despair Fetishist
RP Moderator
Joined
Jan 5, 2011
Messages
2,151
Reputation score
310
: HP = 65, PP = 49, EP = 44/58, Status = Fox burglar on the prowl.

"All yours," Ted replied plainly. He would turn to grab one of the keys from the hooks behind him and then place it on the counter for Senka to take. Afterward he would grab the coins and kneel below the counter for a few moments, fumbling with something that to the kumiho's sharp ears sounded like it was heavy and made of steel. When he rose again he would set his hands, now noticeably empty, on the counter as he addressed her. "You can obviously read the sign, so you probably get it, but just in case: here's the rules. Three denarii a night. Pay for each night is due by noon or we'll consider it open to a new renter. We serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner. One denarius gets you a plate. This ain't a restaurant so don't expect to get what you ask for or anything particularly fancy. And...."

He looked her up and down after trailing off, his eyes seeming to focus on her extravagant manner of clothing before meeting her eyes again and continuing. "We get a lot of discerning clientele so we don't ask questions and we don't answer questions. Not for nobody. That's the rule here. Just don't start no trouble in our little inn and we'll extend those basic courtesies to you too. Hope you enjoy your stay." With that, he turned his attention to the letter. If she liked, she would be able to watch him write 'S....a, WR3, Pd -T' on a page with the date at the top.

With that, Senka would be free to explore her newly rented room if she liked. Alternatively, she could make her way directly back out the door and begin hunting for potential targets from which she might lift some excess coins. The main streets were perhaps the most appealing target. There were many shops and even market stalls there with merchants who would be loaded up on coin that she might try to liberate directly. There were also plenty of adventurers and travelers who she could attempt to pickpocket and slip away undetected from within the bustling crowds. She might also simply scout out potential marks that she could attempt to mount a more high-risk, high-reward heist against. The danger, of course, being that most of the people she would target in the main square were likely law-abiding citizens who would report the crimes to the guards, so she would need to be careful not to be linked to any crimes committed.

If she didn't want to risk the possibility of making herself known to the city's justice system, however, she could instead set her sights on the slums. The worse areas of the city would doubtlessly be home to various thieves, smugglers, drug dealers, and other less-than-legal enterprises whose wealth she would be able to liberate without the victim being able to turn to the traditional justice system. They also usually carried greater hauls of coin, given that they didn't pay traditional taxes, and if she happened to make someone go missing as part of her robbery she would practically be doing the city - and her stomach, most likely - a favor. That wasn't to say that there were no disadvantages to targeting criminals though. Finding a potential target would be more difficult than it would on the main streets, and she might have to walk away empty handed if she couldn't find a decent lead. In addition, those sorts of targets typically doled out justice on their own, and in a method that was usually less than pleasant for petite young women like Senka.

Any of the types of targets and methods would have its advantages and disadvantages, Senka would simply need to narrow down the type and method she'd prefer and then go hunting for marks to see what turned up.

((Note))
I didn't want to write up a ton of potential targets without knowing which Senka would prefer, so for sake of ease I'm going to say she can take the following options.

She can either go for a law-abiding type on the main street or target criminals in the bad part of the city. Targeting a law-abiding type will guarantee her to find a target (though not necessarily easy targets) while targeting criminals in the bad parts of the city will require trade checks to even find a potential target and come with all the normal dangers of strolling through bad parts of a city as a smol (disguised) fluff.

From there, she's got a few different robbery methods to pick from. She can try a heist of some sort to steal from a building, she can try to lift goods or coins from a stall, she can try to pickpocket from somebody, or she look for a target to stalk and look for further opportunities on. At this point, she'd presumably just be scouting for one or more of these things to do, so just let me know which ones interest her. If you want to pick more than one opportunity for her to look out for, go for it and I'll try to come up with multiple fun opportunities for each.

Also, if you can think of a robbery method she'd be interested in that's outside of those options feel free to include that and I'll try to come up with something for it.
 

Astarte

Tentacle Monster
Joined
Dec 28, 2014
Messages
382
Reputation score
15
"I'll handle my own meals," Senka replied simply to the explanation about food. She didn't like her meals being selected for her by someone else. For a moment she considered potentially sneaking down to steal some coin from the inn later, but she quickly dismissed that idea. It sounded like he had a safe of some kind, which would be annoying to try to break into, and even if she left no evidence she'd still be close enough to be considered a suspect, simply because of timing. No, it would be better to pick someplace that had never seen her before, and ideally to make sure they never saw her at all except as a face on the street.

"Thank you, I'll keep that in mind." She added as she picked up the key. Not asking questions was good for her, though she didn't plan to do anything to draw any more attention than she naturally did while she was here. She was still curious about what was going on at the table nearby, but she knew when to put her curiosity aside. She had other business to attend to. With that she headed up to her new room, setting down the bag of supplies and spare clothes she carried with her and taking out one of her other dresses. Not the enchanted one, that one might draw some attention if someone with an eye for magic noticed it—though simple protective magic like it possessed wasn't rare, it could still be noticed, and she preferred to keep that one for when she went out at night.

This one was very similar in style to the dress she'd been wearing, though pure black in colour, and slightly more heavy in ornamentation. A series of four bows ran vertically from above the skirt to the top of the chest, and a larger bow sat on the back of the waist, carefully concealing a slit that would allow her tail through if she were in her natural form, though it was completely hidden from view by the bow in her human form. The skirt was similarly ruffled in design, with three layers overlapping, and reached down to just below her knees. Finally, the sleeves were simple in design until the ruffled cuffs and the small bow on the back of each wrist.

Carefully folding her previously worn dress and setting it on the bed for cleaning later, she left her bag next to it and left her room once again, tucking away the key in one of the extra spaces on the concealed sheaths for her knives on her leg once she'd locked the door, ensuring it was firmly in place and would not fall. With that done she headed back down the stairs, only stating that she'd be back later if the owner inquired about her leaving again immediately after signing in, but otherwise she would simply head back outside without a word.

She had a few ideas, but she needed something reliable this time, since she was too low on coin. That meant heading back toward the market and seeing what she could find, even if it was the potentially more dangerous option. She was particularly on the lookout for shops or stalls that appeared only moderately wealthy, and ideally not particularly busy. She didn't want to risk any place that could afford heavy security, particularly any that might have invested in magical security tools which might interfere with her invisibility, and she didn't want to have to break into a safe. She didn't need a large amount of money, so there was no need to look for somewhere that would provide a large haul. A handful of coins would be enough for the time being, though she'd take more if the opportunity arose.

Her ability to turn herself invisible and to transport herself as she had out of the alley prior were valuable tools in getting in and out undetected, but she knew better than to think they were perfect. She still had to be careful, both to not be noticed and to not let slip that magic was being used at all. The people here tended to have a poor view of unsanctioned magic use, and the last thing she needed was to have it get reported and ending up with people hunting after a magic-using thief.

Changing clothes, but just between her two sets of ordinary clothes, so no statistical change. Will let her EP recover as much as it can without properly resting and set out looking for robbery targets. She's not prioritizing targets by how lucrative they are, she's looking for an easy mark, as long as they look like they could provide a decent amount of coin. Also not looking to pickpocket if she can avoid it, but it's a potential option if all else fails. Ideal would be a shop where she can just sneak in and snatch whatever coin might be on hand from recent business, though she'll have to see what she can find.
 
OP
Hafnium

Hafnium

Despair Fetishist
RP Moderator
Joined
Jan 5, 2011
Messages
2,151
Reputation score
310
: HP = 65, PP = 49, EP = 51/58, Status = Or maybe more like fox NERDlar, har har.... I'm sorry, that was mean. I just don't have any unique material today.
Rolls
Perception: 2 successes.

Herbalism: 1 success.
Medicine: 5 successes.

The path to her newly rented room would take Senka up the stairs, through a narrow hallway - so narrow that it was highly unlikely that even two people as petite as Senka herself could've walked through it abreast - and finally toward the front of the building. She passed three doors on the way, two to her left and one directly in front of her as she made it to the end of the hallway and turned left, before finding a door with a sign engraved with 3 beside it, matching the tag on the key she had been given. Upon unlocking the door and stepping inside she would find modest accommodations, to put it kindly.

The room itself was spacious, at least for a crowded Badarian city, and sized at around ten square feet. The amount of space only made the sparseness of the furnishing more glaringly obvious though. The door Senka had entered was situated near one corner of the room, a simple straw mattress with a similarly simple blue pillow and matching sheet was in the corner to her left, a small wooden table and chair sat in the far left corner opposite the bed, and a knee-high pot was in the far right corner opposite the door. The bare wooden floor was otherwise only adorned with a small gray throw rug set directly in the middle of it and the white plaster walls were completely naked except for the window between the table and pot. Someone being extremely charitable might assume the owner of the inn was going for minimalism or some form of feng shui, while one being more bluntly honest would probably recognize the interior decoration to be the work of the cheapskate. At least it was clean though, perhaps mercifully so in the case of the pot.

The demonic traveler would be able to set her bag down and dress in peace, though she would need to close the curtain over the window in order to ensure that nobody in the tall building across the street could steal a peek, accidentally or otherwise. Once she had donned her fresh change of clothes, she would likewise be able to exit the room and re-lock the door without issue. Returning to the first floor, she would discover that the travelers were still speaking in hushed tones and paying just enough mind to her to make sure she wasn't eavesdropping. James, for his part, made good on his promise not to ask questions if only by virtue of having left the counter unattended once again and disappearing to somewhere else. As such, Senka was able to leave seemingly without notice.

Her trip would take her back to the main road that she'd been traveling when she first entered the city. Her disguise allowed her to easily play the role of a curious traveler and scout out some potential targets for a bit of light thievery. And after a few minutes walking through the city, she'd noticed a few initial standouts.

First and perhaps most aligned with her desired type of target was a simple stall on the road which appeared to be selling exotic fruit from Amazonia. The shop itself was no more than a set of two tables with a cloth tarp overhead to spare the vendors from the sun, and the 'merchants' appeared to be a married amazonian man and woman and their two young daughters and son with no guards or weapons in sight. Their merchandise, a curious-looking pale-blue, star-shaped produce, had seemingly been popular with the Badarians to the point that their baskets were only a quarter-full. This had left the small wooden chest they'd brought to store their earnings full to the brim, leaving them to store some of the overflow of profits in a small leather pouch which they had carelessly set on one of their stall tables.

Second and likely less appealing was the building of a weapons merchant. While its very nature did not meet Senka's desire for a low-security target, a group of adventurers had just come and gone and had likely left some of their precious coin behind inside. The shop itself appeared otherwise empty of customers following its most recent visitors and it was more secluded from view than the farmers' stall, so it was possible that she might sneak in and liberate some of the merchant's latest profits and then disappear without a trace.

Her third and final potential target, at least for the moment, was a stall that was peddling something it proclaimed as 'miracle oil,' at least based on a prominent sign near it. Its merchant was a young, blonde, and ultimately flashy-looking crolian woman with gaudy pink clothes who had gathered a small crowd of a little more than a dozen people, three of whom were visibily armed, who she was attempting to woo with promises of an oil that could cure everything from chickenpox to spinal paralysis. Listening in for a few moments, Senka would hear her claim that the secret was an herb called dragonsbreath, supposedly harvested from Amazonian mountaintops by ascetic monk and distilled into the panacea oil.

But when the woman showed off a sample of the plant, a red and yellow leaf-shaped herb, the kumiho's herbalism and doctor training allowed her to recognize the truth. The herb was a common plant typically found in the undergrowth of Badarian forests. And while Senka couldn't remember the actual name of the plant off the top of her head, she knew that its only medicinal quality was as an abortifacient which could cause infertility in mortals in larger quantities. It seemed like Senka might be the only person nearby who knew the truth though, as the peddler had apparently decently well with her sales and had already deposited a good number of coins into a bag that sat on a crate beside her, likely twenty or so judging by its appearance. It might be a tempting target despite the presence of the crowd and a few armed men and women.

Senka would be able to choose from any of the three targets or keep looking as she pleased.
 
Last edited:
Top