taiyoko posted:

Oh man, I'm having trouble deciding. On the one hand, I say we hide - we're here to fight Bleeder and need to save our hp for that fight...

But on the other, it just feels wrong to not try to save the Congregation from this forever-dying. Wrong to not fight.

StillFullyTerrible posted:

They die like this all the time though. They have died this way countless times. Can fighting this single iteration of it do anything to help them?

t3isukone posted:

This isn't what's important and it might well kill us, but it's what feels right.

Probably logically, what we need to do is to figure out whatever it is that will terrify Bleeder enough to 'effortlessly enslave' him and get his color. But also, like, man, I want to help these people and be nice.

This is probably a bad idea. But.

StillFullyTerrible posted:

This is pretty obviously the spill of accursed crude oil that came from that rig we saw in that movie and destroyed The Island. The constant references to oil in the surroundings of this area and the malevolence ascribed to it only reinforces this.

Boss Fight Log posted:

What's wonderful about the necrotic oil is what it managed to find itself entangled with. It was never meant to stain those perfect blue waters. The colors were like none found in any rainbow, and the bodies that rose from those pools of night became so beautiful. See?



[The Silver Mind is not here to give insight...]

It's going to beat you senseless.

so quiet

It's huge. You move so much faster with your engine heart. So you make that almighty first impression.

^{[x2 Attack]+[Rapid Strikes]}

One cut up.
(!Tyranny Rapid Strike) 18(-6) [4]+[1]+[6] = 11 - Success.
^{6 damage!}

Another across.
(!Tyranny Rapid Strike) 18(-6) [3]+[2]+[2] = 7 - Success.
^{3 damage!}

Last one stabbed in.
(!Tyranny) 18 [5]+[3]+[5] = 13 - Success.
^{15 damage!}

You hurt it. You know it. That's how horrible you are. But you're still moving; instead of pressing your luck with a frenzy, you aim for one powerful cleave.

(!Tyranny) 18 [2]+[3]+[5] = 10 - Success.
^{[Blade Majestueux]
8 damage!}

...but it's so dense with dead. You're still winning it slow though, and you step back to resume a closed stance. It's moving to pull you open.

(!Congregation) 12 [2]+[1]+[2] = 5 - Success.
^{6d: 1 damage!}

(!Congregation) 12 [4]+[2]+[2] = 8 - Success.
^{6d: 6 damage!}

HP: [ 13 / 21 ]
FP: [ 18 / 30 ]

You moved on instinct; no idea where it came from or how it attacked. Just the sound of weight skimming over fattened hot air, and then it struck you. It wants to hold you. It wants to pull you down. You have to be worse than that.

^{[x2 Attack]+[Rapid Strikes]+[Blade Majestueux x3]}

A violent cross-shred.
(!Tyranny Rapid Strike) 18(-6) [1]+[5]+[5] = 11 - Success.
^{15 damage!}

Into an angry overhead.
(!Tyranny Rapid Strike) 18(-6) [3]+[2]+[3] = 8 - Success.
^{15 damage!}

Then driven in.
(!Tyranny) 18 [6]+[6]+[2] = 14 - Success.
^{7 damage!}

HP: [ 13 / 21 ]
FP: [ 15 / 30 ]

It's not enough. It's still nightmare. It's going to mend. You have to gamble it; one hard throw.

(!Tyranny) 18 [1]+[5]+[6] = 12 - Success.
^{[Blade Majestueux]+[All-Out Attack: Deadly]
18 damage!}

It can't stay cohesive. Too much too fast. But, it was never that they couldn't be defeated. It's that they couldn't stop coming back.

HP: [ 13 / 21 ]
FP: [ 14 / 30 ]

You raise a red fist to an empty Heaven.
Victory.

What did it drop?

StillFullyTerrible posted:

Ah, I was somehow expecting to fight the nightmare of the necrotic oil spill itself, as opposed to the poor wretches of the congregation who have been corrupted by it.

StillFullyTerrible posted:

Ah, I was somehow expecting to fight the nightmare of the necrotic oil spill itself, as opposed to the poor wretches of the congregation who have been corrupted by it.

The Blue Book posted:

The Island understood in every way they were hurt, and used that against them. It drew out the most wonderful colours. Such obscene power. Why would you challenge that?

ULTIMA MAIDEN [Magi+Priest]
'The title crowned upon the mutant Saint of Paradise, greatest of all the cult. Fulfills all secret desires with the blue-soaked Mana of !Wishlight.'

Snap! You're wished out of existence. Dead. No way to stop it.

QUEEN OF HEARTS [Knight+Elementalist (Invert)]
'Rules over all hearts broken and dead, understanding their motivation. Can effortlessly change something's nature with !Inversion.'

She'll make the ghosts crawl inside of your blood until your bones turn to stone.

MUSE [Chirurgeon+Necromancer]
'Inspiring beauty who dies forever in the name of art. Can messily manipulate the state between life and death using !Lifegiver.'

If you see her, then the Third Lord has already planned your devouring.

THUNDER GOD [Berserker+Elementalist (Florida Lightning)]
'Raging demon who brings ruin and storm wherever it goes. Casually abuses the terror of the divine by blasting annoyances with !Thundering.'

You think she'll remember pax in the middle of a bender? She's an addict who kills for fun.

SOLAR DIVA [Druid+Elementalist (Sunfire)]
'Woodwalker who sincerely understands the face of the Sun over the desert. Sings back the worst of the day with the power of !Suncurse.'

She'll find out what you've done, and then she'll set you on fire from the inside.

DRACULA [Bard+Necromancer]
'Costumed performer with the gift of making the dead laugh. Isn't the real deal, but can mimic undead power with the artful use of !Blood Magics.'

He prefers to hang around the dead; he'll do sick and scary things to you the second he sees you here.

??? posted:

It's past midnight, but so long before dawn.

The horn is wailing, the lights are unblinking, and you can't move. Screaming only attracted more of them. They can't get at you, but you can't escape the wreck. You're helpless, and you don't know if the storm will still be going when the Sun comes. You're curled up sick and high, face darkened while you cry.

Then something happens that isn't a memory.

You find that weird for one second; to be reliving something so intensely, and then remembering something that never happened. But then it makes more sense than if it hadn't been true, so you listen when the radio comes on. It's JC's voice speaking. He's doing it calm and quiet like he knows something that he has to keep hidden, because if you understand it too quickly you'll start to cry so hard you won't be able to hear him finish.

["It's okay, Bleeder. This is a revelation. Do you want to hear about the LEGEND OF ____?"]

3rd posted:

You know what's still real? That scar. The promise to Blue.

* Wrap your arms around the tree, and steady it with all your might.
^{[ST Check 21][-3 FP]}

3rd posted:

Yeah, it doesn't make complete sense. But even if Bleeder is going to die...

* Push your royal-class lungs to make a terrible sound.
^{[HT Check 30][-3 FP]}

t3isukone posted:

Good news-well, we got that over with quick!

JC is fascinating me. I mean, obviously there's a Christian interpretation especially considering all the religious language around Bleeder, but IIRC that might also be the name of one of the Backup? Which means we might be able to lever our gemscar.

The Silver Mind posted:

Although it's been cast down into the darkness, it can still see all the layers between Here and There.

LAYER posted:

ANXIETY: [ X ][ X ][ X ][ X ][ X ][60%]

see that? know how hard that is to deal with, every single day? it's rotting the innards. it's sizzling them slowly and it's vile. it's wrong. it's vomit in the veins and ice in the bones. it's squatting coward with the regality of Crown.

LAYER posted:

Hundreds of them. How can you deal with that? So many died that week, so many many more those final three days, oh and the very many most that final final final night. That hurricane-teal tinted night. You tried, you tried and you succeeded at saving someone three times, but then you were at your limit; you run by hundreds suffering more. One is screaming because they've died all over again and now their heart is beating in reverse and producing oil; One is screaming because they know they can't cut off their limbs fast enough to stop the sickness from crawling into their spine to reach the brain; One is screaming because they remember that when you Survive you have to do it for the rest of your life because everyone can sense a Survivor and that means you will never be helped and cannot be touched and will not be saved.

How can you possibly save hundreds dying on repeat in synchronicity? You assess, and the logistics are a scream internal. A hand like gravity gently brushes hair from your cheek and tells you that's why you fight in the blind and just let it all fall under the sword.

(But even it wonders now at the strength it would take to accomplish that impossible holy.)

LAYER posted:

One hundred mighty stand in the all-red dark. The assault on Megalith was nearing end, and it had forced Home's Army to the brink. The leading four had moved in fast to reach Bleeder before he could escape or realize the strength of their force, but the second he did, he was fighting mad. The army had remained concentrated at the gate of the Megalith, and were pushed inside once the suburbs woke their most wonderful to let them run wild. The rest of Home's best fought to the mile-high peak of the nightmare tower.

LAYER posted:

LAYER posted:

[What's happening? It's loading the Bloody Megalith, but it's doing so from halfway across the Wonderful Suburbs. Hundreds of empty event messages popped up, all of them with the only choice being 'What am I supposed to do?!', before the notice of having entered the Megalith. The screen doesn't quite look right; it's some of the proper tileset, but it's using the colors of a stone basement. Can't be intimidated. Not this close to the first Lordslay.]

LAYER posted:

He woke up with a pained sound of protest. The suit had clamped itself shut, the needles slivered back down into the marrow. Why? It only does that if it notices something dangerous was nearby.

That's when he felt it.

It wasn't from the suit or the warm walls of the holy room; they felt it too. Just a light little twinge, right down in the belly. Unease that won't let up. The nagging worry that something was going on. Something has gone wrong.

quote:

Event Log posted:

Your leg is stuck. You're upside down. The ground is so sweaty smooth slick. You know it's angry, aware. You have to act carefully.

* Use your strength to pull yourself up, wrench open the door, and let yourself down.
^{[x3 ST Checks 21] [-1 FP]}

* Stab once and hard, and pray you're accurate enough to not hurt yourself.
^{[!Tyranny Check 10]}

* Your Red Right Hand. Burn it.
^{[-1 HP][-1 FP]}

Black August posted:

'What am I supposed to do?!'

Randalor posted:

Bonesong. We're strong enough that we can potentially Kool-Aid Man our way through the walls if we need to. Plus I imagine the acoustics would be amazing if we have to sing.