[PP-F4-10] Devil in the Details

[Lancaster 1]

*Continuation of This

Lancaster watched on frozen to events as they'd unfold, clinging desperately to every spoken word. His bones seemed to not want to move, for within his sight was the devil incarnate. The very same he'd spat in the face of and hid from not but a couple weeks prior. Was this it? A consequence of his attempts to live a life with Amari? Staring them down, and Mari seemed to be so much more familiar with the lord then he'd ever thought possible. A desperate hand reaching out to her as she'd move in close, but his feet remaining rooted out of terror. Out of breath as the man watched his beloved move toward the guillotine, and the flames light but flicker out with such a simple gesture. A hand to the ₣₳₵ɆⱠɆ₴₴ ⱠØⱤĐ as if it were a companion. The thing pays her not a response through a blade as expected, but one of words over action. All manner of questions begin to resonate within Vincent. How did Mari know the lord? What was it to her? Why did it seem to allow her to get close when no one else could? Was the lord pruning her for Laughing Coffin? Was this always its plan, using Lancaster as the bait? Inquiry after inquiry racked through his cranium, but found no lips as the scene unfurls.

A long drawn extortion of information from Mari, one of all manner of efficiency and a lack of regret befitting him. One of pride but mixed with an addled confusion. As Addex is reduced to ash, whatever remaining courage Lancaster could muster would fight his thoughts into whatever words it could grasp on. A scowl mixed with a sadness written across his face, one of desperation for understanding.

"What is going on?" The man shrieked, his voice broken and beaten. He felt so small.

---

<<Assist System: Lancaster>>
Level: 35
Paragon: 16
Tier: 4
True Tier: 6

Final EXP reward: +0%

---

Lancaster | HP: 760/760 | EN: 114/114 | DMG: 22 | MIT:56 | ACC:4 | BRN-IM  | FL.AURA: 16 | FL.THORNS: 16/32 | BH:38 | BLI: 32/-20 | BRN: 56

Spoiler

Name: Lancaster, The Consuming Tyrant
True Tier: 6
Level: 35
Paragon Level: 16
HP: 760/760
EN: 114/114

Stats:
Damage: 22
Mitigation: 56
Accuracy: 4
Battle Healing: 38
Stealth Rating: -3
BRN-IM FL.AURA: 16
FL.THORNS: 16/32 BLI: 32/-20 
BRN: 56
Equipped Gear:
Weapon/Armor/Trinket: 
  - All Consuming Pyre - Hades [T4/Demonic/Throwing/200384n] | BRN 2, BLI 2
Armor/Trinket: 
  - Hydra Hide Jacket - Erebus [T4/Demonic/Heavy Armor] Flame Aura 2, Flame Thorns 2
Shield/Armor/Trinket: 
  - Inset Etching Tongue Piercing - Cerberus [Tierless/Demonic/Trinket] Accuracy 3, Fireproof

Combat Mastery:
  - Combat Mastery: Damage R3

Combat Shift:
  - AOE Shift

Familiar Skill:
  - 

Custom Skill:
  - 

Skills:
  - Battle Healing R5
  - Energist
  - Heavy Armor R3
  - Thrown Weaponry R5

Extra Skills:

Inactive Extra Skills:

Addons:
  - Focus
  - Precision
  - Stamina

Mods:
  - Impetus

Inactive Mods:

Battle Ready Inventory:
  - Anthem of Finality - Destruction [Tierless/Perfect/Debuff/Instant] Catalyst | 230758, 230778, 230779, 230780, 230781 x1
  - Anthem of Finality - Destruction [Tierless/Perfect/Debuff/Instant] Catalyst | 230782, 230783, 230784, 230785 x5
  - Resonance of the Grave [Tierless/Perfect/Debuff/Instant] Incarceration | 186790, 191009, 191013, 198351, 181560, x5
  - Teleport Crystal x4

Housing Buffs:
  - Dining Room: Turn 2 identical food items (same quality, tier, & enhancements) into a Lesser Feast. A Lesser Feast contains 4 portions of the food items sacrificed. Lesser Feasts created this way cannot be used outside of the thread they are created. Limit 1 item created per thread.
  - Living Room: Increases out of combatHP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild Totem:

Wedding Ring:
  - Strong Will
Crafting Profession:

Gathering Profession:

 

[Mari 1]

"And I'm not the Pink PKer anymore. I'm far more than that now."

Defiance flickered in her eyes, a resolve. A refusal to be known as the Pink PKer, a monkier she had long since abandoned. Mari was all but ready to collapse; her arm burned...her chest on fire...without the glasses she felt whispers tickle her mind - screaming at her - doubts telling her Lancaster wasn't real. She needed him. Mari really needed Lancaster by her side, to keep her together. A shriek from the man, broken and small, cracking in fear caused Mari to turn...facing him. A stumble as she tried to comfort him, falling into his arms. Not yet... Mari couldn't falter yet. She had to protect him. She fought so long. So hard for this. "Mine..." A small mumble from her lips, tired in its admission as she pressed her head into the crook of his neck. Arms squeezing around his shoulders tightly.

Mari wished she had answers for him, she wished she could tell him everything...

"I ..." What was there to say? She only recently found out about the ₣₳₵ɆⱠɆ₴₴ ⱠØⱤĐ "Vincent...I only just....if I had said anything he'd have...." She swallowed. her voice growing small as she held him tighter, afraid he'd disappear, afraid he'd push her away, or think that it was all some kind of ploy to get close to him. IT wasn't...None of it was. "I just want you." She mumbled weakly. In that moment she didn't care who was behind her. Or what their predicament was.

A shuttered breath in as she tried to control herself. Was she shaking? it felt like her legs were buckling.  "I only recently...after meeting you had met them....they offered to help...." She mumbled.

"I told you..." A weak laugh. "Magic...tricks...I'd step into hell for you Lancaster. I'd become the monster everyone expects me to be."

Would that suffice? Mari wasn't sure. She shifted, still clinging onto Lancaster as her eyes struggled to focus on the Faceless Lord. For all her gusto earlier, it was beginning to crumble

 

 

 

 

Mari | HP: 1160/1160 | EN: 148/148 | DMG: 21 | MIT:143 | ACC:4 | AA  | FL.AURA: 8 | BH:64 | BRN: 56 | ENV-O: 32 | PARA-V | LD:5 |True Tier 15                                                                                                    

Edited 1 hour ago by Mari

[Raidou 1]

The film of crimson persists through the air like a malevolent vapor draining the life from all within his confines, as a roaring streak of red scorched the souls of those it gazed upon. A feral looking creature that almost fully divorced itself from humanity despite having arms and legs, its skin a polished black ooze that dripped void like ink from its wrists and elbows. "Vincent Lionetti." It spoke in a sharp tongue, one of twin tones overlapped over one another. A duality to it, alien and unnatural. "Best not jump to conclusions as you are notorious for." It hissed as the blade is ripped clean from the stone, half the blade being unearthed by a single heavy tug. It would appear as though it was rearing to advance, but instead the lord begins to pace to the left its eyes locked to the first finger. A presence commanding, domineering...absolute.

"Amari was off limits, and yet you disobeyed. Spat in my face and assumed you understood my reasons or my intentions for her." An actor upon the stage, facts misconstrued as fiction through interpretations not corrected. "She was to be left alone, Lancaster. Too wild to control, and the result of your actions..." A glance toward Mari. "Both of your actions lead to this, yet when Amari had unknowingly held a discussion with me. She was convinced, just like you were. I saw opportunity, potential. Was I wrong?" A sinister clicking as the lord's head turns, a monster riddled with omens and death. "I have extended my protections from Amari to the both of you, to see what became of your.... infatuation, your union. I told Amari to speak not a word of our meeting, for I knew where your head would lead. But now your union has been threatened from sources outside of Laughing Coffin. I wondered if again you've chosen to become insubordinate, brash. Your weakness betrays you Vincent." The hand holding the sword sees its serrated pointed fingers uncurl and wrap tighter, like teeth on a python clinging to the throat of a kill.

A hard swallow from Lancaster is pegged by him, caught easily as the sound of their hearts beating like thrumming drums in their chest. Panic, fear, desperation. "And yet... I saw your excursion as well, how genuine you wished to protect her despite your lack of station. Amari has proven herself once again to be difficult to control. Except through you, Vincent. Understand this." The thing twists to smear the red film on its blade against its left shoulder, as a tongue sprouts from a mouth there and licks it clean. "This will not end for as long as you stand as an outlier, for as long as it appears possible that killing you will earn my favor. My demands are this to allow your union to remain, Consuming Tyrant. To allow whatever your days will bring from this moment forward. But you will reclaim your station, aid in weeding out any others that will threaten Laughing Coffin and all they stand to accomplish under my direct orders as before. Amari being finally under control...." It glances to the orange haired woman. "Is a welcome consolation prize, and will be a shadow member directly reporting to me. Those are my terms."

---

<<Assist System: Lancaster>>
Level: 35
Paragon: 16
Tier: 4
True Tier: 19

Final EXP reward: +10%

---

Raidou | HP: 760/760 | EN: 114/114 | DMG: 24 | MIT:92 | ACC:4 | AA | F-SPIRIT | EVA:4 | BH:42 | VAMP-D: 84 | LD:6

Narrative Block:
₣₳₵ɆⱠɆ₴₴ ⱠØⱤĐ | HP: 1536/1536 | EN: 166/166 | DMG: 23 | MIT:259 | ACC:5 | AA | F-SPIRIT | EVA:7 | BH:84 | VAMP-D: 169 | VAMP-O: 253 | BLI: 32/-20 | LD:6 | BIZ-DOTE: 3/3 | PROB:36 | CAIN: 50 | SAND-A | PARA-IMM                                                                                                             

Spoiler

Name: Raidou, The Red Wanderer
True Tier: 19
Level: 35
Paragon Level: 16
HP: 760/760
EN: 114/114

Stats:
Damage: 24
Mitigation: 92
Accuracy: 4
Evasion: 4
Battle Healing: 42
Loot Die: 6
AA VAMP-D: 84
Equipped Gear:
Weapon/Armor/Trinket: 
  - Auric Sunlight - Finality of Faith [T4/Demonic/2HSS] +3 Damage, AA
Armor/Trinket: 
  - Red Wanderer's Resolve - Sympathy [T1/Demonic/Cloth] 2 Evasion, 2 Vampiric Defensive
Shield/Armor/Trinket: 
  - Tactician's Gaze - Ogma [T1/Perfect/Trinket]: +3 Accuracy

Combat Mastery:
  - Combat Mastery: Mitigation R3

Combat Shift:
  - TECH Shift

Familiar Skill:
  - 

Custom Skill:
  - Ill Omen in Red

Skills:
  - Battle Healing R5
  - Charge
  - Cloth Armor R5
  - Energist
  - Extended Mod Limit
  - Fighting Spirit
  - Howl
  - Quick Change
  - Searching R5
  - Straight Sword R5

Extra Skills:
  - Survival
  - Parry
  - Forgotten King's Authority
  - Concentration
  - 
  - 
  - 

Inactive Extra Skills:
PhotosynthesizeBrawlerFrozen Hide
Addons:
  - Ferocity
  - Focused Howl
  - Nimble
  - Precision
  - Reveal
  - Stamina

Mods:
  - Athletics
  - Detect
  - Justified Riposte
  - Night Vision
  - Tracking
  - Vengeful Riposte

Inactive Mods:

Battle Ready Inventory:
  - Crippling Composition - Lullaby [Tierless/Rare/Debuff/Instant] Hypnosis 2 | [224055] x1
  - Ebon Star - Vanguard Revenant [T4/Demonic/Straight Sword]: V.O 2, Taunt, Blight 1 x1
  - Flash of Rejuvenation [T1/Perfect/Crystal] Mass Heal [200869-1][200876][200877][200878][200879] x5
  - Random Dungeon Map | [229967b] x5
  - Teleport Crystal x1
  - Vocal Augmentation - Resonation [Tierless/Perfect/Support/Instant] +15% HP [160898][161641][161642][162018][162529] x1

Housing Buffs:
  - Basic Kitchen: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot. This can exceed normal Cook enhancement caps. Ex: A perfect T2 MIT food gives 35 MIT instead of 30.
  - Storage Closet: +1 Battle Ready Inventory Slot
  - Living Room: Increases out of combatHP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
  - Attic (Storage): +5% bonus col from monster kills and treasure chests
  - Basement: Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll
  - Guest Room: Players can have one «Amenity» in a «Guest Room» and the «Amenity» cannot be recovered. Players are allowed to change which «Amenity» is in the «Guest Room». Multiple instances of the same «Amenity» do not stack. This buff affects the player and their choice of up to two party members.
  - Master Bedroom: -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat
  - Master Bathroom: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down)
  - Extended Workshop: +2 Crafting EXP per crafting attempt and +1 crafting attempt per day
  - Greenhouse: +2 Gathering EXP per Attempt and additional +1 LD & CD to gathering attempts.
  - Dining Hall: Turn 3 identical food items (same quality, tier, & enhancements) into a Feast. A Feast contains 6 portions of the food items sacrificed. Feasts created this way cannot be used outside of the thread they are created. Limit 1 item created per thread.
  - Mega Slime Farm: +10% EXP to a thread. Limit one use per month. Must be used on a player's first post in a thread. Cooldown begins counting down when used in a post.

Guild Hall Buffs:
  - Trading Hall: Reduce LD needed for Salvage by 5 (10+ for Alchemist crystals, 6+ for everything else). +2 EXP per craft. Rank 9 crafters and Rank 4 merchants/performers receive +1 crafting/identification attempt per day. Rank 10 crafters and Rank 5 merchants/performers receive +2 crafting/identification attempts per day.
  - Treasury: +5% bonus col from last-hit monster kills and +10% bonus col from treasure chests.

Scents of the Wild Totem:
  - Kumatetsu
Wedding Ring:
  - -
Crafting Profession:

Gathering Profession:

 

[Mari 1]

Lancaster denied a chance to reply, the overlapping voices of the Faceless Lord addressed him and Mari immediately stilled. Her grip tightening to the point her fingers would draw drops of blood, her body shaking. Mari could hear the song of steel as sword drew against the ground. Mari reluctantly let Lancaster go, only to turn - staring directly at the Faceless Lord. Ensuring she were the shield to protect him. She'd not allow a repeat of her brother. Mari would throw herself onto the damn blade itself if it meant protecting him- giving him enough time to flee.

"With all due respect..." Mari said, voice low...she had to be careful. She wasn't speaking to her friend. She was speaking to something else. "I pursued him. He walked away from me, but I sought him. Again, and again." Mari swallowed. Her stance faltered, her head lowered for a moment as her vision blurred but Mari shook it off. She had to. Had to.... Everything....was far too important for this. "Too wild? Again - you mistake me for the Pink PKer." That would have been her....once before. But not now. Not anymore. Another swallow as a hand reached behind her, splayed fingers trembling till they came into contact with Lancasters form. Mari took a deep breath. Hold...exhale...she had this... she had to keep control. She couldn't let any claim to the accusations take hold. Have reason to.

"Difficult to control?" Mari asked, a tilt of her head. Genuine confusion in her tone. What was he referring to? He thought...Vincent could control her? Mari bit her tongue. No one could....but...if Lancaster had wished it, Mari would have done most anything. So perhaps the Faceless Lord's words had some merit. Why?  "Why? You blame him for not knowing your intentions for me? Then what? What are they then? Enlighten us." Mari asked. A step back into Lancaster. She didn't get it...

Shadow Member??

Wasn't this...exactly the opposite of what Raidou wanted?
Was this his way of protecting them again?

Mari never expected to be in this predicament, wasn't it just a few months ago she said she'd never join the Laughing Coffin, and now....here she was...

"If it means staying with Lancaster. I accept your terms. But - I am not...." I'm not a killer...she wanted to say, but she just did. several more names were now upon the monument, all because of her. Her eyes shifted away from his form. What else was there to say? "I'm not going to hurt those close to me." Her voice quiet, shaking. "You're right...I'd do anything for him - but...as long as I remain Who I am. Amari Lionetti. Else...what is the point of controlling me, like you so desired?"

[Lancaster 1]

The man clung to Mari as if she was going to vanish, with her head nestled neatly in his neck her warmth all but welcome under such a trial. It felt like a court room where a prosecutor was speaking, and he was the defendant. Every word was rough and coarse like sandpaper, rubbing raw his skin and leaving him wounded beyond a simple scratch. "I believe you..." The man whispered to his beloved, allowing all of his insistent thoughts to be made false through faith alone. A gut reaction to the fact that what they had was real, not manufactured. "I want you too." he muttered weakly staring death in the face left him meek, and yet despite it clung to the only thing of value: Amari. As the thing spoke Lancaster couldn't help but get hung up on its words, trying to mount a defense against each accusation and yet it felt entirely worthless. The last time he'd misspoke he was almost killed more then once. It was even worse being in front of this thing with Mari this time.

In this moment, Mari was braver then he. Perhaps through courage or ignorance, but she held a more constant back and forth. Even trying to peel the target from Lancaster each time she spoke, and using her own body to shield him from the lord.

There was some warrant in her own line of questioning as well, given it was never elaborated as to why Mari was excluded. There were actually a few that Laughing Coffin were forbidden from interacting with, and there was never any given reason as to why. For to question was to disobey, and not many since Opal were foolish enough to do so.

"If it means staying with Lancaster. I accept your terms."

"Magic Tricks...." Lancaster quipped under his breath, running his hand across her shoulder and embracing her upper arms from behind. "The lord does not usually give reasons, mi amore." He spoke nestling his head atop her right shoulder for some semblance of comfort. "Never has for as long as I have known it. I am ready to make a deal with the devil with you anima gemalla, but I am of the same mind..." His eyes lock to the End. To the red eyes of judgement. "I will not hurt my beloved, or those that she holds compassion for. Is a promise I will not break, not even if it kills me. I accept your terms." With that Lancaster steps out from behind Mari, and kneels low bowing his head. "Perform your rite."

[Raidou 1]

The blade in hand the lord looms, heavy foot steps that portrayed a mass with weight exceeding its stature. That cool almost black blade hungers for death and dismemberment, having feasted plenty and yet still left unsatisfied. "Semantics, Vincent knows how little they matter. Isn't that right?" It barked in an abrupt scorn toward them both, twisting the blade and listening deeply to their pulse. An avatar silently portraying their discomfort like a human body, and functioning just the same. The blade raises high above Lancaster's head, who can visibly be seen flinching. Expecting the headsman's axe to fall, instead it lands gently on his right shoulder. "Vincenzo Lionetti." A sharp bite of the true name, one discovered through all manner of whispers in the dark. As if the cardinal itself was supplying it to this monster, an endless sea of the truth made for it to witness. "Until released from my command of my volition, you are to follow the orders given to you without question. Heed to the rules of Laughing Coffin as defined by me obediently. Should you fail, attempt to conspire or betray you will accept removal as the only option. To become severed directly from my hand in any manner I see fit." The blade lifts and taps gently on his left shoulder, close enough to rub against his throat.

Stealing a peek toward Mari, he smiles coyly "I am but a single finger on your hands, lord." Vincent drops diligently, as if rehearsed given this was his second time. "For my mi fiamma."

"Welcome back to the fold, First Finger. Do not disappoint me. This is your last chance." The blade slides from Lancaster's shoulder, and it looks expectantly at Mari with that familiar blade made darker with its context. It points toward her fiercely. "Kneel, and take to the creed."

[Mari 1]

The words were spoken in an abrupt bark that caused Lancaster to jump. Mari was too tired, too far gone to have that level of fear within her - perhaps...it was also because she knew what lay beneath. She knew intimately what it felt like to wear the armour the faceless lord wore. Mattering little? Mari's brows furrowed at that, her jaw clenched. She wanted answers. But questioning him further here wasn't the right way to go about it. Perhaps Mari would try to talk to Raidou later....maybe he'd never have a true answer for her. 

His blade twisted and out of instinct Mari pulled out her own weapon, and immediately swore at herself, stupid...She quickly threw it to the side in an attempt she meant the entity no harm. She was pushing it, already showing far too much of a blase' attitude toward him. Mari kept expecting punishment, a blade in her chest - for Juiblex to consume her and for her to become something else entirely again. admittedly, there was a part of her that missed that.

Mari watched as Vincent knelt down beside her, offering her a small weak smile - a condition to rejoining that Mari hadn't expected but felt an immeasurable warmth from. He wouldn't hurt her friends. The ceremony enacted, a creed steeped in blood yet to be spilled. To be severed meant death. Mari still, breath caught in her throat. She was defenseless, weaponless - and the miasma that leaked from the Faceless Lords maw ticked away at her health. But she was ready, she'd lunge at him and bite at him with her bare teeth if she had to. But....nothing came.

Her shoulders fell as Mari allowed herself to breath. Then - The entities eyes set on Mari. 

"Kneel, and take to the creed."

Mari stared into his eyes for a long silent minute. Not a challenge, a question. To its credit, the faceless lord stood patient. But Mari was not going to test it. She did not remove her eyes from his, was she foolish? Or simply resolute? Mari took to her knee, and finally lowered her head. She had no clue what the rite was supposed to be. Was she a finger? No. She was suppose to be a shadow member. HIs right hand? No...that wouldn't make sense...so what the hell was she supposed to say in this moment.

"I am but...." Hesitation as she wasn't entirely sure what to call herself. What name did the system give her again? "I am but your knight, Lord. For mi anima gemella."  

This didn't feel entirely right, her chest burned and her vision still steeped in blurriness as she struggled to maintain control of her senses. Even if it meant her death. She would not change - but, she supposed she'd sell her soul to the devil for a chance at her foolish dream.