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SEP. NBR -Tournament Narrative [3/3]-


KirigakurenoHaku

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(Click here for part one.)

(Read part two here.)

This 25ss game is one that I got to play against Flagstaff's Henchman Placidemu. This game was one that took place between my Pandora and his Seamus.

Though one of the Guild’s greatest of threats had been subdued, (at least for the time being,) the threat of genocide still existed. Just one hindrance would not be enough to prevent the vile Earthsiders from trying to eradicate Pandora and her kin. She needed something else to at least divert the Guild’s attention from their present plot until something more sufficient could be devised, but what?

Time was short and quick thought was imperative. Pandora knew that the Guild planned to act in ten days’ time so she could spend no more than five days deliberating. The next day she would consult with both Lilith and Zoraida.

Zoraida loved her games. She would play and gamble at any opportunity. This did not exclude those of the spoken word. Riddles of the tongue were perhaps those that she played most and, as such, always took time in deciphering.

Lilith was seldom a woman for words. The lingual arts were never something that she favored so long as her blade was sharp and her body in good health. She was impatient and preferred action over discussion.

That said, this pair never made planning very comfortable, especially whenever time was imperative. However, even amidst Lilith’s zealous shouts and Zoraida’s bemusing chuckles, along with Pandora’s mediation, some valid thoughts did come to rise. The conclusions of this meeting: to draw the Guild’s attention away from their kin with the actions of some other undesirables.

It had been decided: Lilith and her tots would raid the morgues of Malifaux so that the bodies may be found missing, Pandora would play her part by sepulcher and cemetery, planting corpses and cadavers to be found exhumed, and Zoraida would make her role pulling at the strings of fate, weaving the Resurrectionists into their farce. The three Neverborn witches would avert the attention of their self-righteous persecutors with the fabricated acts of those Earthsiders who intrude upon the very history of Malifaux. The ladies of the Mask would blind the Rams with a shower of Ravens’ feathers.

*****

It was only a few days after the ruse had been initiated and Guildsmen had already been swarming over empty embalming tables and desolate graves. Lilith had acted quickly and efficiently, (however much it had pained her not to make a spectacle of her presence,) had left her portion of the work completed. Pandora, who preferred a more gentle pace in life, was left with just one graveyard more. The grand conflict of this matter, unfortunately, was that the grim breath of December had descended the night prior, and with it fell a vast cover of snow and frost to stiffen the soil.

The ice-hardened ground presented more labor to Pandora than she would have liked, so in the spirit of conserving energy she left her Teddy to do the digging. Three bodies had been uncovered from the colorless shroud already, Teddy seeking a fourth, as an ornately garbed woman shot from the haze of the early morning and into the snow nearby. The lady stood erect and popped her pink parasol open.

Pandora caught herself bewildered by the sight and was about to investigate when another woman, blue ribbons trailing behind her, tumbled to a stop in the snow not five meters in front of her. This lady, too, stood tall, peeking ever-so-delicately over her fan.

Pandora let open her lid.

The sound of heavy footsteps in the frost grew close, and with each crunch of ice the foreboding silhouette to whom they belonged became all the more tangible. That was, until the leather-clad monstrosity could be distinguished. It wore one knee-high boot and stockings from hip to toe. Most of its girth was precariously encased in a leather corset, cut and torn. Its scalp shone brightly, even in the murky cloud cover. It carried a rider’s crop in one hand and in the other, propped upon its shoulder, was another parasol-bearing maiden, this one wearing green.

From behind this beast of a woman, (or at least what one could infer to be a woman, with its lacerated breasts fighting against the corset,) emerged a smirking man and his beautiful, albeit vomiting, companion. “You’ve been causing quite the trouble!” declared the man. He spoke in a tone similar to that as one might imagine one would speak to a naïve child.

Pandora responded with only a cold gaze.

“Oh, pardon!” The man bowed, sweeping the air before him with his grand hat. “M’name’s Seamus.”

The only sound the man got in response was that of his bare-headed mistress’s jaw falling slack and gurgling in her own saliva.

“Well,” Seamus began, the lightheartedness of his voice beginning to fade, “perhaps we can lighten the mood with a bit of dancing. Madame Sybelle.”

As if saying the name was trigger enough, the goliath lurched forward to fling the lady in green into the snow at Pandora’s feet. The figure rose to bear a face that one should never wish to be able to discern.

“Be careful not to bruise her too much,” Seamus called. “She is a cute one, after all!”

Seamus proceeded to slap Sybelle upon her tremendous rump to set her on a course towards Pandora. With each heavy step, ripples of fat and flesh consumed her body and challenged the corset’s every stitch. Seamus wrapped his arm around his young companion’s waist, (who did promptly expel another stomach-full of blood as she seemed to do periodically in short intervals,) as if to watch the day’s entertainment.

Teddy and two sorrows converged upon the advancing Sybelle while Pandora paralyzed her adversary-in-green with thoughts of torment and suicide. If only the rotten belle had had enough mind left to comprehend the cerebral images and done away with herself.

Pandora watched as the quarrel between Madame Sybelle and her woes was fought. Teddy added to Sybelle’s collection of scars in such great numbers that the giant fell.

Satisfied, Pandora surveyed the area to make note of where the two other Rotten Belles were, only to find that they had spent their time out of the fray to set the inanimate corpses that Teddy had unearthed prior back beneath the soil. Out of her peripheral, Pandora saw Seamus raise one hand, (the other never so much as shifting away from his young companion’s butt). What drew Pandora’s eyes off of Seamus was the fleshy clap that sounded and what had caused it to do so: Madame Sybelle, her massive thighs shuddering together, rose again.

Pandora quickly assed her present situation, noting that dwindling the numbers of the Resurrectionists did little more than expend her own forces’ energy. Several meters to her left stood a rotten belle who had just finished burying on of the corpses that Teddy had exhumed. Just in front of her was another belle cradling her poor, misshapen head. Not much further ahead was leather-clad mammoth and the third of Seamus’ rotten belles (who also had just finished burying a corpse). And just a meter behind of Sybelle chuckled Seamus and his lady-friend, the likes of whom was amidst entertaining herself with the expulsion of more of her innards than one could even imagine would be able to fit into her petite frame.

Pandora also made accounts in her mind of where her companions had stationed themselves. To her left was the Doppelgänger who, despite the lack of mention, had been making use of herself by echoing Pandora’s tormenting whispers to all who would rather not hear. Far to the left near the first of the belles was one sorrow. The other two sorrows took post at either side of Teddy, creating a wall of woe to divide Sybelle and the other two belles from Pandora.

With everybody mapped out in her mind, Pandora made change with a new plan of action. The voice of sorrow was hushed for just an instant while she used her mind’s larynx reach Teddy, who did as was demanded. Pandora let the screams of woe penetrate the belle’s mind again. Teddy sprouted a pair of great black wings and propelled himself skyward.

As the plush beast ascended, Seamus gave orders to one that he had not yet spoken to. “Molly, my dearest,” he said, “see to it that our flying friend doesn’t complicate things too much.” As though by the turn of a faucet, Molly’s vomiting ceased and she took off after Teddy.

The two sorrows nearest persisted in tormenting Sybelle and the adjacent belle while the sorrow farthest off confronted the belle most distant. The Doppelgänger darted after Seamus while Pandora did little more than stand where she was, her mind screaming into that of the belle just before her. Teddy was almost shrouded entirely by December’s fog, but his silhouette was distinguishable enough to see that he was digging furiously.

The Doppelgänger dealt one frightening psychological blow after another upon Seamus, incessantly tormenting him as Pandora herself would have delighted in. He was quickly reduced to his knees and seemed to only be capable of wailing. All the while, Teddy took off deeper in the haze to exhume the fifth body of the day.

Everything was going just as she needed it to be. Or at least it was until Pandora felt a terrifying blow across her cheek; it stung like fire and hit her quicker than lightning, and the force of the strike was nearly enough to make her drop to the ground. Distant wails distorted themselves into hysterical hoots. Towering over Pandora was the ever-more hideous Sybelle, rider’s crop in hand. Seamus set himself proper upon his feet yet again, laughing as though he lived for the pain of others. A leering grin consumed his face as he seemed to have found himself excited and rejuvenated.

Power had shifted in favor of Seamus, that was undeniable. One of the sorrows that was keeping Sybelle at bay had fallen and the other was left preoccupied with a rotten belle which had allowed Sybelle to advance in Pandora’s moment of distraction. The Doppelgänger was not being subdued by Seamus, his grin ever widening with each strike he laid upon her, and Teddy was so far from combat that he could do nothing to shift this balance. All was going very poorly until-

An array of excited shouts and hollers permeated through the fog announcing the coming of the rambunctious Guildsmen who were perpetually on the hunt. Pandora took this opportunity to recede into the haze, riding upon waves of despair once more. Seamus and his Redchappel Gang took off in Molly’s direction, the same in which they had come to confront the Neverborn gravediggers.

Though Teddy would need to find his own way back to Pandora, all that was left upon the field of combat were the footprints of Seamus’ fleeing crew and the two bodies that Teddy had dug up. This is what the coming Ortegas were left to find, coming just in time to relieve Pandora of her uphill battle., and she was thankful of it. Never before had she been grateful of Perdita’s presence, but today would be an exception.

So, here's the breakdown of the game as I can recall it. The tournament's objective here was for one player to 'plant the evidence' while the other 'destroys the evidence'. I was on the offensive, planting the evidence. My second objective was breakthrough. My third, I think, may have been assassinate, but I cannot recall. Deployment was standard.

Turn 1- Madame Sybelle companioned the three belles, and with the movement aids of Seamus and Miss Squidpidge, the belles flew across the table and were in position to destroy two of the three pieces of evidence the next turn. Molly, Seamus, and Sybelle were also sure to advance. I linked two of my sorrows to Teddy and sent the group of three alongthe center of the table to confront the two belles there and to set up a point that Sybelle could not pass. The remaining sorrow went off to the left to try to cause conflict on that front. I spent most of my time with Doppelgänger expirimenting as I am very unfamiliar with how she operates. Pandora took a couple of steps ahead, but I keept her happy and out of the fray.

Turn 2- Teddy and the two sorrow put a lot of damage on Sybelle this turn. It had been so long since I had used a melee model like Teddy, though, that I had forgotten how to initiate damage flips. Manny was very generous here and aided me through it. (Thank you.) Sybell was not at all shy to reciprocate the damage, though. Two of the belles destroyed some evidence and the third got into position. Seamus and Molly got even nearer and I sent the Doppelgänger towards him, (still experimenting with combinations of Pandora's abilities.) The third sorrow also confronted the leftward belle here.

Turn 3- Teddy takes down Sybelle and the two sorrows attempt to afflict the belle, bit to little avail. The third belle buries her piece of evidence and starts off towards Pandora. The Doppelgänger begins dealing some wounds to Seamus, who makes work of resurrecting the recently-felled Sybelle. (That was depressing.)

Turn 4- Teddy and the sorrows begin to try to leave combat to plant some evidence. (I forgot that the sorrows were insignifigants, but I was reminded of that in the next turn.) They fail at wiggling out of melee, though. The belle coming after Pandora engages her in combat, but fails at landing any hits. (I later learn that this was done so that the belle could hit Pandora with disengaging strikes to prevent her from setting any evidence.) The Doppelgänger brings Seamus down to one or two wounds.

Turn 5- Teddy manages to squirm out of melee and sets one piece of evidence on the other side of the table. Molly is sent to follow. The sorrows stay behind to keep Sybelle in melee, one of them falling to Sybelle's rider's crop. Seamus simply annihilates the Doppelgänger and recovers with 'Lives for the Pain'. The sorrow to the left remains engaged with the belle until the end of the game, neither of them killing the other off or gaining any sort of advantage.

Turn 6- Teddy invades Manny's deployment zone and plants a second piece of evidence, earning a few victory points for me. Molly persists after Teddy, but fails at getting too near. She was likely sent out to keep Teddy from achieving breakthrough. Seamus slaps Pandora and recovers the remainder of his health, and all other sources of combat remain at a draw. Here, the game ends.

I achieved about half of the victory points I went after, Placidemu achieved most, if not all.

To those of you who have read all of this, thank you. ^_^

Any comments that you may offer and those that already have been are certainly appreciated.

Edited by KirigakurenoHaku
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All seems right in the break down other than he had Destroy the Evidence and you had Plant Evidence. But great work bravo, your polysyllabic grammar is a trait of yours and suits you well here.

Ah! The way that the match was set up, I had assumed that "Shared Plant the Evidence" was arranged so that the attacker would be planting it, and the defender destroying. I have yet to read much of Book II, if you recall. I shall edit that piece of information.

Thank you very much, Mr. Haehl. ^_^ I plan upon compiling a narrative for each of our tournaments to come, as well. that being said, I feel as though I'll be needing to distinguish between them by means of title.

As for this one, I'm thinking something along the lines of 'Genocide' or 'Conspiracy'... Hmm...

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Bravo on the narrative! It was incredibly fun to read and captured the characters pretty well. It also made me realize that I'm not incredibly sure why I sent Molly after Teddy seeing as Teddy is Immune to Influence *face palm*... But yeah overall really good minus a few nit picky things that don't really matter (Like Molly brought back Sybelle not Seamus :D)... but yeah.... Really good and I look foward to being able to play you again sometime....

Oh and we both took Breakthrough and Body Guard.

Edited by Placidemu
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