Twin vee 19 bay cat

Anything Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

2011.02.25 23:36 AgentxLeavening Anything Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

For all things Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!
[link]


2012.01.17 08:42 HH_mmm Cables... cables everywhere.

A Reddit community dedicated to PC Internal Cable Management
[link]


2018.06.15 03:18 IceBreak Detroit Lions Memes: Serious Discussion of Detroit Lions Football

Serious Discussion of Detroit Lions Football
[link]


2023.03.25 23:58 Xylobe [USA-KY] [H] Large list (PS4/5, Switch) [W] List inside, offers (PS4/5, Switch)

I can provide pics on request. I have a short list of wants at the bottom of the post, but I'm open to all offers for the relevant systems.

PS4

Game Condition Notes
Blue Fire CiB
Code Vein NiB
Concrete Genie CiB
Control CiB
Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy CiB
Cris Tales NiB
Dark Souls 3 CiB
Darksiders 3 CiB
Darksiders Genesis NiB
Divinity Original Sin 2 Definitive Edition CiB
Dodgeball Academia CiB
Edge of Eternity CiB
F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch CiB Japan import
Ghost of Tsushima NiB Launch Edition
Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition NiB Vblank exclusive
Immortals Fenyx Rising CiB Gold Edition (codes used)
Lili: Child of Geos NiB Limited Run Games
Lili: Child of Geos Limited Edition NiB Limited Run Games
MediEvil CiB
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy CiB
My Hero One's Justice NiB
New Super Lucky's Tale CiB
Mortal Shell NiB
Moss (VR) CiB
Nioh 2 NiB
Okami HD CiB
Persona 5 Royal CiB Steelbook edition
Persona 5 Royal CiB EU import
PSVR Demo Disc 2.0 (VR) NiB
Red Matter (VR) CiB Limited Run Games
Sackboy: A Big Adventure NiB
Shadow of the Tomb Raider Definitive Edition CiB
Spongebob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated NiB
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order CiB
The Surge 2 CiB
To the Top (VR) CiB Limited Run Games
Tokyo Chronos (VR) CiB Limited Run Games
Trover Saves the Universe (VR) NiB
Yx IX: Monstrum Nox NiB Pact Edition

PS5

Game Condition Notes
A Plague Tale: Requiem CiB
Deathloop NiB
Demon's Souls CiB
The Forgotten City CiB
Hogwarts Legacy CiB
Life is Strange: True Colors CiB
Returnal CiB
Spider-Man: Miles Morales CiB

Switch

Game Condition Notes
88 Heroes - 98 Heroes Edition NiB
99Vidas NiB Strictly Limited Games
99Vidas NiB Strictly Limited Games
A Hole New World NiB First Press Games
The Adventure Pals NiB Super Rare Games
Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion NiB
Aegis Defenders NiB Limited Run Games
Aeternoblade II NiB
Aggelos NiB UK import
AI: The Somnium Files CiB Day One Edition
Air Conflicts Collection CiB
All-Star Fruit Racing NiB
The Alliance Alive HD Remastered NiB
America's Greatest Game Shows: Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! NiB
Among the Sleep - Enhanced Edition NiB
Anima Gate of Memories: Arcane Edition NiB UK import
Another World CiB Limited Run Games
Aqua Moto Racing Utopia CiB
Aragami: Shadow Edition CiB
Arc of Alchemist NiB
Ark: Survival Evolved CiB
Arms CiB
Ash of Gods: Redemption NiB EU import
Assassin's Creed III Remastered CiB
Assassin's Creed: The Rebel Collection CiB
Atari Flashback Classics CiB
Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings CiB
Away: Journey to the Unexpected NiB Limited Run Games
Azure Striker Gunvolt: Striker Pack CiB
Bad North NiB Limited Run Games
Baldur's Gate & Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Editions CiB
The Banner Saga Trilogy NiB
Batman - The Telltale Series CiB
Battle Chasers: Nightwar NiB
Battle Chef Brigade Deluxe NiB Limited Run Games
Battle Princess Madelyn NiB Japan import
Battle Princess Madelyn: Royal Edition NiB Limited Run Games
Battle Worlds: Kronos CiB
Bayonetta 2 CiB No Bayonetta 1 code
Bayonetta Nonstop Climax Edition NiB Japan import
Bee Simulator CiB
Ben 10 NiB
Bendy and the Ink Machine NiB
The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+ NiB First print w/ extras
Black Bird NiB Limited Run Games
Blacksad: Under the Skin Limited Edition NiB
Blade Strangers NiB
Blaster Master Zero NiB Limited Run Games
Blaster Master Zero 2 NiB Limited Run Games
BlazBlue Centralfiction Special Edition NiB EU import
BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle CiB
Blazing Chrome NiB Limited Run Games
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon NiB Limited Run Games
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night NiB
Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King NiB Limited Run Games
Bomber Crew: Complete Edition NiB
The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 NiB
Bookbound Brigade NiB Japan import
Brawlout NiB
Bridge Constructor Portal NiB Game Fairy
Brigandine: The Legend of Runersia NiB Limited Run Games
Broken Age NiB Limited Run Games
Broken Sword 5 - The Serpent's Curse CiB
Bubble Bobble 4 Friends NiB Strictly Limited Games
Bud Spencer & Terrence Hill: Slaps and Beans NiB Strictly Limited Games
Bundle Demetrios / Xenon Valkyrie NiB Red Art Games
Burgertime Party! NiB
Burgertime Party! NiB
Cabela's: The Hunt - Championship Edition NiB
Caladrius Blaze NiB Asia import
Call of Cthulhu CiB
Candle: The Power of the Flame NiB
Candleman NiB Red Art Games
Capcom Belt Action Collection NiB Japan import
Carnival Games NiB
Cartoon Network Battle Crashers CiB
Cat Quest NiB
Cave Story+ CiB First print w/ extras
Celeste Collector's Edition NiB Limited Run Games
Chicken Range NiB UK import
Child of Light Ultimate Edition + Valiant Hearts: The Great War CiB
Children of Morta NiB
Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon: Every Buddy! NiB Japan import
Cities: Skylines CiB
Close to the Sun NiB
Code of Princess EX NiB First print w/ extras
Collection of Mana NiB
Cooking Mama Cookstar NiB
Cosmic Star Heroine NiB Limited Run Games
The Count Lucanor NiB UK import
Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy NiB
Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled NiB
Crayola Scoot CiB
CrossCode CiB
Crystal Crisis NiB First print w/ extras
Cube Creator X NiB Asia import
Cytus Alpha NiB Launch edition w/ CD
Daedalus: The Awakening of Golden Jazz NiB Asia import (English on cart)
Daemon X Machina NiB
Danmaku Unlimited 3 NiB Limited Run Games
Darius Cozmic Collection (Famitsu DX Pack) NiB Japan import
Darkest Dungeon: Collector's Edition CiB
The Darkside Detective NiB Super Rare Games
Dead by Daylight NiB
Deadly Premonition Origins NiB
Death Mark CiB
Death Mark Cart only
Death Road to Canada NiB Play-Asia exclusive
Death Squared NiB 1Print Games
Deemo NiB
Deponia NiB EU import
Destiny Connect: Tick-Tock Travelers NiB
Diablo III: Eternal Collection CiB
Dimension Drive NiB Limited Edition (Play-Asia exclusive)
Disgaea 4 Complete+ NiB
Disgaea 5 Complete CiB
Disney Classic Games: Aladdin and The Lion King NiB
Doom CiB
Door Kickers: Action Squad NiB Special Reserve Games
Doraemon Story of Seasons NiB Asia import (English cover, no rating)
Double Switch: 25th Anniversary Edition NiB Limited Run Games
Downwell NiB Special Reserve Games
Dragon Ball FighterZ CiB
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 CiB
Dragon Marked for Death NiB
Dragon Quest 1/2/3 Collection NiB Asia import (English cover)
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen CiB
Dragon's Lair Trilogy NiB Limited Run Games
Dreamworks Dragons Dawn of New Riders NiB
Dust: An Elysian Tail NiB Limited Run Games
Earthlock Collector's Edition Box/Extras only Super Rare Games, damaged box
Earthlock Collector's Edition NiB Super Rare Games, damaged box
The End is Nigh CiB First print w/ extras
Enter the Gungeon NiB Special Reserve Games
The Escape Trick (Misshitsukara no Dasshutsu: Unmei o Tsunagu 35 no Nazo) NiB Japan import
The Escapists: Complete Edition NiB Limited Run Games
The Escapists 2 NiB
Everspace - Stellar Edition NiB
Everspace - Stellar Edition NiB UK import
Evoland Legendary Edition NiB Super Rare Games
Fairune Collection NiB Super Rare Games
Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force NiB Limited Run Games
Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory NiB
Farm Expert 2019 for Nintendo Switch CiB
Farming Simulator CiB
Fate/EXTELLA: The Umbral Star Cart only
Finding Teddy II: Definitive Edition NiB PixelHeart
Fire Emblem: Three Houses CiB
Fitness Boxing NiB
The Flame in the Flood NiB Super Rare Games
Flashback NiB
Flinthook NiB Limited Run Games (misprint)
Flipping Death NiB
For the King CiB
Forager NiB
Forgotton Anne NiB Limited Run Games
Fox n Forests NiB Strictly Limited Games
Friday the 13th: The Game Ultimate Slasher Edition NiB
The Friends of Ringo Ishikawa NiB
The Fruit, Labyrinth, and Eden of Grisaia Full Package NiB Japan import
Fun! Fun! Animal Park NiB
Furi NiB Limited Run Games
Furwind NiB EU import
Gal Metal - World Tour Edition NiB
Galak-Z: The Void + Skulls of the Shogun Bone-A-Fide Edition Platinum Pack NiB
Gekido Kintaro's Revenge NiB Red Art Games, smushed box
Gelly Break NiB EU import
Ghost 1.0 + Unepic Collection NiB Play-Asia exclusive
Ghost Blade HD NiB Play-Asia exclusive
Ghost Parade NiB
Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered NiB
Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams - Owltimate Edition CiB
Giga Wrecker Alt. NiB Limited Run Games
Gigantic Army NiB VGNY Cover
Ginger: Beyond the Crystal NiB UK import
Girls und Panzer: Dream Tank Match DX NiB Asia import
God Eater 3 NiB
God Eater 3 Cart only
God Wars: The Complete Legend CiB
Golf Story NiB Limited Run Games
Goosebumps: The Game CiB
Grandia HD Collection NiB Limited Run Games
GRIP: Combat Racing NiB Collector's Edition
Gris NiB Special Reserve Games
Gris NiB Special Reserve Games
Gunlord X NiB EU import
Guns, Gore, & Cannoli 1 & 2 NiB Strictly Limited Games
Guns of Mercy: Rangers Edition NiB PixelHeart
Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger IX NiB Limited Run Games
Happy Birthdays NiB
Harvest Life NiB UK import
Harvest Moon: Light of Hope NiB
Harvest Moon: Mad Dash NiB
Has-Been Heroes CiB Third print (Purple cover art)
Has-Been Heroes CiB Third print (Purple cover art)
Hasbro Game Night NiB
Headliner: Novi News NiB Japan import
Hell Warders NiB Asia import
Hellmut: The Badass from Hell CiB
Hello Neighbor NiB
Hello Neighbor: Hide & Seek NiB
Heroland Knowble Edition NiB
Horizon Chase Turbo NiB Special Edition
Hotel Transylvania 3: Monsters Overboard NiB
Hotline Miami Collection NiB Special Reserve Games
Hover NiB
Hover NiB Red Art Games
Human Fall Flat NiB Super Rare Games
Human Resource Machine Deluxe NiB Japan import
I am Setsuna. NiB Japan import
Ice Age: Scrat's Nutty Adventure NiB
Jay and Silent Bob: Mall Brawl NiB Limited Run Games
Joe Dever's Lone Wolf NiB Super Rare Games
Just Dance 2017 NiB
Just Dance 2018 CiB
Just Dance 2019 NiB
Kamen Rider Climax Scramble Zi-O NiB Japan import
KEMCO RPG Omnibus CiB Asia import
Kero Blaster NiB 1Print Games
Killer Queen Black NiB
Kingdom: New Lands NiB Limited Run Games
Kotodama: The 7 Mysteries of Fujisawa CiB
Kunai NiB Limited Run Games
La Mulana 1&2 Hidden Treasures Edition NiB
L.A. Noire CiB
Lapis x Labyrinth Limited Edition XL NiB
Lastfight NiB EU import
Layers of Fear: Legacy NiB Limited Run Games
Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires' Conspiracy - Deluxe Edition NiB
Legend of Kay - Anniversary NiB
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Explorer's Edition CiB
Legendary Fishing NiB
Lego City Undercover CiB
Lego DC Super Villains NiB
Lego Harry Potter Collection NiB
Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 NiB
The Lego Movie 2 Video Game NiB
Lego Ninjago Movie Video Game NiB
Lego The Incredibles NiB
Lego Worlds NiB
Let's Sing 2018 NiB UK import (1 microphone bundle)
Let's Sing 2019 NiB UK import (1 microphone bundle)
Let's Sing Country NiB
Little Dragon's Cafe CiB
Little Town Hero Big Idea Edition NiB
Lode Runner Legacy NiB Strictly Limited Games
The Longest Five Minutes CiB
The Lost Child CiB
Lost Sphear NiB
Lumines Remastered NiB Limited Run Games
Lumo NiB
Machinarium NiB Super Rare Games
Mahjong Deluxe 3 NiB UK import
Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle CiB
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 NiB
Mario Tennis Aces CiB
Mary Skelter 2 NiB Limited Run Games
Max: The Curse of Brotherhood NiB Damaged spine
Mega Man 11 NiB
Mega Man Legacy Collection CiB No Collection 2 code
Mega Man X Legacy Collection CiB No Collection 2 code
Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection NiB
Megaquarium NiB Japan import
Mercenaries Saga Chronicles NiB
Mercenaries Wings: The False Phoenix NiB Limited Run Games
Mercenary Kings Reloaded NiB Limited Run Games (misprint)
The Messenger NiB Special Reserve Games
Minecraft: Story Mode - The Complete Adventure NiB
Minecraft: Story Mode - Season 2 NiB
Minit NiB Special Reserve Games
Minit NiB Special Reserve Games
Moero Chronicle Hyper NiB Limited Run Games
Moero Crystal H NiB Play-Asia exclusive
Monopoly for Nintendo Switch NiB
Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom NiB Launch Edition
Monster Energy Supercross - The Official Videogame CiB
Monster Energy Supercross - The Official Videogame 2 NiB
Monster Jam Crush It! CiB
Moonlighter NiB
Mortal Kombat 11 CiB
Mother Russia Bleeds NiB Special Reserve Games
Ms. Splosion Man NiB Limited Run Games
Musynx NiB Chibi cover
Mutant Football League: Dynasty Edition NiB
Mutant Mudds Collection NiB Super Rare Games
Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden CiB Deluxe Edition
MXGP3 - The Official Motocross Video Game CiB
My Friend Pedro NiB Special Reserve Games
My Girlfriend is a Mermaid!? NiB Japan import
My Hero One's Justice CiB
My Little Riding Champion NiB
My Memory of Us NiB Red Art Games
My Riding Stables - Life with Horses CiB
My Time at Portia CiB
Namco Museum Arcade Pac NiB
NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 NiB
NBA 2K19 NiB
Nelke and the Legendary Alchemists ~Ateliers of the New World~ CiB
Neo Atlas 1469 NiB
Neo ATLAS 1469 NiB Japan import
Neurovoider NiB Red Art Games
New Super Lucky's Tale NiB
NG NiB
Night Trap NiB Limited Run Games
Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon CiB
The Ninja Saviors - Return of the Warriors NiB Strictly Limited Games
Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 01: Variety Kit NiB
Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 02: Robot Kit NiB
Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 03: Vehicle Kit NiB
Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 04: VR Kit NiB
Nippon Marathon NiB UK import
Northgard NiB
Nurse Love Obsession NiB
Oceanhorn - Monster of Uncharted Seas NiB
Okami: Zekkeiban Limited Edition NiB Japan import
Old Man's Journey NiB Red Art Games
Omega Labyrinth Life NiB Asia import
Oniken + Odallus Collection NiB Play-Asia Exclusive
Onimusha: Warlords NiB Japan import
Oninaki NiB SEA import
Opus Collection NiB
Our World is Ended. NiB
Outlast: Bundle of Terror / Outlast 2 NiB Limited Run Games
Overcooked! CiB
Overcooked! 2 CiB
Overwatch NiB Japan import
Owlboy CiB
Panty Party NiB Play-Asia Exclusive
Panzer Dragoon NiB Limited Run Games
Party Arcade CiB
Party Planet CiB
Pato Box NiB Play-Asia Exclusive
Paw Patrol: On A Roll! NiB
Payday 2 CiB
Penguin Wars CiB
Penny Punching Princess CiB
PixARK NiB
PixelJunk Monsters 2 NiB Limited Run Games
Poi: Explorer Edition CiB
Pokemon Shield CiB
Pokken Tournament DX CiB
Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid Mega Edition NiB Limited Run Games
The Princess Guide CiB
Professional Farmer: Nintendo Switch Edition NiB
Psikyo Shooting Stars Alpha NiB
Psikyo Shooting Stars Bravo NiB
Psyvariar Delta CiB
Puyo Puyo Tetris NiB
Q.U.B.E. 2 NiB Super Rare Games
R-Type Dimensions EX NiB Strictly Limited Games
R-Type Dimensions EX NiB Strictly Limited Games
Rad Rogers: Radical Edition NiB
Raging Justice NiB Strictly Limited Games
Raging Justice NIB Strictly Limited Games
Raging Loop CiB Day One Edition
Raiden V: Director's Cut Limited Edition NiB
The Raven Remastered CiB
Rayman Legends Definitive Edition CiB
RBI Baseball 2017 Cart only
RBI Baseball 18 CiB
RBI Baseball 19 CiB
RealMyst: Masterpiece Edition NiB Limited Run Games
Red Faction Guerilla Re-Mars-Tered NiB
Reel Fishing: Road Trip Adventure NiB
RemiLore: Lost Girl in the Lands of Lore NiB First print w/ extras
Resident Evil Origins Collection NiB
Resident Evil Triple Pack NiB
Retro City Rampage DX NiB Limited Collector's Edition from VBlank Entertainment
Reverie: Sweet As Edition NiB Play-Asia exclusive
RICO CiB
Riddled Corpses EX NiB Red Art Games
RiME CiB Includes manual
Riot: Civil Unrest NiB
Risk of Rain 2 NiB
River City Melee Mach!! NiB Asia import
Rocket League Ultimate Edition NiB
Rockman 5-in-1 Collection (Anniversary 2 / X Anniversary 2) NiB Japan import
Rockman X Anniversary Collection 2 NiB Japan import
Rogue Legacy NiB Limited Run Games
RollerCoaster Tycoon Adventures NiB
Roman Rumble in Las Vegum - Asterix & Obelix XXL2 NiB
Root Letter: Last Answer CiB Day One box beat up, game itself NiB
Runner3 NiB First print w/ extras
RXN -Raijin- NiB Play-Asia exclusive
Saints Row: The Third - The Full Package NiB
Samurai Shodown - Shockbox Gold Edition NiB Pix'n Love
Saturday Morning RPG NiB Limited Run Games
Scribblenauts Mega Pack NiB
SD Gundam G Generation Cross Rays NiB Asia import
Sega Genesis Classics CiB
Senran Kagura Peach Ball CiB
Senran Kagura Reflexions NiB Limited Run Games
Shadowgate NiB Limited Run Games
Shakedown: Hawaii NiB VBlank exclusive
Shanghai Refresh NiB Japan import
Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn CiB
Shikhondo - Soul Eater NiB Play-Asia exclusive
Shining Resonance Refrain CiB Day One Edition
Shmup Collection NiB PixelHeart
Sid Meier's Civilization VI NiB
Sisters Royale NiB Strictly Limited Games
Skullgirls: 2nd Encore NiB
Skylanders Imaginators Starter Pack NiB
Slay the Spire NiB
Slime-San: Superslime Edition NiB Limited Run Games
Snake Pass NiB Super Rare Games
Sniper Elite V2 Remastered CiB
Sniper Elite III Ultimate Edition NiB
Snipperclips Plus CiB
SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy NiB
Snow Moto Racing Freedom NiB
Soldam: Drop, Connect, Erase CiB
Songbird Symphony NiB UK import
Sonic Forces CiB
Sonic Mania Plus NiB
South Park: The Fractured But Whole NiB
Space Invaders Invincible Collection - Special Edition NiB Japan import
Sparklite NiB
Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy Cart only
Spintires: Mudrunner - American Wilds NiB
Splasher NiB Red Art Games
Splatoon 2 CiB
Sports Party CiB
Star Wars Episode I: Racer NiB Limited Run Games
Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast / Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy NiB Limited Run Games
Star Wars Pinball NiB
Starlink: Battle for Atlas - Starter Edition CiB
Stay CiB Red Art Games
SteamWorld Dig 2 NiB
SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech NiB Super Rare Games
Steins;Gate Elite CiB
Stern Pinball Arcade CiB
Stranded Sails: Explorers of the Cursed Islands NiB
Stranger Things 3: The Game NiB Limited Run Games
Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection CiB
Streets of Rage 4 NiB Limited Run Games
Streets of Red: Devil's Dare Deluxe NiB
Super Bomberman R NiB Second print (standardized spine text)
Super Mario Party CiB
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD NiB
Super Neptunia RPG NiB
Super Robot Wars T NiB Asia import
Super Robot Wars V NiB Asia import
Super Street: Racer NiB
Super Trench Attack! NiB PixelHeart
Superbeat: Xonic NiB
SuperEpic: The Entertainment War NiB
Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido NiB
Syberia Trilogy NiB EU import
Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition NiB
Tennis World Tour: Roland-Garros Edition CiB
Teslagrad NiB
Tetris 99 NiB
Thea: The Awakening NiB Limited Run Games
Thimbleweed Park NiB Limited Run Games
This is the Police Cart only
This War of Mine: Complete Edition CiB
Thumper NiB Limited Run Games
Tiny Barbarian DX CiB First print w/ extras
Tiny Metal Ultimate NiB Limited Run Games
Tiny Troopers: Joint Ops XL NiB
Titan Quest CiB
ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove! NiB Limited Run Games
Toki Retrollector Edition CiB
Tokyo 2020 Olympics: The Official Video Game NiB Japan import
Tokyo School Life NiB
Touch Detective: Funghi's Big Breed (The Nameko no Puzzle: Nameko Dai Hanshoku) NiB Japan import
Touhou Genso Wanderer Reloaded Cart only
Touhou Kobuto V: Burst Battle NiB
Trailblazers CiB
Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes CiB DLC code unused
Trials Rising Gold Edition NiB
Trine Series 1-3 NiB
Trine Ultimate Collection CiB cart is Trine 4 standalone
Troll & I CiB
Trüberbrook CiB
Truck Racing Championship NiB
TT Isle of Man - Ride on the Edge CiB
Turok / Turok 2: Seeds of Evil NiB Limited Run Games
Two Point Hospital NiB
Two Tribes Collection (Toki-Tori Collection / RIVE Ultimate Edition) NiB Super Rare Games
Uglydolls: An Imperfect Adventure CiB
Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers NiB
Ultracore NiB Strictly Limited Games
Umihara Kawase Fresh! NiB SFC Box Edition
Undertale CiB
The Unicorn Princess NiB
Valfaris CiB
Valkyria Chronicles 4 CiB
Valthirian Arc: Hero School Story NiB UK import
Vampyr CiB
THE Variety Game Daishugo: Kingyo Sukui, Card, Suji Puzzle, Nikakudori NiB Japan import
Vasara Collection NiB Strictly Limited Games
Vectronom NiB Red Art Games
Velocity 2X NiB Strictly Limited Games
Victor Vran: Overkill Edition CiB
Vitamin Connection NiB Limited Run Games
VOEZ NiB
Void Terrarium Limited Edition NiB
Vostok Inc. NiB Wired Productions
Waku Waku Sweets NiB
The Walking Dead: The Final Season CiB
War Tech Fighters NiB Red Art Games
Wargroove NiB
Wasteland 2 Director's Cut CiB
Wild Guns Reloaded CiB
Windjammers NiB Limited Run Games
Windstorm NiB EU (Nordic) import
The Witcher III: Wild Hunt Complete Edition NiB
Wizard of Legend NiB Limited Run Games
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus CiB
Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap CiB First print w/ extras
World of Final Fantasy Maxima NiB Asia multi-language import
World of Simulators NiB Firefighters/Professional Construction/Firefighters Airport
Worms W.M.D. NiB Super Rare Games
Wulverblade NiB Super Rare Games
Xeno Crisis NiB Strictly Limited Games
Xeodrifter NiB Red Art Games
Yoku's Island Express CiB
Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles CiB
Yooka-Laylee Classic Edition NiB Limited Run Games
Yooka-Laylee NiB Limited Run Games
Yooka-Laylee & the Impossible Lair CiB
Yoshi's Crafted World CiB
Ys Origin NiB Limited Run Games
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana CiB
Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution NiB
Zumba Burn it Up! NiB

WANTS

Game System
Atelier Ryza 3 PS4
Tales of Symphonia Remastered PS4
Kirby and the Forgotten Land Switch
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Switch
Offers PS4, PS5, Switch
I prefer CiB or NiB, but I'm also happy to look at digital offers. Nothing disc or cart-only, please!
submitted by Xylobe to gameswap [link] [comments]


2023.03.25 23:56 kylie_anne11 16f looking for friends [Friendship]

I love reading and watching tv shows or movies. I also love animals. I have five cats, two dogs, and a turtle. Please don't message me if you're over 19 years old.
submitted by kylie_anne11 to MeetPeople [link] [comments]


2023.03.25 23:54 TorukMaktoM Weekly Stock Market Recap for the week ending: Friday, March 24, 2023

Weekly Stock Market Recap for the week ending: Friday, March 24, 2023 submitted by TorukMaktoM to marketpredictors [link] [comments]


2023.03.25 23:54 TorukMaktoM Weekly Stock Market Recap for the week ending: Friday, March 24, 2023

Weekly Stock Market Recap for the week ending: Friday, March 24, 2023 submitted by TorukMaktoM to FluentInFinance [link] [comments]


2023.03.25 23:53 TorukMaktoM Weekly Stock Market Recap for the week ending: Friday, March 24, 2023

Weekly Stock Market Recap for the week ending: Friday, March 24, 2023 submitted by TorukMaktoM to smallstreetbets [link] [comments]


2023.03.25 23:53 TorukMaktoM Weekly Stock Market Recap for the week ending: Friday, March 24, 2023

Weekly Stock Market Recap for the week ending: Friday, March 24, 2023 submitted by TorukMaktoM to Daytrading [link] [comments]


2023.03.25 23:46 Goku__10 How did I do ? Budget ~ $1000 build

PCPartPicker Part List
Type Item Price
CPU Intel Core i5-12400F 2.5 GHz 6-Core Processor $159.16 @ Amazon
CPU Cooler ID-COOLING SE-214-XT 68.2 CFM CPU Cooler $19.98 @ Amazon
Motherboard Gigabyte B660 DS3H DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard $188.50 @ Amazon
Memory Silicon Power XPOWER Zenith Gaming 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory $34.95 @ Amazon
Storage Crucial P3 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive $49.99 @ Amazon
Video Card Zotac GAMING Twin Edge OC GeForce RTX 3060 Ti LHR 8 GB Video Card $409.99 @ Newegg
Case Cougar MX330-G Air ATX Mid Tower Case $59.99 @ B&H
Power Supply Cooler Master MWE Bronze V2 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply $100.00
Case Fan be quiet! Pure Wings 2 87 CFM 120 mm Fan $10.90 @ Amazon
Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
Total $1033.46
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-03-25 18:43 EDT-0400
submitted by Goku__10 to PcBuild [link] [comments]


2023.03.25 23:45 Cr4yol4 Rugby ATL @ Houston SaberCats Match Thread

Matchup: Rugby ATL (2-2, 10pts, 5th in East) vs Houston SaberCats (3-1, 15pts, 3rd in West)
Venue: AVEVA Stadium, Houston, TX Weather: 83 F, 29 C, Clear Sky
Broadcast: The Rugby Network, AT&TSN SW
Kickoff: 8pm ET, 5pm PT
Rugby ATL Number Houston
Will Burke 1 Alec McDonnell
Tiaan Erasmus 2 Dean Muir (c)
John-Roy Jenkinson 3 Morgan Mitchell
Nahuel Milán 4 Siaosi Mahoni
Jordan Brown 5 Nathan Den Hoedt
Johan Momsen (c) 6 Marno Redelinghuys
Matt Heaton 7 Danny Barrett
Daemon Torres 8 Wynand Grassmann
Rowan Gouws 9 Carlo de Nysschen
Duncan van Schalkwyk 10 Davy Coetzer
Harley Davidson 11 Gerrie Labuschagne
Will Leonard 12 Louritz van der Schyff
Te Rangatira Waitokia 13 Dom Akina
Jack Shaw 14 Christian Dyer
Martini Talapusi 15 Drew Wild
Reserves Reserves
Alex Maughan 16 Axel Zapata
Jonas Petrakopoulos 17 Frikkie de Beer
Lincoln Si’i 18 Pono Davis
Justin Basson 19 Gideon van Wyk
Frederick Henry-Ajudua 20 Malon Al-Jiboori
Ross Deacon 21 Nick Boyer
Ryan Rees 22 Zach Pangelinan
Kurt Coleman 23 Emmanuel Albert
Referee: Luke Rogan (USA)
Assistants: Jono Cooper (USA) & Blair McClure (USA)
TMO: Austin Reed (USA)
submitted by Cr4yol4 to MLRugby [link] [comments]


2023.03.25 23:40 Short_Algo $CAT PCR by OI => 1.2, and Vol => 1.06 @ 2023-03-31. Learn more at https://t.co/e5urvrrXRT #CATSTOCK #calls https://t.co/F78LBIOZwO

$CAT PCR by OI => 1.2, and Vol => 1.06 @ 2023-03-31. Learn more at https://t.co/e5urvrrXRT #CATSTOCK #calls https://t.co/F78LBIOZwO submitted by Short_Algo to StockTradingIdeas [link] [comments]


2023.03.25 23:20 King-of-Taste Defective Copy?

Defective Copy?
First run of the new program and I don't know where to start...
First of all, I've been running 22 until today and I love the new look. Things also seem to run faster, and you gotta like that.
Game simulation? Rangers World Series Champions? Wait! The laughs continue...
Seems the sixth seed St. Louis Cardinals with an 83-79 record represent the National League....
The Mariners finished in last in the AL West, five games behind the A's... This is the second worst record in the AL behind the Tigers with 110 loses... I don't think the fish lose 110 this year.
On the "It Just Might Happen" front... The O's made the playoffs with 98 wins, five behind the Jays... Rasmussen and Snell take the Cy Young Awards, Ramirez and Soto take MVP honors. Maybe the Reds win 76...
On the "Absolutely Positively Never Gonna Happen" list? Trout plays 160 games. Come on!
The most realistic aspects? The Angels missed the playoff (again). The Dodgers lost in the first round (again). The Rockies lost 105. Tigers lose 110.
What do I love? The Yankees missed the playoffs. My second favorite team is whoever is playing the Yankees.
Hey, I know it's a game and literally none of this upsets me. I just wanted to share my first play through Out Of The Box. I'm so happy to have the new version and I love the way it looks and feels. Happy birthday to me!
https://preview.redd.it/as7ywcjfnypa1.jpg?width=1536&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c956e0c1959130c9db9f47fc49173de97627a75c
https://preview.redd.it/zpfepijfnypa1.jpg?width=1536&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=46e8fb2272ade2284fe5f28bc249636d92b09ab9
https://preview.redd.it/oqbpycjfnypa1.jpg?width=1536&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=529310a63294a94b676e1e858d34e93c657a7903
submitted by King-of-Taste to OOTP [link] [comments]


2023.03.25 23:05 VietRooster New Music Friday: March 24th, 2023

❓ "this seems intriguing after a cursory look"
⭐ "im interested in this for one reason or another"
❤️ "ive been waiting for weeks, months/i'm absolutely in love with this"
Caroline Rose - The Art of Forgetting
Label: New West
Genre: Indie Rock, Indie Folk, Neo-Psychedelia
Black Country, New Road - Live at Bush Hall
Label: Ninja Tune
Genre: Art Rock, Progressive Pop, Chamber Pop, Post-Rock
Liturgy - 93696
Label: Thrill Jockey
Genre: Avant-Garde Metal, Black Metal, Glitch, Chamber Music
JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown - SCARING THE HOES
Label: AWAL
Genre: Experimental Hip Hop, Hardcore Hip Hop, Jazz Rap
Lucinda Chua - YIAN
Label: 4AD
Genre: Ambient Pop, Chamber Pop, Singesongwriter
Lankum - False Lankum
Label: Rough Trade
Genre: Irish Folk Music, Drone, Avant-Folk
Depeche Mode - Memento Mori
Label: columbia
Genre: Synthpop, Electro-Industrial, Darkwave
Navy Blue - Ways of Knowing
Label: Def Jam
Genre: Conscious Hip Hop, East Coast Hip Hop
Parannoul - After the Night (Live)
Label: n/a
Genre: Shoegaze, Emo, Post-Rock
Kate Davis - Fish Bowl
Label: n/a
Genre: Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Neo-Psychedelia
Kele (of Bloc Party) - The Flames pt. 2
Label: !K7
Genre: Art Rock, Indie Rock
The HIRS Collective - We're Still Here
Label: Get Better
Genre: Queercore, Powerviolence
Purling Hiss - Drag On Girard
Label: n/a
Genre: Garage Rock, Power Pop
Secret Machines - The Moth, The Lizard, And The Secret Machines
Label: n/a
Genre: Alternative Rock, Space Rock Revival, Indie Rock
The Reds, Pinks & Purples - The Town That Cursed Your Name
Label: n/a
Genre: Indie Pop, Jangle Pop
DEBBY FRIDAY - GOOD LUCK
Label: Sub Pop
Genre: Electro-Industrial, Deconstructed Club, Industrial Hip Hop
Grecco Romank - Wet Exit
Label: n/a
Genre: Industrial Techno, Maximalist Post-Empire Themed Dungeon Power Techno
Noble Rot (Alex Edkins of Metz / Graham Walsh of Holy Fuck) - Heavenly Bodies, Repetition, Control
Label: n/a
Genre: Post-Punk, Electronic
The Natural Lines - The Natural Lines
Label: Bella Union
Genre: Indie Rock
Jilk - Syrup House
Label: Castles in Space
Genre: Post-Rock, Experimental Electronic
Night Hikes - Perfect Wonder (EP)
Label: n/a
Genre: Psychedelic Pop
Phoneboy - Moving Out
Label: n/a
Genre: Indie Rock, Indie Pop
Zohra - Murder in the Temple
Label: American Dreams
Genre: Synthpop, Goth Pop
Heartworms - A Comforting Notion (EP)
Label: Speedy Wunderground
Genre: Post-Punk, Gothic Rock, Industrial Rock
Softcult - See You In The Dark (EP)
Label: Easy Life
Genre: Shoegaze, Dream Pop
Benny Sings - Young Hearts
Label: Stones Throw
Genre: Indie Pop, Synth Funk, Yacht Rock
Angel Bat Dawid - Requiem for Jazz (live)
Label: n/a
Genre: Avant-Garde Jazz, Spiritual Jazz
Nickel Creek - Celebrants
Label: Thirty Tigers
Genre: Progressive Bluegrass
Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, Shahzad Ismaily - Love In Exile
Label: Verve
Genre: Chamber Jazz, Ghazal
Matt Corby - Everything’s Fine
Label: n/a
Genre: Contemporary Folk, Indie Rock, Neo-Soul
Kid Moxie & NINA - Lust (EP)
Label: Italians Do It Better
Genre: Synthpop, Synthwave
CATT - Change
Label: Listenrecords
Genre: Singer-songwriter
Kool Keith & Real Bad Man - Serpent
Label: n/a
Genre: East Coast Hip Hop, Abstract Hip Hop
Juno - Myriad Path
Label: Jazzland Norway
Genre: Jazz, Indie Pop
Exploring Birdsong - Dancing in the Face Of Danger (EP)
Label: Long Branch
Genre: Art Rock, Art Pop
The Bouncing Souls - Ten Stories High
Label: Pure Noise
Genre: Skate Punk, Pop Punk
Annabel Lee - Drift
Label: Howlin' Banana
Genre: Garage Rock
Andy Loebs - Hyperlink Anamorphosis
Label: n/a
Genre: Digital Fusion, Progressive Electronic
Resa Saffa Park - Madness. Let Me In!
Label: Unity
Genre: Singer-songwriter
Dick Stusso - S.P.
Label: n/a
Genre: Singer-Songwriter, Rock
LVRA - soft like steel (EP)
Label: Eastern Margins
Genre: Electronic, Hyperpop, Alt-Pop
Hysterical Love Project - Lashes
Label: Motion Ward
Genre: Dream Pop, Downtempo
The Black Cat's Eye - The Empty Space Between A Seamount And Shock​-​Headed Julia
Label: n/a
Genre: Neo-Psychedelic, Prog Rock, Space Rock
Cecile McLorin Salvant - Mélusine
Label: Nonesuch
Genre: Vocal Jazz, Nu Jazz
Xysma - No Place Like Alone
Label: Svart
Genre: Hard Rock, Alternative Metal
Semaphore - I Need a Reason to Stay
Label: n/a
Genre: Shoegaze
Endless, Nameless - Living Without
Label: Silent Pendulum
Genre: Math Rock, Noise Rock, Blackgaze
O Gajo - Não Lugar
Label: n/a
Genre: Indie Folk
Spicy Dreams - You Me You Us
Label: n/a
Genre: Dream Pop, Alternative Pop
WMD - Deliquesce
Label: n/a
Genre: Chillwave, Chiptune, Ambient
Lana Del Rey - Did You Know That There's A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
Label: n/a
Genre: Singesongwriter, Traditional Pop, Alt-Pop, Chamber Pop
SKAAR - Mad Woman, Pt. 1 (EP)
Label: Warner Norway
Genre: Singer-songwriter
Luke Combs - Gettin' Old
Label: Sony
Genre: Contemporary Country
Myke Towers - LA VIDA ES UNA
Label: n/a
Genre: Reggaetón, Latin Pop
BABYMETAL - THE OTHER ONE
Label: Toy's Factory
Genre: Alternative Metal, Trance Metal
Meg Myers - TZIA
Label: Sumerian
Genre: Alternative Rock, Alt-Pop, Electropop
ROSALÍA & Rauw Alejandro -
Label: Columbia
Genre: Reggaetón, Latin Pop, Bolero
ICECOLDBISHOP - GENERATIONAL CURSE
Label: Epic
Genre: Hardcore Hip Hop, West Coast Hip Hop
6LACK - Since I Have A Lover
Label: LVRN
Genre: Alternative R&B, Neo-Soul, Trap
LUDMILLA - VILA
Label: Warner Brasil
Genre: Pop, Contemporary R&B, Funk carioca
TisaKorean - Let Me Update My Status
Label: n/a
Genre: Southern Hip Hop, Snap, Crunk
Kota the Friend x Statik Selektah - To See A Sunset
Label: ShowOff
Genre: East Coast Hip Hop
Oliver Francis - OLIVER’S REVENGE
Label: n/a
Genre: Trap, Cloud Rap
BigBabyGucci - Colors
Label: n/a
Genre: Pop Rap, Contemporary R&B, Trap
Jae Skeese - Abolished Uncertainties
Label: Drumwork
Genre: East Coast Hip Hop, Boom Bap
Hit-Boy - SURF OR DROWN
Label: n/a
Genre: West Coast Hip Hop, Trap, Jazz Rap
August Burns Red - Death Below
Label: SharpTone
Genre: Melodic Metalcore, Progressive Metal
Fall Out Boy - So Much (For) Stardust
Label: Fueled By Ramen
Genre: Alternative Rock, Pop Rock
Ne Obliviscaris - Exul
Label: Season of Mist
Genre: Progressive Metal, Melodic Death Metal
Ov Sulfur - The Burden Ov Faith
Label: Century Media
Genre: Deathcore, Symphonic Metal, Metalcore
Shores of Null - The Loss of Beauty
Label: Spike
Genre: Progressive Metal, Death Doom Metal
Acid King - Beyond Vision
Label: Blues Funeral
Genre: Stoner Metal, Heavy Psych
The Turin Horse - Unsavory Impurities
Label: Invisible Order
Genre: Noise Rock, Post-Metal, Mathcore, Dark Jazz
XALPEN - The Curse of Kwányep
Label: Black Lodge
Genre: Black Metal
Zoromor - The Monolith
Label: Via Nocturna
Genre: Black Metal
Dawn Ray'd - To Know the Light
Label: Prosthetic
Genre: Black Metal, Melodic Black Metal
Floor Jansen - Paragon
Label: n/a
Genre: Pop Rock, Symphonic Rock
Forcefed Horsehead - Monoceros
Label: n/a
Genre: Grindcore, Death Metal
Iron Walrus - Tales Never Told
Label: Apostasy
Genre: Sludge Metal
Morass of Molasses - End All We Know
Label: n/a
Genre: Stoner Metal
Woe Unto Me - Along the Meandering Ordeals, Reshape the Pivot of Harmony
Label: M-Theory
Genre: Funeral Doom Metal, Death Doom Metal
submitted by VietRooster to indieheads [link] [comments]


2023.03.25 23:00 FappidyDat [H] TF2 Keys & PayPal [W] Scary Games to Play in the Dark

Notes:
 
I pay with the following:
TF2 & PayPal
 
I Buy Scary Games to Play in the Dark Bundle with TF2 with PayPal
Propnight 0.5 TF2 Price Will Be Ready Soon $1.07 PP Price Will Be Ready Soon
The Blackout Club 4.7 TF2 Price Will Be Ready Soon $9.64 PP Price Will Be Ready Soon
Visage 4.7 TF2 Price Will Be Ready Soon $9.67 PP Price Will Be Ready Soon
All Games Above (Special) 10.7 TF2 + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games Bundle Price Will Be Ready Soon $22.23 PP + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games Bundle Price Will Be Ready Soon
Full Bundle (Special) 11.13 TF2 $23.03 PP
I Buy Kart Club: Best Indie Kart Racers Bundle with TF2 with PayPal
Garfield Kart - Furious Racing 0.2 TF2 $0.38 PayPal
Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix 0.3 TF2 $0.64 PayPal
All Games Above (Special) 0.6 TF2 + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games $1.17 PP + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games
Full Bundle (Special) TBD TBD
I Buy Train Simulator Classic: On the Fast Track Bundle with TF2 with PayPal
Train Simulator Classic 0.7 TF2 $1.44 PayPal
All Games Above (Special) 0.8 TF2 + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games $1.65 PP + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games
Full Bundle (Special) TBD TBD
I Buy Humble Heroines: Warriors, Dreamers, and God Slayers with TF2 with PayPal
Control Ultimate Edition 1.3 TF2 $2.63 PayPal
Dreamscaper 0.2 TF2 $0.45 PayPal
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice 0.8 TF2 $1.72 PayPal
Praey for the Gods 0.6 TF2 $1.32 PayPal
Sable 0.5 TF2 $1.04 PayPal
Syberia: The World Before 0.9 TF2 $1.84 PayPal
All Games Above (Special) 5.0 TF2 + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games $10.29 PP + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games
Full Bundle (Special) TBD TBD
I Buy Humble Choice (Mar 2023) with TF2 with PayPal
BIOMUTANT 1.7 TF2 $3.48 PayPal
Hero's Hour 1.1 TF2 $2.19 PayPal
Jurassic World Evolution 2 1.9 TF2 $3.87 PayPal
All Games Above (Special) 5.3 TF2 + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games $10.9 PP + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games
Full Bundle (Special) 6.52 TF2 $13.5 PP
I Buy Türkiye-Syria Earthquake Relief Bundle with TF2 with PayPal
PAYDAY 2 0.2 TF2 $0.45 PayPal
Pathfinder: Kingmaker - Enhanced Plus Edition 1.0 TF2 $2.11 PayPal
Mount & Blade: Warband 0.5 TF2 $0.98 PayPal
Strange Brigade 0.3 TF2 $0.68 PayPal
Stick Fight: The Game 0.4 TF2 $0.75 PayPal
Farming Simulator 17 0.5 TF2 $1.11 PayPal
Euro Truck Simulator 2 1.2 TF2 $2.43 PayPal
Armello 0.3 TF2 $0.69 PayPal
Gotham Knights 5.1 TF2 $10.54 PayPal
Ghostrunner 1.3 TF2 $2.67 PayPal
All Games Above (Special) 12.4 TF2 + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games $25.61 PP + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games
Full Bundle (Special) TBD TBD
I Buy Unparalleled Puzzlers Bundle with TF2 with PayPal
Baba Is You 1.6 TF2 $3.3 PayPal
Creaks 0.4 TF2 $0.74 PayPal
DARQ: Complete Edition 0.2 TF2 $0.51 PayPal
Dorfromantik 2.0 TF2 $4.04 PayPal
The Last Campfire 0.3 TF2 $0.61 PayPal
All Games Above (Special) 5.1 TF2 + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games $10.51 PP + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games
Full Bundle (Special) 5.56 TF2 $11.5 PP
I Buy Humble Choice (Feb 2023) with TF2 with PayPal
Fallout 76 1.6 TF2 $3.36 PayPal
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous 0.9 TF2 $1.89 PayPal
Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales 0.3 TF2 $0.62 PayPal
All Games Above (Special) 3.2 TF2 + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games $6.71 PP + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games
Full Bundle (Special) TBD TBD
I Buy Sim-ple Life Bundle with TF2 with PayPal
Garden Paws 0.9 TF2 $1.77 PayPal
Lake 0.8 TF2 $1.62 PayPal
Staxel 0.6 TF2 $1.18 PayPal
Summer in Mara 0.4 TF2 $0.92 PayPal
Townscaper 0.6 TF2 $1.17 PayPal
Winkeltje: The Little Shop 1.0 TF2 $2.09 PayPal
Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles 2.0 TF2 $4.17 PayPal
All Games Above (Special) 5.7 TF2 + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games $11.9 PP + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games
Full Bundle (Special) 5.85 TF2 $12.1 PP
I Buy Survival Instinct Bundle with TF2 with PayPal
Chernobylite Enhanced Edition 1.1 TF2 $2.2 PayPal
The Long Dark: Survival Edition 0.4 TF2 $0.78 PayPal
SCUM 2.8 TF2 $5.72 PayPal
State of Decay 2: Juggernaut Edition 2.9 TF2 $6.08 PayPal
Volcanoids 0.9 TF2 $1.91 PayPal
All Games Above (Special) 8.9 TF2 + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games $18.35 PP + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games
Full Bundle (Special) 9.06 TF2 $18.75 PP
I Buy In Case You Missed It: Gems of 2022 Bundle with TF2 with PayPal
Haiku, the Robot 1.5 TF2 $3.14 PayPal
PowerSlave Exhumed 1.7 TF2 $3.51 PayPal
Source of Madness 0.5 TF2 $1.13 PayPal
Supraland Six Inches Under 1.6 TF2 $3.34 PayPal
ZERO Sievert 3.7 TF2 $7.56 PayPal
Prehistoric Kingdom 1.4 TF2 $2.9 PayPal
All Games Above (Special) 11.9 TF2 + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games $24.66 PP + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games
Full Bundle (Special) 12.01 TF2 $24.86 PP
I Buy Fighting Farmers Bundle with TF2 with PayPal
Forager 1.4 TF2 $2.84 PayPal
Stranded Sails - Explorers of the Cursed Islands 0.2 TF2 $0.36 PayPal
Len's Island 3.0 TF2 $6.23 PayPal
Re:Legend 1.0 TF2 $2.12 PayPal
Spirit Of The Island 1.4 TF2 $2.91 PayPal
All Games Above (Special) 8.0 TF2 + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games $16.53 PP + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games
Full Bundle (Special) 8.18 TF2 $16.93 PP
I Buy Humble Choice (Jan 2023) with TF2 with PayPal
Doom Eternal 2.0 TF2 $4.19 PayPal
OlliOlli World Rad Edition 0.3 TF2 $0.57 PayPal
Tribes of Midgard 0.7 TF2 $1.52 PayPal
All Games Above (Special) 3.5 TF2 + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games $7.18 PP + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games
Full Bundle (Special) TBD TBD
I Buy Best of Boomer Shooters Bundle - Holiday Encore with TF2 with PayPal
AMID EVIL 0.6 TF2 $1.17 PayPal
Dusk 1.1 TF2 $2.24 PayPal
All Games Above (Special) 1.9 TF2 + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games $3.9 PP + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games
Full Bundle (Special) TBD TBD
I Buy Fantastic Journeys: Middle Earth & Beyond - Holiday Encore with TF2 with PayPal
Gauntlet™ Slayer Edition 0.2 TF2 $0.46 PayPal
LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 0.5 TF2 $1.03 PayPal
LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 0.7 TF2 $1.48 PayPal
LEGO® The Hobbit™ 0.4 TF2 $0.84 PayPal
LEGO Lord of the Rings 0.5 TF2 $0.95 PayPal
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Game of the Year Edition 0.8 TF2 $1.65 PayPal
Middleearth Shadow of War Definitive Edition 1.2 TF2 $2.48 PayPal
All Games Above (Special) 4.9 TF2 + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games $10.16 PP + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games
Full Bundle (Special) 5.56 TF2 $11.5 PP
I Buy LEGO at the Movies Bundle: Holiday Encore with TF2 with PayPal
LEGO® DC Super-Villains 0.4 TF2 $0.83 PayPal
LEGO® Jurassic World™ 0.4 TF2 $0.82 PayPal
LEGO® MARVEL's Avengers 0.4 TF2 $0.76 PayPal
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 0.3 TF2 $0.69 PayPal
LEGO® Marvel Super Heroes 2 0.4 TF2 $0.9 PayPal
The LEGO Movie 2 Videogame 0.4 TF2 $0.75 PayPal
The LEGO Movie: Videogame 0.2 TF2 $0.42 PayPal
LEGO® Ninjago® Movie Video Game 0.3 TF2 $0.71 PayPal
All Games Above (Special) 3.2 TF2 + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games $6.72 PP + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games
Full Bundle (Special) TBD TBD
I Buy Best of Stealth Bundle: Holiday Encore with TF2 with PayPal
Aragami 0.4 TF2 $0.92 PayPal
Hitman Game of the Year Edition 1.2 TF2 $2.53 PayPal
HITMAN™2 Gold Edition 2.8 TF2 $5.83 PayPal
Styx: Shards Of Darkness 0.6 TF2 $1.29 PayPal
All Games Above (Special) 5.8 TF2 + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games $12.08 PP + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games
Full Bundle (Special) 6.52 TF2 $13.5 PP
I Buy Ultimate Racing Sim Bundle: Holiday Encore with TF2 with PayPal
Assetto Corsa Competizione 2.6 TF2 $5.36 PayPal
Assetto Corsa Ultimate Edition 2.7 TF2 $5.56 PayPal
Automobilista 2 3.3 TF2 $6.89 PayPal
DRIFT21 0.5 TF2 $1.03 PayPal
NASCAR Heat 5 - Ultimate Edition 0.4 TF2 $0.92 PayPal
rFactor 2 1.2 TF2 $2.44 PayPal
All Games Above (Special) 7.6 TF2 + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games $15.77 PP + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games
Full Bundle (Special) 7.71 TF2 $15.97 PP
I Buy 2k Megahits Holiday Encore Bundle with TF2 with PayPal
Sid Meier's Civilization VI 0.9 TF2 $1.84 PayPal
XCOM: Ultimate Collection 0.9 TF2 $1.86 PayPal
Mafia: Definitive Edition 2.2 TF2 $4.54 PayPal
Duke Nukem Forever Collection 0.3 TF2 $0.57 PayPal
Borderlands 3 Super Deluxe 2.9 TF2 $6.05 PayPal
BioShock Collection 1.1 TF2 $2.23 PayPal
All Games Above (Special) 9.4 TF2 + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games $19.53 PP + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games
Full Bundle (Special) 9.92 TF2 $20.53 PP
I Buy The Tactician's Bundle with TF2 with PayPal
Phantom Doctrine 0.4 TF2 $0.73 PayPal
Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus 0.2 TF2 $0.41 PayPal
Dark Deity 0.4 TF2 $0.91 PayPal
Gears Tactics 4.3 TF2 $8.86 PayPal
The Red Solstice 2: Survivors 0.2 TF2 $0.41 PayPal
Star Renegades 1.4 TF2 $2.91 PayPal
All Games Above (Special) 7.0 TF2 + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games $14.48 PP + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games
Full Bundle (Special) 7.19 TF2 $14.88 PP
I Buy Humble Choice (Dec 2022) with TF2 with PayPal
First Class Trouble 0.4 TF2 $0.85 PayPal
GreedFall 0.6 TF2 $1.34 PayPal
Wasteland 3 1.2 TF2 $2.48 PayPal
All Games Above (Special) 2.6 TF2 + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games $5.34 PP + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games
Full Bundle (Special) TBD TBD
I Buy Premiere VR Bundle with TF2 with PayPal
Arizona Sunshine 2.0 TF2 $4.21 PayPal
After the Fall® - Launch Edition 5.0 TF2 $10.35 PayPal
Vox Machinae 3.3 TF2 $6.74 PayPal
All Games Above (Special) 11.8 TF2 + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games $24.34 PP + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games
Full Bundle (Special) TBD TBD
I Buy Black Friday VR Voyager's Pack Bundle with TF2 with PayPal
A Fisherman's Tale 0.2 TF2 $0.36 PayPal
Car Mechanic Simulator VR 0.4 TF2 $0.9 PayPal
I Expect You To Die 1.3 TF2 $2.7 PayPal
SUPERHOT VR 2.2 TF2 $4.49 PayPal
Until You Fall 0.7 TF2 $1.39 PayPal
All Games Above (Special) 5.4 TF2 + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games $11.25 PP + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games
Full Bundle (Special) 6.52 TF2 $13.5 PP
I Buy Complete Your Twin Sails Collection Bundle with TF2 with PayPal
Splendor 0.6 TF2 $1.34 PayPal
Small World 0.3 TF2 $0.67 PayPal
Carcassonne - Tiles & Tactics 0.6 TF2 $1.21 PayPal
A Game of Thrones: The Board Game - Digital Edition 1.7 TF2 $3.42 PayPal
All Games Above (Special) 3.7 TF2 + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games $7.59 PP + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games
Full Bundle (Special) TBD TBD
I Buy 11 Bit Studios: The Complete Collection Bundle with TF2 with PayPal
This War of Mine: Complete Edition 0.8 TF2 $1.56 PayPal
Children of Morta 0.7 TF2 $1.55 PayPal
Frostpunk 1.2 TF2 $2.48 PayPal
All Games Above (Special) 3.1 TF2 + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games $6.39 PP + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games
Full Bundle (Special) TBD TBD
I Buy Humble Choice (Nov 2022) with TF2 with PayPal
Eldest Souls 0.3 TF2 $0.62 PayPal
Hell Let Loose 7.8 TF2 $16.18 PayPal
Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning 0.9 TF2 $1.88 PayPal
All Games Above (Special) 7.0 TF2 + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games $14.48 PP + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games
Full Bundle (Special) 7.48 TF2 $15.48 PP
I Buy Day of the Devs Bundle (2022) with TF2 with PayPal
Brutal Legend 0.6 TF2 $1.22 PayPal
Gang Beasts 3.0 TF2 $6.15 PayPal
140 0.6 TF2 $1.15 PayPal
Psychonauts 0.3 TF2 $0.64 PayPal
All Games Above (Special) 5.1 TF2 + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games $10.47 PP + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games
Full Bundle (Special) 5.56 TF2 $11.5 PP
I Buy Melee Mayhem Bundle with TF2 with PayPal
Chronicon 1.6 TF2 $3.25 PayPal
Mordhau 1.6 TF2 $3.41 PayPal
MORTAL KOMBAT 11 1.7 TF2 $3.44 PayPal
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 0.3 TF2 $0.58 PayPal
River City Girls 1.4 TF2 $2.91 PayPal
Chivalry 2 3.3 TF2 $6.88 PayPal
All Games Above (Special) 11.3 TF2 + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games $23.39 PP + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games
Full Bundle (Special) TBD TBD
I Buy Humble Choice (Oct 2022) with TF2 with PayPal
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope 1.4 TF2 $2.88 PayPal
DEATHLOOP 1.9 TF2 $3.88 PayPal
All Games Above (Special) 3.7 TF2 + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games $7.73 PP + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games
Full Bundle (Special) TBD TBD
I Buy Serious Sam Bundle with TF2 with PayPal
Serious Sam 2 0.7 TF2 $1.53 PayPal
Serious Sam 4 2.6 TF2 $5.47 PayPal
Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem 2.2 TF2 $4.5 PayPal
All Games Above (Special) 6.3 TF2 + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games $13.14 PP + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games
Full Bundle (Special) TBD TBD
I Buy TinyBuild x Versus Evil Smashup Bundle with TF2 with PayPal
Hello, Neighbor! 0.4 TF2 $0.91 PayPal
All Games Above (Special) 0.5 TF2 + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games $1.04 PP + You Keep Any Remaining Bundle Games
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2023.03.25 22:59 dirty34 Contract from the War Department for re-shoeing infantry horses in 1932.

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2023.03.25 22:38 A_Vespertine What Dreams Are Made Of

“Well?” the Grand Adderman hissed impatiently as the spectral, sepia candlelight of the subterranean ritual chamber danced upon the silken robes that shrouded his stretched and wizened form.
Beneath the sacred summit of Pendragon Hill, in a great vaulted chamber built at a crossroads of otherworldly passageways, the sisters Ivy and Envy Noir sifted through the pit of Sigil Sand to confirm that it was once again pure.
“I’m afraid it’s… complicated, Grand Adderman,” Envy reported timidly as she methodically let another handful of Sand sift through her fingers. “The Sand itself has been purged of Emrys’ Miasma, but… it’s still here. It’s faint, possibly diffused, but it’s here somewhere. I’m sure of it.”
“The readings on the parathaumameter are inconclusive at best,” Ivy sighed, shoving the useless device back into the holster on her belt. “Crowley told you that they dispelled the Miasma from the Sand and into a human heart, and afterwards the heart burrowed itself into the Sand, and then they just couldn’t find it?”
“That is what he said,” the Grand Adderman replied with a noted tinge of exhaustion to his voice. “Based on what information they selectively chose to disclose to me, I can find no cause to fault them with this turn of events. I was tempted simply to torture them until they told me what they did wrong, but then thought that consulting with the two of you might yield more accurate results. Do either of you have any idea where the heart may have gone, if it ever existed in the first place?”
“If the Miasma had been bound to any corporeal object, and it was here, we’d be able to detect it,” Envy replied. “It feels like it’s in the space in between the grains rather than the grains itself, but for our purposes, I don’t think that really matters. Crowley’s ritual may have hallowed the Sand enough that the Miasma can’t reinfect it right now, but the moment we do anything with it that changes its astral frequency, the Miasma will just be reabsorbed.”
“Grand Adderman, as much as I’m loathed to admit it, I have no reason to believe that Crowley and the others did anything wrong here at all,” Ivy stated. “It appears that the ritual was successful at dispelling the Miasma, but that still wasn’t enough to save the Sand. There’s nothing else we can do with this. It’s been irreparably compromised and should be discarded. We need to start seriously considering alternatives.”
With a snarl, the Grand Adderman strode forward and impaled the Sigil Sand with the broken shards at the end of his sceptre. Slowly twisting it around, he prodded the Sand with his clairvoyance, searching for anything the Noir sisters might have overlooked.
“It’s in the shadows. I’m certain of that,” he murmured. “So like Emrys to hide in the shadows. That he has so tenaciously entrenched his very essence into this Sigil Sand can only mean that he is terrified of us using it against him. If we continue allowing Emrys to dictate the terms of engagement to us, then we are doomed! This Sand has the capacity to bind Emrys and banish him once again from the mortal plane, if only we can undo his sabotage!”
“Grand Adderman, I am sorry, but I fear we simply do not have the time to research a method to adequately purify this Sand before Emrys further escalates his assaults on us,” Ivy insisted. “Erich and I have been researching other entities we might be able to enlist as potential counters to Emrys, and I don’t think we should completely discount Seneca’s idea to try to broker some form of truce with him.”
In a flash, the Grand Adderman withdrew his sceptre from the Sand and raised it threateningly over his head as he spun towards Ivy, sending her stumbling back up against the wall.
“Maybe we don’t need to purify the Sand at all!” Envy shouted, desperate for anything that would spare her sister from the Adderman’s wrath.
To her surprise and relief, the Grand Adderman paused his advance, lowering his sceptre and turning his head towards her.
“Emrys wants us either to not use this Sand at all or try using it anyway so he can use it against us. You are correct, Grand Adderman; if we keep fighting Emrys on his terms, we will lose,” Envy began. “I have an idea, one I hesitate to suggest since it would put you personally in grave danger. We go ahead with the original plan, making a Spell Circle to bind Emrys with you to power it, but fudge it just enough so that the Miasma is able to corrupt it and bind you instead. That solves the biggest problem with the plan; getting Emrys into the Spell Circle in the first place. He’ll think it’s safe, he’ll think he’s won, and he’ll walk right in to claim you. Once he does, you expose the Sand to the Asphodel Incarnate, the one which you in your great foresight sent me down to the Reliquary to retrieve. I am certain it will provide more than enough of a counter to the Miasma that it will undo its effects on the Spell Circle and allow it to revert to its original purpose; binding Emrys and empowering you. Then we’ll be able to perform the banishing ritual and be rid of him forever!”
The Grand Adderman pondered silently for a moment, his hooded face impossible to read. Both sisters feared he was about to kill them on the spot for their heinous crime of less-than-flawless sycophancy.
“Would it be possible to move this Sand to the Adderwood Megalith?” he asked at last.
“Absolutely, Grand Adderman. I think that’s a wonderful idea. It’s a far more secure location, and it will be much easier for you to channel Ophion,” Envy assured him.
He turned his head slightly towards Ivy, who nodded emphatically as well.
“I’ll see it done, then,” he said, and started slithering towards the Cuniculi doors. “You two make the necessary alterations to your Spell Circle design. We do nothing until I am convinced that this bait and switch is safe to attempt! Is that understood?”
“Of course, Grand Adderman,” both sisters said as they bowed, respectfully remaining in place until the Grand Adderman had taken his leave of them.
Once he was gone, Ivy and Envy made their way up the spiral stairway to the manor above without daring to speak a word to each other. When they had made it into Ivy’s Tesla, and had begun their descent down Pendragon Hill and felt safely out of reach of any surveillance, Ivy smiled from ear to ear.
“You did it. You did it,” she said in hushed awe. “He’s actually just going to walk into our Spell Circle and let us bind him!”
“I just gave him what he asked for,” Envy smirked.
“Were you telling the truth about the Asphodel Incarnate?”
“It depends on how powerful Emrys has gotten, but it doesn’t really matter. Once the Grand Adderman is bound, we can take it from him. Chain him up with Erich’s Blue Moon Silver for good measure.”
“Absolutely. Can’t be too careful,” Ivy nodded. “We don’t need to hold him forever, though. Just long enough to offer him to Emrys and forge a peace pact. This is going to work. This is actually going to work!”
“You don’t think he suspects anything, do you?”
“I don’t. He’s been far too powerful for far too long. The idea that any of his underlings would actually try to overthrow him, let alone succeed, has never occurred to him. Emrys is going to kill the Grand Adderman, and the Darlings, and be very grateful to us for freeing him from his chains. I wish I could tell Erich the good news right now, but I can’t even risk texting him.”
“Oh, Bloody Hell! The Darlings!” Envy cursed. “They’ll be there for the ritual, won’t they? They’re not going to side with us! How are we going to fend them off until Emrys gets there? Other than the Grand Adderman, he’s the only one stronger than they are.”
“Right. The Spell Circle will have protection wards, but I wouldn’t trust those with my life against the Darlings,” Ivy mused. “The Effulgent One is one option, but I’d prefer something we could work out a more explicit arrangement with. Someone we could trust to keep the Darlings or anyone else off our backs while we wait for Emrys, and someone who wouldn’t be unwelcomed or suspicious if we brought them to Adderwood. That doesn’t leave a lot of options, but I think… I think I might know where we could find somebody. Don’t worry, Envy. This is just a minor detail to work out. We’re going to pull this off. I promise.”
***
“Our code-name for him is The Mandrake. I’ve heard people just call him Drake, but for today, at least, I think we’d be better to err on the side of formality,” Erich advised as he drove Ivy and Envy down the abandoned road, its every pothole filled with rainwater from the mild yet unyielding drizzle. They were far from Sombermorey, far from Harrowick County, and far from any other chapterhouse of the Ophion Occult Order, to ensure their meeting wouldn’t have any unwanted eavesdroppers.
“He lives out here?” Envy asked skeptically, looking out in disdain at the crumbling masonry around them, unable to judge its extent due to the pervasive fog. “Everyone of these buildings looks condemned. This has to be a ghost town. What is this place?”
“I don’t know. All I know is that if you want a guaranteed private meeting with The Mandrake, you drive in the direction he tells you,” Erich replied. “Once you’re somewhere remote, you’ll hit a sudden patch of fog, and then you’re here. There’s no need to worry. I wouldn’t have brought you two out here if I didn’t trust him.”
“And he’s not a part of the Order? Or an enemy?” Envy asked.
“He’s a freelancer. He’s loyal to no agenda but his own, and works with anyone who he thinks will be of help to him,” Ivy explained. “Even if he doesn’t agree to help us, he won’t rat us out. He couldn’t care less about the Grand Adderman.”
“And he can handle the Darlings? Both of them?” Envy asked skeptically.
“Outside of their playroom, the Darlings aren’t as overly powerful as they appear,” Erich claimed. “They’re physically superhuman in terms of strength, speed, stamina, sensory acuteness, agility, reaction time, resilience and recovery, but none of these are unlimited. Other than some selective telekinesis and their eternal youth, they’re still just humans with a little extra oomph. There’s a reason you never see Mary out by herself. It doesn’t matter how much stronger she is than a regular person; she’s still not indestructible, and that terrifies her. It terrifies James too, of course. He’s just better at risk management when he’s out on his errands. Remember that they did retreat from their battle with Emrys on Pendragon Hill. They’re cowards, and they will fall back if they think they’re in mortal peril. I’m not saying The Mandrake is as powerful as Emrys, but he’s definitely strong enough to keep the Darlings at bay for a bit. He might even manage to scare them off, though given how obsessed they seemed to have become with getting revenge on Emrys, that may be a long shot. At any rate, the Darlings won’t be able to hurt him.”
“Why not?” Envy asked.
“You’ll understand when you see him,” Ivy assured her.
As they drove down the ruined streets, Envy was suddenly struck by the realization that ‘ghost town’ wasn’t an adequate description. The town didn’t just seem abandoned; it felt forbidden. It felt like Chornobyl, like something monstrous had happened that hadn’t merely forced the residents to flee, but had cursed the land forever so that they could never come back. Everything was so insidiously still. There didn’t seem to be any animals at all, and the only plants she had seen looked to have been dead for some time, albeit relatively unrotten. She suspected that was because this place was as devoid of microbes as it was macroscopic life. She felt sick, being alive in a place where life of any kind was no longer welcomed. She trusted her sister, and she trusted Erich, so she assumed that short visits would do no lasting harm. Nonetheless, the sooner this was over with, the better.
She jumped in her seat at the sound of some deep, whale-like call, resonating from somewhere far within the fog.
“What was that?” she demanded.
“Naming it doesn’t make it any easier to understand,” was Erich’s cryptic response. He slowed down the car as they drove down what might have once been the town’s Mainstreet, stopping entirely in front of a dark alleyway. “He’s down there.”
Envy peered down the alley, spotting a sign with a single eye centered in a simplified dreamcatcher hanging above a doorway, with a silhouetted humanoid figure leaning up against it.
“Could he maybe come out to meet us, or – ”
“We’re going down to meet him,” Ivy said sympathetically as she opened the car door. “Don’t worry, Envy. All we need to do is have a quick word with this guy and we’ll be one step closer to overthrowing the Grand Adderman.”
Envy nodded and, taking a deep breath, forced herself out of the relative safety of the car and into the mist-swept, forlorn world outside.
Leaving the car made it clear just how quiet everything was, and now that she was no longer looking through the tinted windows, the lack of colour was much more striking as well. She pulled her cashmere cloak around her to guard off the damp chill in the air, regretting that it descended no further than the hem of her pleated skirt. Walking alongside her sister and behind Erich, she reluctantly approached the shadowed stranger in the alley.
The first thing she noticed about him was that he was wearing a trench coat and fedora like a detective in a film noir movie, which fit with the eye-themed logo on the sign above him. There was a dim glow coming from his face, and at first, Envy just assumed that he was smoking.
Then he looked directly at them, and she saw an illuminated version of the one-eyed dreamcatcher icon carved into an otherwise featureless face of iridescent silver. Envy instantly wondered if it was a helmet, or if he was perhaps some kind of android. If it was a helmet, it seamlessly concealed anything human that might be under it. Unless it had some kind of internal heads-up display, she didn’t see how he could have any vision through it. Being an android, on the other hand, would explain how he could exist in a place that was so unwelcoming to life.
“Erich Thorne. Welcome back,” The Mandrake said in a listless monotone. “Nice ladies. You whip them up yourself?”
“Heh, no. This is my girlfriend and Head of the Harrowick Chapter Ivy Noir, and her sister Envy, a Master Adderman and expert thaumatologist,” Erich introduced.
“…Really?” The Mandrake asked.
“My sister and I utilize proprietary implants that modulate our bodies’ bioelectrical signals, optimizing our appearance, health, cognitive faculties, mental well-being, and physical capabilities,” Ivy explained. “I can assure you, Mr. Mandrake, that my sister and I are as smart – and dangerous – as we are beautiful.”
“I’m shaking,” he scoffed. “What is that I can help you with, Miss Noir?”
“It… involves the situation with Emrys. I presume you’re aware?”
“Sorry. Can’t help you with that,” he said flatly with a shake of his head.
“We’re not asking you to bring Emrys in,” Ivy told him. “We’ve… managed to convince the Grand Adderman to bind himself in a Spell Circle as an offering to Emrys. He thinks it’s a ruse to bind and then banished Emrys; it’s not. We intend to use him as a peace offering to forge a truce with Emrys. To ensure our plan goes smoothly, we need some extra muscle to fend off anyone present that might be loyal to the Grand Adderman. Do you think you’re up for that?”
The light from The Mandrake’s face ebbed a little as he took a moment to ponder Ivy’s proposition.
“Extra muscle, eh?” he asked.
“Against the Darling Twins, specifically,” Envy added. “They hate Emrys, and they don’t care much for us either, so they’ll be sure to work against us. We don’t have a way to protect ourselves from them. Do you think that you could keep them in line, at least until Emrys shows up?”
“The Darling Twins? What about the other one?” The Mandrake asked.
“You mean that thing they call their Uncle? Deep underground and entombed within a forty-foot labyrinthine cube of self-healing titanium foam, magnetically levitated above LED floodlights and an electrified floor. We don’t need to worry about him,” Erich assured him.
The Mandrake didn’t seem particularly assured, though it was unclear if that was because he wasn’t convinced that the Darlings’ Uncle was truly out of the picture, or because that wasn’t who he was talking about it.
“Well, they’re no danger to me, either way,” he remarked. “Can’t say I’d be sad to see the Grand Adderman go either. The main risk to me is that if you fail, I’ll have made myself an enemy of the entire Ophion Occult Order. That might put a cramp in my style.”
The strange whale call from before sounded once again, this time seeming significantly closer to them than it had before. Erich, Ivy, and The Mandrake didn’t seem to think it was worth worrying about, so Envy deferred to their experience. She did, however, keep a watchful vigil on their surroundings while they had their conversation.
“And if you don’t help us and we succeed, you’ll have alienated yourself from an organization that now possesses Emrys as an ally,” Ivy countered. “Is that an opportunity you want to pass up?”
“It’s a big risk, and all you’re offering in return are promises of vague potential boons?” The Mandrake asked incredulously. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist on some payment upfront for this.”
“That’s perfectly reasonable. What can we offer you?” Ivy asked.
“If you’re the new Head of the Harrowick Chapter, does that mean you have access to Seneca Chamberlin’s Sombermorey Manor?” The Mandrake asked.
“It does. Is there a particular piece of his treasury that takes your fancy?” Ivy asked.
“Last I checked, Seneca had a somewhat extensive collection of spellwork firearms and sigil-etched silver bullets for taking out all kinds of boogeymen,” The Mandrake replied.
“You mean like one of these?” Ivy asked, pulling back her coat and reaching for the holster on her belt. She drew out a long-barrel revolver made of sterling silver and polished ebony, engraved and inlaid with a multitude of occult symbols.
“Exactly like one of those,” The Mandrake said. “I wouldn’t mind a nice new pair of sidearms, along with a generous supply of ammo. It might even give me an edge against the Darlings.”
“That sounds like a reasonable downpayment,” Ivy nodded with a slight smile. “He won’t be happy about it, but I can appropriate the weapons from Seneca without raising suspicion. As far as anyone else knows, they’re to use on Petra, Emrys’ acolyte. I doubt they’d be of any use against her, but it’s plausible enough to do as an excuse. If Seneca makes a fuss, which he will, you fully intend to return them after the ritual is complete. If we win, we intend for our treaty with Emrys to dissolve the Grand Council and decentralize our power structure, and I’ll have the authority to let you keep your new weapons permanently. If we lose, you flee and avoid the Grand Adderman and his lackeys as best you can, and if Seneca survives you may have to deal with him trying to get his guns back.”
“Ah, Ivy,” Envy said softly.
“So all I have to do is keep the Darlings and anyone else off your back until Emrys shows up?” The Mandrake asked, ignoring Envy’s interjection. “In exchange for a pair of Seneca’s finest spellwork pistols and two boxes of ammunition to be paid upfront, and afterwards I get the privilege of being the first person you call on when you’ve got some work you’d like to outsource to a third party?”
Ivy nodded, and extend her arm for a handshake. Rather than accept it, The Mandrake produced a business card embossed with the one-eyed dreamcatcher icon, and placed it in her outstretched hand.
“Give me a ring when everything’s set, and be sure to have my payment ready when you do,” he told her.
“Ivy,” Envy repeated, a little more insistently this time.
“No one else is in on our plan to betray the Grand Adderman, so I trust it goes without saying that we’re counting on your discretion?” Ivy said as she pocketed the business card.
“Confidentiality is standard in my line of work, Miss Noir. Don’t you worry about a thing,” he nodded.
“What about that? Should we worry about that?” Envy asked, pointing upwards to the top of the building in front of them.
The others all turned to where she was pointing, and upon the roof perched a creature that didn’t immediately make sense to them. It was there, and yet they could not say precisely where it was, as though its physical location was a stochastic estimate rather than a definite fact. It had no colour, and yet it was neither white nor black nor grey; it simply had no colour and there was no other way to describe it. It was large; larger than any of them, though smaller than the building it rested upon, and its size couldn’t be narrowed down any more than that. It either had a long body or a long neck, most likely both, but perhaps neither. Its face sat at the uttermost nadir of the Uncanny Valley, too inhuman to garner any sympathy but just human enough to make them wonder if it had once been a man’s, or more likely a child’s. The face was horribly strained, stretched out as it was across all the being’s possible locations, and yet it smiled down at them with a mouth devoid of teeth but still filled with malice. Several polydactyl limbs clawed into the crumbling brick of the building beneath them, and a tapering tail lazily whipped back and forth as its hollow and soulless eyes refused to break contact with them.
“Do not break eye contact with it until you’re out of town,” The Mandrake said in a hoarse whisper. “Walk backwards to your car, slowly. Don’t run, and don’t break eye contact. You’re lucky there are three of you. Two of you can keep watch while the other drives, but the driver should be looking in the rearview mirror as much as possible. Just don’t let it out of your sight before it’s occluded by the fog. You got that?”
“Mandrake, you told me the things that ravaged this town only come out at night unless provoked!” Erich hissed at him.
“Don’t take it personally. I tell that to everyone,” The Mandrake said. “Don’t break eye contact, and don’t try to fight it. I’ll see you in Adderwood.”
He leaned up against the door to his back, pushing it open and then sliding inside in a fraction of a second before slamming it shut, the sound of several locks clicking into place echoing through the alley.
The creature on the roof couldn’t have cared less about his departure, keeping its eyes keenly on the three live humans in the alley below.
“Erich – do we listen to him?” Ivy asked with a nervous swallow.
“I… I have no reason to think he wants us dead, and that thing hasn’t attacked us yet,” Erich replied, though it was obvious to both sisters that he was far from certain. “Do what he said. Back up slowly, and don’t take your eyes off it. Both of you get in the back seat and don’t block the middle.”
“But what is it?” Envy asked.
“Envy, trust me when I tell you that that information is counterproductive at this moment,” Ivy said as she grabbed her hand, and to Envy’s dismay she felt that it was trembling.
With an obedient nod, Envy began walking backwards, pulling Ivy and Erich along with her.
As they reached the end of the alley, the creature descended from the roof with both the grace of a cat and the viscosity of molasses, pouring its nebulous form to the ground as much as jumping. Each limb jerked about in what individually seemed like a chaotic fashion, but in aggregate was enough to smoothly propel the strange entity forward.
Ivy whimpered, but successfully fought the instinct to flee. She and Envy backed into the car almost simultaneously, and with only a bit of fumbling succeeded in opening the back door. Ivy went in first, followed by Envy. Once they were in, Erich opened the front passenger side door and pushed himself over into the driver’s seat, with Envy leaning forward to pull the door shut.
“Erich, drive! Drive now!” Ivy ordered, her unblinking eyes fixed upon the shambling creature stretching its elongated neck out towards their vehicle, its toothless smile so wide it looked like it might tear its face asunder.
Erich slammed on the gas, and their car sped off down Mainstreet, with the creature sprinting off after them in pursuit.
“Don’t we need to turn around at some point?” Envy asked, she and her sister now staring straight out through the rear window.
“It’s too risky. As long as we get out of town, we should be back more or less where we were,” Erich explained, his eyes glancing up into his rearview mirror every few seconds.
“Ivy, please. What is that thing?” Envy pleaded. “It doesn’t look real. Is it some kind of thoughtform?”
“It’s an inverted thoughtform, made from inverse thought,” Ivy answered. “It’s a form of consciousness that has the reverse quantum values of ordinary thought, causing wave functions to collapse in the complete opposite way they’re supposed to. Their mere presence is antithetical to life, psychic phenomenon, and any tech that relies on non-Newtonian physics.”
“Which is incidentally why we took my old Royce instead of Ivy’s Tesla,” Erich added.
“That’s why we have to keep looking at it. Our effect and its effect on wave functions cancel out and keep it from doing anything too weird,” Ivy went on. “It’s why they almost never attack in broad daylight, and why they can only exist in places devoid of sentience, like this. It’s why I thought we’d be safe meeting with The Mandrake here. Oh, God. Envy, I’m so sorry. I never should have brought you here, or at least I should have told you. I thought there’d be safety in numbers, and I didn’t want to scare you.”
The inverted thoughtform’s smile finally split its head wide open, and a great plume of monochrome flame ruptured forth from the gaping fissure. It was close, but it didn’t seem to be able to close the distance between itself and the car. A big enough bump in the road that caused them to involuntarily break line-of-sight for even an instant would be all it would take for them to lose that advantage.
“But why is it attacking though? Does it want to eat us? Is it defending its territory?” Envy demanded.
Ivy continued to stare straight ahead, fighting back tears that threatened to force her to blink.
“Inverse thought can only be made by the perversion of ordinary thought,” she said softly, seeing no need to say anything more.
Envy fell silent as well, now more than ever understanding the vital importance of maintaining their vigil on the creature before them.
It wasn’t so much running after them now as it was just tumbling, though it somehow always managed to keep its long neck held upright. It pushed itself to draw just a little bit closer to them, but that only slowed it down and caused it to sag under its own weight. Reality, or rather reality perceived by regular consciousness, was poison to it, and it dared not get too close. One instant of inattention was all it needed to strike.
When Erich saw that he had a clear path towards the fog at the edge of the town limits, he slammed down on the gas and pushed the vehicle as hard as it could go. In a desperate last ploy, the inverted thoughtform launched itself into the air in the hopes of landing on top of the car and hiding it from view long enough to grant it its victory. But the closer it got, the more real it became, and its increasing mass was enough to cause it to fall short of its target and crash into the pavement.
As the car vanished into the fog and they finally lost sight of the monstrous creature, they heard it release a shrill, forlorn howl that slowly faded into the distance. A howl which, much to their concern, was clearly not the same cry as the deep and resonating whale call they had heard earlier. For a third and final time, the whale call sounded again, perhaps in response to the howl of the creature that had been pursuing them.
Only this time, it wasn’t coming from behind them or even around them, but in front of them.
________________________
By The Vesper's Bell
submitted by A_Vespertine to ChillingApp [link] [comments]


2023.03.25 22:35 subredditsummarybot Your weekly /r/newyorkislanders roundup for the week of March 18 - March 24

Saturday, March 18 - Friday, March 24

Top videos

score comments title & link
287 45 comments This dude is a straight up mutant (PS: They came against our 3 biggest rivals)
100 15 comments Maybe this is where Sorokin picked it up? #Varly
68 5 comments I DON'T THINK WE NEED HIM. FIRST 7 GOAL GAME SINCE OCTOBER. CLUTTER PROVING EVERYONE WRONG. HUDSON FUDSON DOES IT AGAIN. HOLMY, DOBBER, LEE, PARISE ROUND IT OUT. RESPECT THE SOROKIN (PATENT PENDING)
67 10 comments Toronto?
48 4 comments AS SCARY AS SHARKS ARE, THEY CAN'T COMPARE TO THE WRATH OF THE KILLER P'S. PAGEAU. PALMIERI. PULOCK. PARISE. PERFECTION.
 

Game thread comments

score comment
51 Isles1996 said Terrible game from Lee. Off night for Ilya but he had zero help in the 2nd. Parise, Palms, and Nelson were great. Getting 0 points would have been a disaster, so the game wasn’t a complete failure. Pl...
47 checknate1 said We say we have the easiest schedule compared to the Pens and Cats forgetting that the Isles completely shit the bed whenever we play a team we should win against.
35 liguy181 said Columbus is probably more hurt by that win than we are from an ot loss. We were never gonna go 10-0-0 to end the season. On to the next one
23 xnerdyxrealistx said Hard fought point but, damn.
22 USAJourneyman said Lee & the defense were god awful But we got the point
19 T_R_G_H said parise is the best league min contract player in the league
18 Wshrig said Only the Islanders can play like absolute dog shit against the worst team in the NHL....
18 Ord8377 said Resign Hudson Fasching
17 JBR409 said Blowout the Leafs 7-2 and then put up this shit effort against the worst team in the league. Gotta be consistent if you wanna go far in the playoffs
16 lazyblogger914 said 5-9 in OT. I’d feel a little bit better about this season if we’re at least .500
 

Dank

score comments title & link
309 19 comments [Certified DANK] Boring Islanders 😴
 

Top Remaining Posts

score comments title & link
273 16 comments DP staring right into P.K.’s soul when he said that
260 19 comments Met and Islanders legend at tonight's Kraken/Predators game. One of the nicest people I've ever spoken to.
205 20 comments Brock Nelson Prayer Circle 🙏🏼
173 9 comments Butchy looking great on the pregame show!
163 43 comments Brock Nelson is on the ice at practice today
156 116 comments Our odds of making the playoffs are up to 69%
122 20 comments No games in hand...homestretch
117 0 comments Hey Toronto
115 29 comments Hudson Fasching.
113 4 comments Toronto?
 
submitted by subredditsummarybot to NewYorkIslanders [link] [comments]


2023.03.25 22:35 A_Vespertine What Dreams Are Made Of

“Well?” the Grand Adderman hissed impatiently as the spectral, sepia candlelight of the subterranean ritual chamber danced upon the silken robes that shrouded his stretched and wizened form.
Beneath the sacred summit of Pendragon Hill, in a great vaulted chamber built at a crossroads of otherworldly passageways, the sisters Ivy and Envy Noir sifted through the pit of Sigil Sand to confirm that it was once again pure.
“I’m afraid it’s… complicated, Grand Adderman,” Envy reported timidly as she methodically let another handful of Sand sift through her fingers. “The Sand itself has been purged of Emrys’ Miasma, but… it’s still here. It’s faint, possibly diffused, but it’s here somewhere. I’m sure of it.”
“The readings on the parathaumameter are inconclusive at best,” Ivy sighed, shoving the useless device back into the holster on her belt. “Crowley told you that they dispelled the Miasma from the Sand and into a human heart, and afterwards the heart burrowed itself into the Sand, and then they just couldn’t find it?”
“That is what he said,” the Grand Adderman replied with a noted tinge of exhaustion to his voice. “Based on what information they selectively chose to disclose to me, I can find no cause to fault them with this turn of events. I was tempted simply to torture them until they told me what they did wrong, but then thought that consulting with the two of you might yield more accurate results. Do either of you have any idea where the heart may have gone, if it ever existed in the first place?”
“If the Miasma had been bound to any corporeal object, and it was here, we’d be able to detect it,” Envy replied. “It feels like it’s in the space in between the grains rather than the grains itself, but for our purposes, I don’t think that really matters. Crowley’s ritual may have hallowed the Sand enough that the Miasma can’t reinfect it right now, but the moment we do anything with it that changes its astral frequency, the Miasma will just be reabsorbed.”
“Grand Adderman, as much as I’m loathed to admit it, I have no reason to believe that Crowley and the others did anything wrong here at all,” Ivy stated. “It appears that the ritual was successful at dispelling the Miasma, but that still wasn’t enough to save the Sand. There’s nothing else we can do with this. It’s been irreparably compromised and should be discarded. We need to start seriously considering alternatives.”
With a snarl, the Grand Adderman strode forward and impaled the Sigil Sand with the broken shards at the end of his sceptre. Slowly twisting it around, he prodded the Sand with his clairvoyance, searching for anything the Noir sisters might have overlooked.
“It’s in the shadows. I’m certain of that,” he murmured. “So like Emrys to hide in the shadows. That he has so tenaciously entrenched his very essence into this Sigil Sand can only mean that he is terrified of us using it against him. If we continue allowing Emrys to dictate the terms of engagement to us, then we are doomed! This Sand has the capacity to bind Emrys and banish him once again from the mortal plane, if only we can undo his sabotage!”
“Grand Adderman, I am sorry, but I fear we simply do not have the time to research a method to adequately purify this Sand before Emrys further escalates his assaults on us,” Ivy insisted. “Erich and I have been researching other entities we might be able to enlist as potential counters to Emrys, and I don’t think we should completely discount Seneca’s idea to try to broker some form of truce with him.”
In a flash, the Grand Adderman withdrew his sceptre from the Sand and raised it threateningly over his head as he spun towards Ivy, sending her stumbling back up against the wall.
“Maybe we don’t need to purify the Sand at all!” Envy shouted, desperate for anything that would spare her sister from the Adderman’s wrath.
To her surprise and relief, the Grand Adderman paused his advance, lowering his sceptre and turning his head towards her.
“Emrys wants us either to not use this Sand at all or try using it anyway so he can use it against us. You are correct, Grand Adderman; if we keep fighting Emrys on his terms, we will lose,” Envy began. “I have an idea, one I hesitate to suggest since it would put you personally in grave danger. We go ahead with the original plan, making a Spell Circle to bind Emrys with you to power it, but fudge it just enough so that the Miasma is able to corrupt it and bind you instead. That solves the biggest problem with the plan; getting Emrys into the Spell Circle in the first place. He’ll think it’s safe, he’ll think he’s won, and he’ll walk right in to claim you. Once he does, you expose the Sand to the Asphodel Incarnate, the one which you in your great foresight sent me down to the Reliquary to retrieve. I am certain it will provide more than enough of a counter to the Miasma that it will undo its effects on the Spell Circle and allow it to revert to its original purpose; binding Emrys and empowering you. Then we’ll be able to perform the banishing ritual and be rid of him forever!”
The Grand Adderman pondered silently for a moment, his hooded face impossible to read. Both sisters feared he was about to kill them on the spot for their heinous crime of less-than-flawless sycophancy.
“Would it be possible to move this Sand to the Adderwood Megalith?” he asked at last.
“Absolutely, Grand Adderman. I think that’s a wonderful idea. It’s a far more secure location, and it will be much easier for you to channel Ophion,” Envy assured him.
He turned his head slightly towards Ivy, who nodded emphatically as well.
“I’ll see it done, then,” he said, and started slithering towards the Cuniculi doors. “You two make the necessary alterations to your Spell Circle design. We do nothing until I am convinced that this bait and switch is safe to attempt! Is that understood?”
“Of course, Grand Adderman,” both sisters said as they bowed, respectfully remaining in place until the Grand Adderman had taken his leave of them.
Once he was gone, Ivy and Envy made their way up the spiral stairway to the manor above without daring to speak a word to each other. When they had made it into Ivy’s Tesla, and had begun their descent down Pendragon Hill and felt safely out of reach of any surveillance, Ivy smiled from ear to ear.
“You did it. You did it,” she said in hushed awe. “He’s actually just going to walk into our Spell Circle and let us bind him!”
“I just gave him what he asked for,” Envy smirked.
“Were you telling the truth about the Asphodel Incarnate?”
“It depends on how powerful Emrys has gotten, but it doesn’t really matter. Once the Grand Adderman is bound, we can take it from him. Chain him up with Erich’s Blue Moon Silver for good measure.”
“Absolutely. Can’t be too careful,” Ivy nodded. “We don’t need to hold him forever, though. Just long enough to offer him to Emrys and forge a peace pact. This is going to work. This is actually going to work!”
“You don’t think he suspects anything, do you?”
“I don’t. He’s been far too powerful for far too long. The idea that any of his underlings would actually try to overthrow him, let alone succeed, has never occurred to him. Emrys is going to kill the Grand Adderman, and the Darlings, and be very grateful to us for freeing him from his chains. I wish I could tell Erich the good news right now, but I can’t even risk texting him.”
“Oh, Bloody Hell! The Darlings!” Envy cursed. “They’ll be there for the ritual, won’t they? They’re not going to side with us! How are we going to fend them off until Emrys gets there? Other than the Grand Adderman, he’s the only one stronger than they are.”
“Right. The Spell Circle will have protection wards, but I wouldn’t trust those with my life against the Darlings,” Ivy mused. “The Effulgent One is one option, but I’d prefer something we could work out a more explicit arrangement with. Someone we could trust to keep the Darlings or anyone else off our backs while we wait for Emrys, and someone who wouldn’t be unwelcomed or suspicious if we brought them to Adderwood. That doesn’t leave a lot of options, but I think… I think I might know where we could find somebody. Don’t worry, Envy. This is just a minor detail to work out. We’re going to pull this off. I promise.”
***
“Our code-name for him is The Mandrake. I’ve heard people just call him Drake, but for today, at least, I think we’d be better to err on the side of formality,” Erich advised as he drove Ivy and Envy down the abandoned road, its every pothole filled with rainwater from the mild yet unyielding drizzle. They were far from Sombermorey, far from Harrowick County, and far from any other chapterhouse of the Ophion Occult Order, to ensure their meeting wouldn’t have any unwanted eavesdroppers.
“He lives out here?” Envy asked skeptically, looking out in disdain at the crumbling masonry around them, unable to judge its extent due to the pervasive fog. “Everyone of these buildings looks condemned. This has to be a ghost town. What is this place?”
“I don’t know. All I know is that if you want a guaranteed private meeting with The Mandrake, you drive in the direction he tells you,” Erich replied. “Once you’re somewhere remote, you’ll hit a sudden patch of fog, and then you’re here. There’s no need to worry. I wouldn’t have brought you two out here if I didn’t trust him.”
“And he’s not a part of the Order? Or an enemy?” Envy asked.
“He’s a freelancer. He’s loyal to no agenda but his own, and works with anyone who he thinks will be of help to him,” Ivy explained. “Even if he doesn’t agree to help us, he won’t rat us out. He couldn’t care less about the Grand Adderman.”
“And he can handle the Darlings? Both of them?” Envy asked skeptically.
“Outside of their playroom, the Darlings aren’t as overly powerful as they appear,” Erich claimed. “They’re physically superhuman in terms of strength, speed, stamina, sensory acuteness, agility, reaction time, resilience and recovery, but none of these are unlimited. Other than some selective telekinesis and their eternal youth, they’re still just humans with a little extra oomph. There’s a reason you never see Mary out by herself. It doesn’t matter how much stronger she is than a regular person; she’s still not indestructible, and that terrifies her. It terrifies James too, of course. He’s just better at risk management when he’s out on his errands. Remember that they did retreat from their battle with Emrys on Pendragon Hill. They’re cowards, and they will fall back if they think they’re in mortal peril. I’m not saying The Mandrake is as powerful as Emrys, but he’s definitely strong enough to keep the Darlings at bay for a bit. He might even manage to scare them off, though given how obsessed they seemed to have become with getting revenge on Emrys, that may be a long shot. At any rate, the Darlings won’t be able to hurt him.”
“Why not?” Envy asked.
“You’ll understand when you see him,” Ivy assured her.
As they drove down the ruined streets, Envy was suddenly struck by the realization that ‘ghost town’ wasn’t an adequate description. The town didn’t just seem abandoned; it felt forbidden. It felt like Chornobyl, like something monstrous had happened that hadn’t merely forced the residents to flee, but had cursed the land forever so that they could never come back. Everything was so insidiously still. There didn’t seem to be any animals at all, and the only plants she had seen looked to have been dead for some time, albeit relatively unrotten. She suspected that was because this place was as devoid of microbes as it was macroscopic life. She felt sick, being alive in a place where life of any kind was no longer welcomed. She trusted her sister, and she trusted Erich, so she assumed that short visits would do no lasting harm. Nonetheless, the sooner this was over with, the better.
She jumped in her seat at the sound of some deep, whale-like call, resonating from somewhere far within the fog.
“What was that?” she demanded.
“Naming it doesn’t make it any easier to understand,” was Erich’s cryptic response. He slowed down the car as they drove down what might have once been the town’s Mainstreet, stopping entirely in front of a dark alleyway. “He’s down there.”
Envy peered down the alley, spotting a sign with a single eye centered in a simplified dreamcatcher hanging above a doorway, with a silhouetted humanoid figure leaning up against it.
“Could he maybe come out to meet us, or – ”
“We’re going down to meet him,” Ivy said sympathetically as she opened the car door. “Don’t worry, Envy. All we need to do is have a quick word with this guy and we’ll be one step closer to overthrowing the Grand Adderman.”
Envy nodded and, taking a deep breath, forced herself out of the relative safety of the car and into the mist-swept, forlorn world outside.
Leaving the car made it clear just how quiet everything was, and now that she was no longer looking through the tinted windows, the lack of colour was much more striking as well. She pulled her cashmere cloak around her to guard off the damp chill in the air, regretting that it descended no further than the hem of her pleated skirt. Walking alongside her sister and behind Erich, she reluctantly approached the shadowed stranger in the alley.
The first thing she noticed about him was that he was wearing a trench coat and fedora like a detective in a film noir movie, which fit with the eye-themed logo on the sign above him. There was a dim glow coming from his face, and at first, Envy just assumed that he was smoking.
Then he looked directly at them, and she saw an illuminated version of the one-eyed dreamcatcher icon carved into an otherwise featureless face of iridescent silver. Envy instantly wondered if it was a helmet, or if he was perhaps some kind of android. If it was a helmet, it seamlessly concealed anything human that might be under it. Unless it had some kind of internal heads-up display, she didn’t see how he could have any vision through it. Being an android, on the other hand, would explain how he could exist in a place that was so unwelcoming to life.
“Erich Thorne. Welcome back,” The Mandrake said in a listless monotone. “Nice ladies. You whip them up yourself?”
“Heh, no. This is my girlfriend and Head of the Harrowick Chapter Ivy Noir, and her sister Envy, a Master Adderman and expert thaumatologist,” Erich introduced.
“…Really?” The Mandrake asked.
“My sister and I utilize proprietary implants that modulate our bodies’ bioelectrical signals, optimizing our appearance, health, cognitive faculties, mental well-being, and physical capabilities,” Ivy explained. “I can assure you, Mr. Mandrake, that my sister and I are as smart – and dangerous – as we are beautiful.”
“I’m shaking,” he scoffed. “What is that I can help you with, Miss Noir?”
“It… involves the situation with Emrys. I presume you’re aware?”
“Sorry. Can’t help you with that,” he said flatly with a shake of his head.
“We’re not asking you to bring Emrys in,” Ivy told him. “We’ve… managed to convince the Grand Adderman to bind himself in a Spell Circle as an offering to Emrys. He thinks it’s a ruse to bind and then banished Emrys; it’s not. We intend to use him as a peace offering to forge a truce with Emrys. To ensure our plan goes smoothly, we need some extra muscle to fend off anyone present that might be loyal to the Grand Adderman. Do you think you’re up for that?”
The light from The Mandrake’s face ebbed a little as he took a moment to ponder Ivy’s proposition.
“Extra muscle, eh?” he asked.
“Against the Darling Twins, specifically,” Envy added. “They hate Emrys, and they don’t care much for us either, so they’ll be sure to work against us. We don’t have a way to protect ourselves from them. Do you think that you could keep them in line, at least until Emrys shows up?”
“The Darling Twins? What about the other one?” The Mandrake asked.
“You mean that thing they call their Uncle? Deep underground and entombed within a forty-foot labyrinthine cube of self-healing titanium foam, magnetically levitated above LED floodlights and an electrified floor. We don’t need to worry about him,” Erich assured him.
The Mandrake didn’t seem particularly assured, though it was unclear if that was because he wasn’t convinced that the Darlings’ Uncle was truly out of the picture, or because that wasn’t who he was talking about it.
“Well, they’re no danger to me, either way,” he remarked. “Can’t say I’d be sad to see the Grand Adderman go either. The main risk to me is that if you fail, I’ll have made myself an enemy of the entire Ophion Occult Order. That might put a cramp in my style.”
The strange whale call from before sounded once again, this time seeming significantly closer to them than it had before. Erich, Ivy, and The Mandrake didn’t seem to think it was worth worrying about, so Envy deferred to their experience. She did, however, keep a watchful vigil on their surroundings while they had their conversation.
“And if you don’t help us and we succeed, you’ll have alienated yourself from an organization that now possesses Emrys as an ally,” Ivy countered. “Is that an opportunity you want to pass up?”
“It’s a big risk, and all you’re offering in return are promises of vague potential boons?” The Mandrake asked incredulously. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist on some payment upfront for this.”
“That’s perfectly reasonable. What can we offer you?” Ivy asked.
“If you’re the new Head of the Harrowick Chapter, does that mean you have access to Seneca Chamberlin’s Sombermorey Manor?” The Mandrake asked.
“It does. Is there a particular piece of his treasury that takes your fancy?” Ivy asked.
“Last I checked, Seneca had a somewhat extensive collection of spellwork firearms and sigil-etched silver bullets for taking out all kinds of boogeymen,” The Mandrake replied.
“You mean like one of these?” Ivy asked, pulling back her coat and reaching for the holster on her belt. She drew out a long-barrel revolver made of sterling silver and polished ebony, engraved and inlaid with a multitude of occult symbols.
“Exactly like one of those,” The Mandrake said. “I wouldn’t mind a nice new pair of sidearms, along with a generous supply of ammo. It might even give me an edge against the Darlings.”
“That sounds like a reasonable downpayment,” Ivy nodded with a slight smile. “He won’t be happy about it, but I can appropriate the weapons from Seneca without raising suspicion. As far as anyone else knows, they’re to use on Petra, Emrys’ acolyte. I doubt they’d be of any use against her, but it’s plausible enough to do as an excuse. If Seneca makes a fuss, which he will, you fully intend to return them after the ritual is complete. If we win, we intend for our treaty with Emrys to dissolve the Grand Council and decentralize our power structure, and I’ll have the authority to let you keep your new weapons permanently. If we lose, you flee and avoid the Grand Adderman and his lackeys as best you can, and if Seneca survives you may have to deal with him trying to get his guns back.”
“Ah, Ivy,” Envy said softly.
“So all I have to do is keep the Darlings and anyone else off your back until Emrys shows up?” The Mandrake asked, ignoring Envy’s interjection. “In exchange for a pair of Seneca’s finest spellwork pistols and two boxes of ammunition to be paid upfront, and afterwards I get the privilege of being the first person you call on when you’ve got some work you’d like to outsource to a third party?”
Ivy nodded, and extend her arm for a handshake. Rather than accept it, The Mandrake produced a business card embossed with the one-eyed dreamcatcher icon, and placed it in her outstretched hand.
“Give me a ring when everything’s set, and be sure to have my payment ready when you do,” he told her.
“Ivy,” Envy repeated, a little more insistently this time.
“No one else is in on our plan to betray the Grand Adderman, so I trust it goes without saying that we’re counting on your discretion?” Ivy said as she pocketed the business card.
“Confidentiality is standard in my line of work, Miss Noir. Don’t you worry about a thing,” he nodded.
“What about that? Should we worry about that?” Envy asked, pointing upwards to the top of the building in front of them.
The others all turned to where she was pointing, and upon the roof perched a creature that didn’t immediately make sense to them. It was there, and yet they could not say precisely where it was, as though its physical location was a stochastic estimate rather than a definite fact. It had no colour, and yet it was neither white nor black nor grey; it simply had no colour and there was no other way to describe it. It was large; larger than any of them, though smaller than the building it rested upon, and its size couldn’t be narrowed down any more than that. It either had a long body or a long neck, most likely both, but perhaps neither. Its face sat at the uttermost nadir of the Uncanny Valley, too inhuman to garner any sympathy but just human enough to make them wonder if it had once been a man’s, or more likely a child’s. The face was horribly strained, stretched out as it was across all the being’s possible locations, and yet it smiled down at them with a mouth devoid of teeth but still filled with malice. Several polydactyl limbs clawed into the crumbling brick of the building beneath them, and a tapering tail lazily whipped back and forth as its hollow and soulless eyes refused to break contact with them.
“Do not break eye contact with it until you’re out of town,” The Mandrake said in a hoarse whisper. “Walk backwards to your car, slowly. Don’t run, and don’t break eye contact. You’re lucky there are three of you. Two of you can keep watch while the other drives, but the driver should be looking in the rearview mirror as much as possible. Just don’t let it out of your sight before it’s occluded by the fog. You got that?”
“Mandrake, you told me the things that ravaged this town only come out at night unless provoked!” Erich hissed at him.
“Don’t take it personally. I tell that to everyone,” The Mandrake said. “Don’t break eye contact, and don’t try to fight it. I’ll see you in Adderwood.”
He leaned up against the door to his back, pushing it open and then sliding inside in a fraction of a second before slamming it shut, the sound of several locks clicking into place echoing through the alley.
The creature on the roof couldn’t have cared less about his departure, keeping its eyes keenly on the three live humans in the alley below.
“Erich – do we listen to him?” Ivy asked with a nervous swallow.
“I… I have no reason to think he wants us dead, and that thing hasn’t attacked us yet,” Erich replied, though it was obvious to both sisters that he was far from certain. “Do what he said. Back up slowly, and don’t take your eyes off it. Both of you get in the back seat and don’t block the middle.”
“But what is it?” Envy asked.
“Envy, trust me when I tell you that that information is counterproductive at this moment,” Ivy said as she grabbed her hand, and to Envy’s dismay she felt that it was trembling.
With an obedient nod, Envy began walking backwards, pulling Ivy and Erich along with her.
As they reached the end of the alley, the creature descended from the roof with both the grace of a cat and the viscosity of molasses, pouring its nebulous form to the ground as much as jumping. Each limb jerked about in what individually seemed like a chaotic fashion, but in aggregate was enough to smoothly propel the strange entity forward.
Ivy whimpered, but successfully fought the instinct to flee. She and Envy backed into the car almost simultaneously, and with only a bit of fumbling succeeded in opening the back door. Ivy went in first, followed by Envy. Once they were in, Erich opened the front passenger side door and pushed himself over into the driver’s seat, with Envy leaning forward to pull the door shut.
“Erich, drive! Drive now!” Ivy ordered, her unblinking eyes fixed upon the shambling creature stretching its elongated neck out towards their vehicle, its toothless smile so wide it looked like it might tear its face asunder.
Erich slammed on the gas, and their car sped off down Mainstreet, with the creature sprinting off after them in pursuit.
“Don’t we need to turn around at some point?” Envy asked, she and her sister now staring straight out through the rear window.
“It’s too risky. As long as we get out of town, we should be back more or less where we were,” Erich explained, his eyes glancing up into his rearview mirror every few seconds.
“Ivy, please. What is that thing?” Envy pleaded. “It doesn’t look real. Is it some kind of thoughtform?”
“It’s an inverted thoughtform, made from inverse thought,” Ivy answered. “It’s a form of consciousness that has the reverse quantum values of ordinary thought, causing wave functions to collapse in the complete opposite way they’re supposed to. Their mere presence is antithetical to life, psychic phenomenon, and any tech that relies on non-Newtonian physics.”
“Which is incidentally why we took my old Royce instead of Ivy’s Tesla,” Erich added.
“That’s why we have to keep looking at it. Our effect and its effect on wave functions cancel out and keep it from doing anything too weird,” Ivy went on. “It’s why they almost never attack in broad daylight, and why they can only exist in places devoid of sentience, like this. It’s why I thought we’d be safe meeting with The Mandrake here. Oh, God. Envy, I’m so sorry. I never should have brought you here, or at least I should have told you. I thought there’d be safety in numbers, and I didn’t want to scare you.”
The inverted thoughtform’s smile finally split its head wide open, and a great plume of monochrome flame ruptured forth from the gaping fissure. It was close, but it didn’t seem to be able to close the distance between itself and the car. A big enough bump in the road that caused them to involuntarily break line-of-sight for even an instant would be all it would take for them to lose that advantage.
“But why is it attacking though? Does it want to eat us? Is it defending its territory?” Envy demanded.
Ivy continued to stare straight ahead, fighting back tears that threatened to force her to blink.
“Inverse thought can only be made by the perversion of ordinary thought,” she said softly, seeing no need to say anything more.
Envy fell silent as well, now more than ever understanding the vital importance of maintaining their vigil on the creature before them.
It wasn’t so much running after them now as it was just tumbling, though it somehow always managed to keep its long neck held upright. It pushed itself to draw just a little bit closer to them, but that only slowed it down and caused it to sag under its own weight. Reality, or rather reality perceived by regular consciousness, was poison to it, and it dared not get too close. One instant of inattention was all it needed to strike.
When Erich saw that he had a clear path towards the fog at the edge of the town limits, he slammed down on the gas and pushed the vehicle as hard as it could go. In a desperate last ploy, the inverted thoughtform launched itself into the air in the hopes of landing on top of the car and hiding it from view long enough to grant it its victory. But the closer it got, the more real it became, and its increasing mass was enough to cause it to fall short of its target and crash into the pavement.
As the car vanished into the fog and they finally lost sight of the monstrous creature, they heard it release a shrill, forlorn howl that slowly faded into the distance. A howl which, much to their concern, was clearly not the same cry as the deep and resonating whale call they had heard earlier. For a third and final time, the whale call sounded again, perhaps in response to the howl of the creature that had been pursuing them.
Only this time, it wasn’t coming from behind them or even around them, but in front of them.
submitted by A_Vespertine to DarkTales [link] [comments]


2023.03.25 22:34 A_Vespertine What Dreams Are Made Of

“Well?” the Grand Adderman hissed impatiently as the spectral, sepia candlelight of the subterranean ritual chamber danced upon the silken robes that shrouded his stretched and wizened form.
Beneath the sacred summit of Pendragon Hill, in a great vaulted chamber built at a crossroads of otherworldly passageways, the sisters Ivy and Envy Noir sifted through the pit of Sigil Sand to confirm that it was once again pure.
“I’m afraid it’s… complicated, Grand Adderman,” Envy reported timidly as she methodically let another handful of Sand sift through her fingers. “The Sand itself has been purged of Emrys’ Miasma, but… it’s still here. It’s faint, possibly diffused, but it’s here somewhere. I’m sure of it.”
“The readings on the parathaumameter are inconclusive at best,” Ivy sighed, shoving the useless device back into the holster on her belt. “Crowley told you that they dispelled the Miasma from the Sand and into a human heart, and afterwards the heart burrowed itself into the Sand, and then they just couldn’t find it?”
“That is what he said,” the Grand Adderman replied with a noted tinge of exhaustion to his voice. “Based on what information they selectively chose to disclose to me, I can find no cause to fault them with this turn of events. I was tempted simply to torture them until they told me what they did wrong, but then thought that consulting with the two of you might yield more accurate results. Do either of you have any idea where the heart may have gone, if it ever existed in the first place?”
“If the Miasma had been bound to any corporeal object, and it was here, we’d be able to detect it,” Envy replied. “It feels like it’s in the space in between the grains rather than the grains itself, but for our purposes, I don’t think that really matters. Crowley’s ritual may have hallowed the Sand enough that the Miasma can’t reinfect it right now, but the moment we do anything with it that changes its astral frequency, the Miasma will just be reabsorbed.”
“Grand Adderman, as much as I’m loathed to admit it, I have no reason to believe that Crowley and the others did anything wrong here at all,” Ivy stated. “It appears that the ritual was successful at dispelling the Miasma, but that still wasn’t enough to save the Sand. There’s nothing else we can do with this. It’s been irreparably compromised and should be discarded. We need to start seriously considering alternatives.”
With a snarl, the Grand Adderman strode forward and impaled the Sigil Sand with the broken shards at the end of his sceptre. Slowly twisting it around, he prodded the Sand with his clairvoyance, searching for anything the Noir sisters might have overlooked.
“It’s in the shadows. I’m certain of that,” he murmured. “So like Emrys to hide in the shadows. That he has so tenaciously entrenched his very essence into this Sigil Sand can only mean that he is terrified of us using it against him. If we continue allowing Emrys to dictate the terms of engagement to us, then we are doomed! This Sand has the capacity to bind Emrys and banish him once again from the mortal plane, if only we can undo his sabotage!”
“Grand Adderman, I am sorry, but I fear we simply do not have the time to research a method to adequately purify this Sand before Emrys further escalates his assaults on us,” Ivy insisted. “Erich and I have been researching other entities we might be able to enlist as potential counters to Emrys, and I don’t think we should completely discount Seneca’s idea to try to broker some form of truce with him.”
In a flash, the Grand Adderman withdrew his sceptre from the Sand and raised it threateningly over his head as he spun towards Ivy, sending her stumbling back up against the wall.
“Maybe we don’t need to purify the Sand at all!” Envy shouted, desperate for anything that would spare her sister from the Adderman’s wrath.
To her surprise and relief, the Grand Adderman paused his advance, lowering his sceptre and turning his head towards her.
“Emrys wants us either to not use this Sand at all or try using it anyway so he can use it against us. You are correct, Grand Adderman; if we keep fighting Emrys on his terms, we will lose,” Envy began. “I have an idea, one I hesitate to suggest since it would put you personally in grave danger. We go ahead with the original plan, making a Spell Circle to bind Emrys with you to power it, but fudge it just enough so that the Miasma is able to corrupt it and bind you instead. That solves the biggest problem with the plan; getting Emrys into the Spell Circle in the first place. He’ll think it’s safe, he’ll think he’s won, and he’ll walk right in to claim you. Once he does, you expose the Sand to the Asphodel Incarnate, the one which you in your great foresight sent me down to the Reliquary to retrieve. I am certain it will provide more than enough of a counter to the Miasma that it will undo its effects on the Spell Circle and allow it to revert to its original purpose; binding Emrys and empowering you. Then we’ll be able to perform the banishing ritual and be rid of him forever!”
The Grand Adderman pondered silently for a moment, his hooded face impossible to read. Both sisters feared he was about to kill them on the spot for their heinous crime of less-than-flawless sycophancy.
“Would it be possible to move this Sand to the Adderwood Megalith?” he asked at last.
“Absolutely, Grand Adderman. I think that’s a wonderful idea. It’s a far more secure location, and it will be much easier for you to channel Ophion,” Envy assured him.
He turned his head slightly towards Ivy, who nodded emphatically as well.
“I’ll see it done, then,” he said, and started slithering towards the Cuniculi doors. “You two make the necessary alterations to your Spell Circle design. We do nothing until I am convinced that this bait and switch is safe to attempt! Is that understood?”
“Of course, Grand Adderman,” both sisters said as they bowed, respectfully remaining in place until the Grand Adderman had taken his leave of them.
Once he was gone, Ivy and Envy made their way up the spiral stairway to the manor above without daring to speak a word to each other. When they had made it into Ivy’s Tesla, and had begun their descent down Pendragon Hill and felt safely out of reach of any surveillance, Ivy smiled from ear to ear.
“You did it. You did it,” she said in hushed awe. “He’s actually just going to walk into our Spell Circle and let us bind him!”
“I just gave him what he asked for,” Envy smirked.
“Were you telling the truth about the Asphodel Incarnate?”
“It depends on how powerful Emrys has gotten, but it doesn’t really matter. Once the Grand Adderman is bound, we can take it from him. Chain him up with Erich’s Blue Moon Silver for good measure.”
“Absolutely. Can’t be too careful,” Ivy nodded. “We don’t need to hold him forever, though. Just long enough to offer him to Emrys and forge a peace pact. This is going to work. This is actually going to work!”
“You don’t think he suspects anything, do you?”
“I don’t. He’s been far too powerful for far too long. The idea that any of his underlings would actually try to overthrow him, let alone succeed, has never occurred to him. Emrys is going to kill the Grand Adderman, and the Darlings, and be very grateful to us for freeing him from his chains. I wish I could tell Erich the good news right now, but I can’t even risk texting him.”
“Oh, Bloody Hell! The Darlings!” Envy cursed. “They’ll be there for the ritual, won’t they? They’re not going to side with us! How are we going to fend them off until Emrys gets there? Other than the Grand Adderman, he’s the only one stronger than they are.”
“Right. The Spell Circle will have protection wards, but I wouldn’t trust those with my life against the Darlings,” Ivy mused. “The Effulgent One is one option, but I’d prefer something we could work out a more explicit arrangement with. Someone we could trust to keep the Darlings or anyone else off our backs while we wait for Emrys, and someone who wouldn’t be unwelcomed or suspicious if we brought them to Adderwood. That doesn’t leave a lot of options, but I think… I think I might know where we could find somebody. Don’t worry, Envy. This is just a minor detail to work out. We’re going to pull this off. I promise.”
***
“Our code-name for him is The Mandrake. I’ve heard people just call him Drake, but for today, at least, I think we’d be better to err on the side of formality,” Erich advised as he drove Ivy and Envy down the abandoned road, its every pothole filled with rainwater from the mild yet unyielding drizzle. They were far from Sombermorey, far from Harrowick County, and far from any other chapterhouse of the Ophion Occult Order, to ensure their meeting wouldn’t have any unwanted eavesdroppers.
“He lives out here?” Envy asked skeptically, looking out in disdain at the crumbling masonry around them, unable to judge its extent due to the pervasive fog. “Everyone of these buildings looks condemned. This has to be a ghost town. What is this place?”
“I don’t know. All I know is that if you want a guaranteed private meeting with The Mandrake, you drive in the direction he tells you,” Erich replied. “Once you’re somewhere remote, you’ll hit a sudden patch of fog, and then you’re here. There’s no need to worry. I wouldn’t have brought you two out here if I didn’t trust him.”
“And he’s not a part of the Order? Or an enemy?” Envy asked.
“He’s a freelancer. He’s loyal to no agenda but his own, and works with anyone who he thinks will be of help to him,” Ivy explained. “Even if he doesn’t agree to help us, he won’t rat us out. He couldn’t care less about the Grand Adderman.”
“And he can handle the Darlings? Both of them?” Envy asked skeptically.
“Outside of their playroom, the Darlings aren’t as overly powerful as they appear,” Erich claimed. “They’re physically superhuman in terms of strength, speed, stamina, sensory acuteness, agility, reaction time, resilience and recovery, but none of these are unlimited. Other than some selective telekinesis and their eternal youth, they’re still just humans with a little extra oomph. There’s a reason you never see Mary out by herself. It doesn’t matter how much stronger she is than a regular person; she’s still not indestructible, and that terrifies her. It terrifies James too, of course. He’s just better at risk management when he’s out on his errands. Remember that they did retreat from their battle with Emrys on Pendragon Hill. They’re cowards, and they will fall back if they think they’re in mortal peril. I’m not saying The Mandrake is as powerful as Emrys, but he’s definitely strong enough to keep the Darlings at bay for a bit. He might even manage to scare them off, though given how obsessed they seemed to have become with getting revenge on Emrys, that may be a long shot. At any rate, the Darlings won’t be able to hurt him.”
“Why not?” Envy asked.
“You’ll understand when you see him,” Ivy assured her.
As they drove down the ruined streets, Envy was suddenly struck by the realization that ‘ghost town’ wasn’t an adequate description. The town didn’t just seem abandoned; it felt forbidden. It felt like Chornobyl, like something monstrous had happened that hadn’t merely forced the residents to flee, but had cursed the land forever so that they could never come back. Everything was so insidiously still. There didn’t seem to be any animals at all, and the only plants she had seen looked to have been dead for some time, albeit relatively unrotten. She suspected that was because this place was as devoid of microbes as it was macroscopic life. She felt sick, being alive in a place where life of any kind was no longer welcomed. She trusted her sister, and she trusted Erich, so she assumed that short visits would do no lasting harm. Nonetheless, the sooner this was over with, the better.
She jumped in her seat at the sound of some deep, whale-like call, resonating from somewhere far within the fog.
“What was that?” she demanded.
“Naming it doesn’t make it any easier to understand,” was Erich’s cryptic response. He slowed down the car as they drove down what might have once been the town’s Mainstreet, stopping entirely in front of a dark alleyway. “He’s down there.”
Envy peered down the alley, spotting a sign with a single eye centered in a simplified dreamcatcher hanging above a doorway, with a silhouetted humanoid figure leaning up against it.
“Could he maybe come out to meet us, or – ”
“We’re going down to meet him,” Ivy said sympathetically as she opened the car door. “Don’t worry, Envy. All we need to do is have a quick word with this guy and we’ll be one step closer to overthrowing the Grand Adderman.”
Envy nodded and, taking a deep breath, forced herself out of the relative safety of the car and into the mist-swept, forlorn world outside.
Leaving the car made it clear just how quiet everything was, and now that she was no longer looking through the tinted windows, the lack of colour was much more striking as well. She pulled her cashmere cloak around her to guard off the damp chill in the air, regretting that it descended no further than the hem of her pleated skirt. Walking alongside her sister and behind Erich, she reluctantly approached the shadowed stranger in the alley.
The first thing she noticed about him was that he was wearing a trench coat and fedora like a detective in a film noir movie, which fit with the eye-themed logo on the sign above him. There was a dim glow coming from his face, and at first, Envy just assumed that he was smoking.
Then he looked directly at them, and she saw an illuminated version of the one-eyed dreamcatcher icon carved into an otherwise featureless face of iridescent silver. Envy instantly wondered if it was a helmet, or if he was perhaps some kind of android. If it was a helmet, it seamlessly concealed anything human that might be under it. Unless it had some kind of internal heads-up display, she didn’t see how he could have any vision through it. Being an android, on the other hand, would explain how he could exist in a place that was so unwelcoming to life.
“Erich Thorne. Welcome back,” The Mandrake said in a listless monotone. “Nice ladies. You whip them up yourself?”
“Heh, no. This is my girlfriend and Head of the Harrowick Chapter Ivy Noir, and her sister Envy, a Master Adderman and expert thaumatologist,” Erich introduced.
“…Really?” The Mandrake asked.
“My sister and I utilize proprietary implants that modulate our bodies’ bioelectrical signals, optimizing our appearance, health, cognitive faculties, mental well-being, and physical capabilities,” Ivy explained. “I can assure you, Mr. Mandrake, that my sister and I are as smart – and dangerous – as we are beautiful.”
“I’m shaking,” he scoffed. “What is that I can help you with, Miss Noir?”
“It… involves the situation with Emrys. I presume you’re aware?”
“Sorry. Can’t help you with that,” he said flatly with a shake of his head.
“We’re not asking you to bring Emrys in,” Ivy told him. “We’ve… managed to convince the Grand Adderman to bind himself in a Spell Circle as an offering to Emrys. He thinks it’s a ruse to bind and then banished Emrys; it’s not. We intend to use him as a peace offering to forge a truce with Emrys. To ensure our plan goes smoothly, we need some extra muscle to fend off anyone present that might be loyal to the Grand Adderman. Do you think you’re up for that?”
The light from The Mandrake’s face ebbed a little as he took a moment to ponder Ivy’s proposition.
“Extra muscle, eh?” he asked.
“Against the Darling Twins, specifically,” Envy added. “They hate Emrys, and they don’t care much for us either, so they’ll be sure to work against us. We don’t have a way to protect ourselves from them. Do you think that you could keep them in line, at least until Emrys shows up?”
“The Darling Twins? What about the other one?” The Mandrake asked.
“You mean that thing they call their Uncle? Deep underground and entombed within a forty-foot labyrinthine cube of self-healing titanium foam, magnetically levitated above LED floodlights and an electrified floor. We don’t need to worry about him,” Erich assured him.
The Mandrake didn’t seem particularly assured, though it was unclear if that was because he wasn’t convinced that the Darlings’ Uncle was truly out of the picture, or because that wasn’t who he was talking about it.
“Well, they’re no danger to me, either way,” he remarked. “Can’t say I’d be sad to see the Grand Adderman go either. The main risk to me is that if you fail, I’ll have made myself an enemy of the entire Ophion Occult Order. That might put a cramp in my style.”
The strange whale call from before sounded once again, this time seeming significantly closer to them than it had before. Erich, Ivy, and The Mandrake didn’t seem to think it was worth worrying about, so Envy deferred to their experience. She did, however, keep a watchful vigil on their surroundings while they had their conversation.
“And if you don’t help us and we succeed, you’ll have alienated yourself from an organization that now possesses Emrys as an ally,” Ivy countered. “Is that an opportunity you want to pass up?”
“It’s a big risk, and all you’re offering in return are promises of vague potential boons?” The Mandrake asked incredulously. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist on some payment upfront for this.”
“That’s perfectly reasonable. What can we offer you?” Ivy asked.
“If you’re the new Head of the Harrowick Chapter, does that mean you have access to Seneca Chamberlin’s Sombermorey Manor?” The Mandrake asked.
“It does. Is there a particular piece of his treasury that takes your fancy?” Ivy asked.
“Last I checked, Seneca had a somewhat extensive collection of spellwork firearms and sigil-etched silver bullets for taking out all kinds of boogeymen,” The Mandrake replied.
“You mean like one of these?” Ivy asked, pulling back her coat and reaching for the holster on her belt. She drew out a long-barrel revolver made of sterling silver and polished ebony, engraved and inlaid with a multitude of occult symbols.
“Exactly like one of those,” The Mandrake said. “I wouldn’t mind a nice new pair of sidearms, along with a generous supply of ammo. It might even give me an edge against the Darlings.”
“That sounds like a reasonable downpayment,” Ivy nodded with a slight smile. “He won’t be happy about it, but I can appropriate the weapons from Seneca without raising suspicion. As far as anyone else knows, they’re to use on Petra, Emrys’ acolyte. I doubt they’d be of any use against her, but it’s plausible enough to do as an excuse. If Seneca makes a fuss, which he will, you fully intend to return them after the ritual is complete. If we win, we intend for our treaty with Emrys to dissolve the Grand Council and decentralize our power structure, and I’ll have the authority to let you keep your new weapons permanently. If we lose, you flee and avoid the Grand Adderman and his lackeys as best you can, and if Seneca survives you may have to deal with him trying to get his guns back.”
“Ah, Ivy,” Envy said softly.
“So all I have to do is keep the Darlings and anyone else off your back until Emrys shows up?” The Mandrake asked, ignoring Envy’s interjection. “In exchange for a pair of Seneca’s finest spellwork pistols and two boxes of ammunition to be paid upfront, and afterwards I get the privilege of being the first person you call on when you’ve got some work you’d like to outsource to a third party?”
Ivy nodded, and extend her arm for a handshake. Rather than accept it, The Mandrake produced a business card embossed with the one-eyed dreamcatcher icon, and placed it in her outstretched hand.
“Give me a ring when everything’s set, and be sure to have my payment ready when you do,” he told her.
“Ivy,” Envy repeated, a little more insistently this time.
“No one else is in on our plan to betray the Grand Adderman, so I trust it goes without saying that we’re counting on your discretion?” Ivy said as she pocketed the business card.
“Confidentiality is standard in my line of work, Miss Noir. Don’t you worry about a thing,” he nodded.
“What about that? Should we worry about that?” Envy asked, pointing upwards to the top of the building in front of them.
The others all turned to where she was pointing, and upon the roof perched a creature that didn’t immediately make sense to them. It was there, and yet they could not say precisely where it was, as though its physical location was a stochastic estimate rather than a definite fact. It had no colour, and yet it was neither white nor black nor grey; it simply had no colour and there was no other way to describe it. It was large; larger than any of them, though smaller than the building it rested upon, and its size couldn’t be narrowed down any more than that. It either had a long body or a long neck, most likely both, but perhaps neither. Its face sat at the uttermost nadir of the Uncanny Valley, too inhuman to garner any sympathy but just human enough to make them wonder if it had once been a man’s, or more likely a child’s. The face was horribly strained, stretched out as it was across all the being’s possible locations, and yet it smiled down at them with a mouth devoid of teeth but still filled with malice. Several polydactyl limbs clawed into the crumbling brick of the building beneath them, and a tapering tail lazily whipped back and forth as its hollow and soulless eyes refused to break contact with them.
“Do not break eye contact with it until you’re out of town,” The Mandrake said in a hoarse whisper. “Walk backwards to your car, slowly. Don’t run, and don’t break eye contact. You’re lucky there are three of you. Two of you can keep watch while the other drives, but the driver should be looking in the rearview mirror as much as possible. Just don’t let it out of your sight before it’s occluded by the fog. You got that?”
“Mandrake, you told me the things that ravaged this town only come out at night unless provoked!” Erich hissed at him.
“Don’t take it personally. I tell that to everyone,” The Mandrake said. “Don’t break eye contact, and don’t try to fight it. I’ll see you in Adderwood.”
He leaned up against the door to his back, pushing it open and then sliding inside in a fraction of a second before slamming it shut, the sound of several locks clicking into place echoing through the alley.
The creature on the roof couldn’t have cared less about his departure, keeping its eyes keenly on the three live humans in the alley below.
“Erich – do we listen to him?” Ivy asked with a nervous swallow.
“I… I have no reason to think he wants us dead, and that thing hasn’t attacked us yet,” Erich replied, though it was obvious to both sisters that he was far from certain. “Do what he said. Back up slowly, and don’t take your eyes off it. Both of you get in the back seat and don’t block the middle.”
“But what is it?” Envy asked.
“Envy, trust me when I tell you that that information is counterproductive at this moment,” Ivy said as she grabbed her hand, and to Envy’s dismay she felt that it was trembling.
With an obedient nod, Envy began walking backwards, pulling Ivy and Erich along with her.
As they reached the end of the alley, the creature descended from the roof with both the grace of a cat and the viscosity of molasses, pouring its nebulous form to the ground as much as jumping. Each limb jerked about in what individually seemed like a chaotic fashion, but in aggregate was enough to smoothly propel the strange entity forward.
Ivy whimpered, but successfully fought the instinct to flee. She and Envy backed into the car almost simultaneously, and with only a bit of fumbling succeeded in opening the back door. Ivy went in first, followed by Envy. Once they were in, Erich opened the front passenger side door and pushed himself over into the driver’s seat, with Envy leaning forward to pull the door shut.
“Erich, drive! Drive now!” Ivy ordered, her unblinking eyes fixed upon the shambling creature stretching its elongated neck out towards their vehicle, its toothless smile so wide it looked like it might tear its face asunder.
Erich slammed on the gas, and their car sped off down Mainstreet, with the creature sprinting off after them in pursuit.
“Don’t we need to turn around at some point?” Envy asked, she and her sister now staring straight out through the rear window.
“It’s too risky. As long as we get out of town, we should be back more or less where we were,” Erich explained, his eyes glancing up into his rearview mirror every few seconds.
“Ivy, please. What is that thing?” Envy pleaded. “It doesn’t look real. Is it some kind of thoughtform?”
“It’s an inverted thoughtform, made from inverse thought,” Ivy answered. “It’s a form of consciousness that has the reverse quantum values of ordinary thought, causing wave functions to collapse in the complete opposite way they’re supposed to. Their mere presence is antithetical to life, psychic phenomenon, and any tech that relies on non-Newtonian physics.”
“Which is incidentally why we took my old Royce instead of Ivy’s Tesla,” Erich added.
“That’s why we have to keep looking at it. Our effect and its effect on wave functions cancel out and keep it from doing anything too weird,” Ivy went on. “It’s why they almost never attack in broad daylight, and why they can only exist in places devoid of sentience, like this. It’s why I thought we’d be safe meeting with The Mandrake here. Oh, God. Envy, I’m so sorry. I never should have brought you here, or at least I should have told you. I thought there’d be safety in numbers, and I didn’t want to scare you.”
The inverted thoughtform’s smile finally split its head wide open, and a great plume of monochrome flame ruptured forth from the gaping fissure. It was close, but it didn’t seem to be able to close the distance between itself and the car. A big enough bump in the road that caused them to involuntarily break line-of-sight for even an instant would be all it would take for them to lose that advantage.
“But why is it attacking though? Does it want to eat us? Is it defending its territory?” Envy demanded.
Ivy continued to stare straight ahead, fighting back tears that threatened to force her to blink.
“Inverse thought can only be made by the perversion of ordinary thought,” she said softly, seeing no need to say anything more.
Envy fell silent as well, now more than ever understanding the vital importance of maintaining their vigil on the creature before them.
It wasn’t so much running after them now as it was just tumbling, though it somehow always managed to keep its long neck held upright. It pushed itself to draw just a little bit closer to them, but that only slowed it down and caused it to sag under its own weight. Reality, or rather reality perceived by regular consciousness, was poison to it, and it dared not get too close. One instant of inattention was all it needed to strike.
When Erich saw that he had a clear path towards the fog at the edge of the town limits, he slammed down on the gas and pushed the vehicle as hard as it could go. In a desperate last ploy, the inverted thoughtform launched itself into the air in the hopes of landing on top of the car and hiding it from view long enough to grant it its victory. But the closer it got, the more real it became, and its increasing mass was enough to cause it to fall short of its target and crash into the pavement.
As the car vanished into the fog and they finally lost sight of the monstrous creature, they heard it release a shrill, forlorn howl that slowly faded into the distance. A howl which, much to their concern, was clearly not the same cry as the deep and resonating whale call they had heard earlier. For a third and final time, the whale call sounded again, perhaps in response to the howl of the creature that had been pursuing them.
Only this time, it wasn’t coming from behind them or even around them, but in front of them.
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2023.03.25 22:33 A_Vespertine What Dreams Are Made Of

“Well?” the Grand Adderman hissed impatiently as the spectral, sepia candlelight of the subterranean ritual chamber danced upon the silken robes that shrouded his stretched and wizened form.
Beneath the sacred summit of Pendragon Hill, in a great vaulted chamber built at a crossroads of otherworldly passageways, the sisters Ivy and Envy Noir sifted through the pit of Sigil Sand to confirm that it was once again pure.
“I’m afraid it’s… complicated, Grand Adderman,” Envy reported timidly as she methodically let another handful of Sand sift through her fingers. “The Sand itself has been purged of Emrys’ Miasma, but… it’s still here. It’s faint, possibly diffused, but it’s here somewhere. I’m sure of it.”
“The readings on the parathaumameter are inconclusive at best,” Ivy sighed, shoving the useless device back into the holster on her belt. “Crowley told you that they dispelled the Miasma from the Sand and into a human heart, and afterwards the heart burrowed itself into the Sand, and then they just couldn’t find it?”
“That is what he said,” the Grand Adderman replied with a noted tinge of exhaustion to his voice. “Based on what information they selectively chose to disclose to me, I can find no cause to fault them with this turn of events. I was tempted simply to torture them until they told me what they did wrong, but then thought that consulting with the two of you might yield more accurate results. Do either of you have any idea where the heart may have gone, if it ever existed in the first place?”
“If the Miasma had been bound to any corporeal object, and it was here, we’d be able to detect it,” Envy replied. “It feels like it’s in the space in between the grains rather than the grains itself, but for our purposes, I don’t think that really matters. Crowley’s ritual may have hallowed the Sand enough that the Miasma can’t reinfect it right now, but the moment we do anything with it that changes its astral frequency, the Miasma will just be reabsorbed.”
“Grand Adderman, as much as I’m loathed to admit it, I have no reason to believe that Crowley and the others did anything wrong here at all,” Ivy stated. “It appears that the ritual was successful at dispelling the Miasma, but that still wasn’t enough to save the Sand. There’s nothing else we can do with this. It’s been irreparably compromised and should be discarded. We need to start seriously considering alternatives.”
With a snarl, the Grand Adderman strode forward and impaled the Sigil Sand with the broken shards at the end of his sceptre. Slowly twisting it around, he prodded the Sand with his clairvoyance, searching for anything the Noir sisters might have overlooked.
“It’s in the shadows. I’m certain of that,” he murmured. “So like Emrys to hide in the shadows. That he has so tenaciously entrenched his very essence into this Sigil Sand can only mean that he is terrified of us using it against him. If we continue allowing Emrys to dictate the terms of engagement to us, then we are doomed! This Sand has the capacity to bind Emrys and banish him once again from the mortal plane, if only we can undo his sabotage!”
“Grand Adderman, I am sorry, but I fear we simply do not have the time to research a method to adequately purify this Sand before Emrys further escalates his assaults on us,” Ivy insisted. “Erich and I have been researching other entities we might be able to enlist as potential counters to Emrys, and I don’t think we should completely discount Seneca’s idea to try to broker some form of truce with him.”
In a flash, the Grand Adderman withdrew his sceptre from the Sand and raised it threateningly over his head as he spun towards Ivy, sending her stumbling back up against the wall.
“Maybe we don’t need to purify the Sand at all!” Envy shouted, desperate for anything that would spare her sister from the Adderman’s wrath.
To her surprise and relief, the Grand Adderman paused his advance, lowering his sceptre and turning his head towards her.
“Emrys wants us either to not use this Sand at all or try using it anyway so he can use it against us. You are correct, Grand Adderman; if we keep fighting Emrys on his terms, we will lose,” Envy began. “I have an idea, one I hesitate to suggest since it would put you personally in grave danger. We go ahead with the original plan, making a Spell Circle to bind Emrys with you to power it, but fudge it just enough so that the Miasma is able to corrupt it and bind you instead. That solves the biggest problem with the plan; getting Emrys into the Spell Circle in the first place. He’ll think it’s safe, he’ll think he’s won, and he’ll walk right in to claim you. Once he does, you expose the Sand to the Asphodel Incarnate, the one which you in your great foresight sent me down to the Reliquary to retrieve. I am certain it will provide more than enough of a counter to the Miasma that it will undo its effects on the Spell Circle and allow it to revert to its original purpose; binding Emrys and empowering you. Then we’ll be able to perform the banishing ritual and be rid of him forever!”
The Grand Adderman pondered silently for a moment, his hooded face impossible to read. Both sisters feared he was about to kill them on the spot for their heinous crime of less-than-flawless sycophancy.
“Would it be possible to move this Sand to the Adderwood Megalith?” he asked at last.
“Absolutely, Grand Adderman. I think that’s a wonderful idea. It’s a far more secure location, and it will be much easier for you to channel Ophion,” Envy assured him.
He turned his head slightly towards Ivy, who nodded emphatically as well.
“I’ll see it done, then,” he said, and started slithering towards the Cuniculi doors. “You two make the necessary alterations to your Spell Circle design. We do nothing until I am convinced that this bait and switch is safe to attempt! Is that understood?”
“Of course, Grand Adderman,” both sisters said as they bowed, respectfully remaining in place until the Grand Adderman had taken his leave of them.
Once he was gone, Ivy and Envy made their way up the spiral stairway to the manor above without daring to speak a word to each other. When they had made it into Ivy’s Tesla, and had begun their descent down Pendragon Hill and felt safely out of reach of any surveillance, Ivy smiled from ear to ear.
“You did it. You did it,” she said in hushed awe. “He’s actually just going to walk into our Spell Circle and let us bind him!”
“I just gave him what he asked for,” Envy smirked.
“Were you telling the truth about the Asphodel Incarnate?”
“It depends on how powerful Emrys has gotten, but it doesn’t really matter. Once the Grand Adderman is bound, we can take it from him. Chain him up with Erich’s Blue Moon Silver for good measure.”
“Absolutely. Can’t be too careful,” Ivy nodded. “We don’t need to hold him forever, though. Just long enough to offer him to Emrys and forge a peace pact. This is going to work. This is actually going to work!”
“You don’t think he suspects anything, do you?”
“I don’t. He’s been far too powerful for far too long. The idea that any of his underlings would actually try to overthrow him, let alone succeed, has never occurred to him. Emrys is going to kill the Grand Adderman, and the Darlings, and be very grateful to us for freeing him from his chains. I wish I could tell Erich the good news right now, but I can’t even risk texting him.”
“Oh, Bloody Hell! The Darlings!” Envy cursed. “They’ll be there for the ritual, won’t they? They’re not going to side with us! How are we going to fend them off until Emrys gets there? Other than the Grand Adderman, he’s the only one stronger than they are.”
“Right. The Spell Circle will have protection wards, but I wouldn’t trust those with my life against the Darlings,” Ivy mused. “The Effulgent One is one option, but I’d prefer something we could work out a more explicit arrangement with. Someone we could trust to keep the Darlings or anyone else off our backs while we wait for Emrys, and someone who wouldn’t be unwelcomed or suspicious if we brought them to Adderwood. That doesn’t leave a lot of options, but I think… I think I might know where we could find somebody. Don’t worry, Envy. This is just a minor detail to work out. We’re going to pull this off. I promise.”
***
“Our code-name for him is The Mandrake. I’ve heard people just call him Drake, but for today, at least, I think we’d be better to err on the side of formality,” Erich advised as he drove Ivy and Envy down the abandoned road, its every pothole filled with rainwater from the mild yet unyielding drizzle. They were far from Sombermorey, far from Harrowick County, and far from any other chapterhouse of the Ophion Occult Order, to ensure their meeting wouldn’t have any unwanted eavesdroppers.
“He lives out here?” Envy asked skeptically, looking out in disdain at the crumbling masonry around them, unable to judge its extent due to the pervasive fog. “Everyone of these buildings looks condemned. This has to be a ghost town. What is this place?”
“I don’t know. All I know is that if you want a guaranteed private meeting with The Mandrake, you drive in the direction he tells you,” Erich replied. “Once you’re somewhere remote, you’ll hit a sudden patch of fog, and then you’re here. There’s no need to worry. I wouldn’t have brought you two out here if I didn’t trust him.”
“And he’s not a part of the Order? Or an enemy?” Envy asked.
“He’s a freelancer. He’s loyal to no agenda but his own, and works with anyone who he thinks will be of help to him,” Ivy explained. “Even if he doesn’t agree to help us, he won’t rat us out. He couldn’t care less about the Grand Adderman.”
“And he can handle the Darlings? Both of them?” Envy asked skeptically.
“Outside of their playroom, the Darlings aren’t as overly powerful as they appear,” Erich claimed. “They’re physically superhuman in terms of strength, speed, stamina, sensory acuteness, agility, reaction time, resilience and recovery, but none of these are unlimited. Other than some selective telekinesis and their eternal youth, they’re still just humans with a little extra oomph. There’s a reason you never see Mary out by herself. It doesn’t matter how much stronger she is than a regular person; she’s still not indestructible, and that terrifies her. It terrifies James too, of course. He’s just better at risk management when he’s out on his errands. Remember that they did retreat from their battle with Emrys on Pendragon Hill. They’re cowards, and they will fall back if they think they’re in mortal peril. I’m not saying The Mandrake is as powerful as Emrys, but he’s definitely strong enough to keep the Darlings at bay for a bit. He might even manage to scare them off, though given how obsessed they seemed to have become with getting revenge on Emrys, that may be a long shot. At any rate, the Darlings won’t be able to hurt him.”
“Why not?” Envy asked.
“You’ll understand when you see him,” Ivy assured her.
As they drove down the ruined streets, Envy was suddenly struck by the realization that ‘ghost town’ wasn’t an adequate description. The town didn’t just seem abandoned; it felt forbidden. It felt like Chornobyl, like something monstrous had happened that hadn’t merely forced the residents to flee, but had cursed the land forever so that they could never come back. Everything was so insidiously still. There didn’t seem to be any animals at all, and the only plants she had seen looked to have been dead for some time, albeit relatively unrotten. She suspected that was because this place was as devoid of microbes as it was macroscopic life. She felt sick, being alive in a place where life of any kind was no longer welcomed. She trusted her sister, and she trusted Erich, so she assumed that short visits would do no lasting harm. Nonetheless, the sooner this was over with, the better.
She jumped in her seat at the sound of some deep, whale-like call, resonating from somewhere far within the fog.
“What was that?” she demanded.
“Naming it doesn’t make it any easier to understand,” was Erich’s cryptic response. He slowed down the car as they drove down what might have once been the town’s Mainstreet, stopping entirely in front of a dark alleyway. “He’s down there.”
Envy peered down the alley, spotting a sign with a single eye centered in a simplified dreamcatcher hanging above a doorway, with a silhouetted humanoid figure leaning up against it.
“Could he maybe come out to meet us, or – ”
“We’re going down to meet him,” Ivy said sympathetically as she opened the car door. “Don’t worry, Envy. All we need to do is have a quick word with this guy and we’ll be one step closer to overthrowing the Grand Adderman.”
Envy nodded and, taking a deep breath, forced herself out of the relative safety of the car and into the mist-swept, forlorn world outside.
Leaving the car made it clear just how quiet everything was, and now that she was no longer looking through the tinted windows, the lack of colour was much more striking as well. She pulled her cashmere cloak around her to guard off the damp chill in the air, regretting that it descended no further than the hem of her pleated skirt. Walking alongside her sister and behind Erich, she reluctantly approached the shadowed stranger in the alley.
The first thing she noticed about him was that he was wearing a trench coat and fedora like a detective in a film noir movie, which fit with the eye-themed logo on the sign above him. There was a dim glow coming from his face, and at first, Envy just assumed that he was smoking.
Then he looked directly at them, and she saw an illuminated version of the one-eyed dreamcatcher icon carved into an otherwise featureless face of iridescent silver. Envy instantly wondered if it was a helmet, or if he was perhaps some kind of android. If it was a helmet, it seamlessly concealed anything human that might be under it. Unless it had some kind of internal heads-up display, she didn’t see how he could have any vision through it. Being an android, on the other hand, would explain how he could exist in a place that was so unwelcoming to life.
“Erich Thorne. Welcome back,” The Mandrake said in a listless monotone. “Nice ladies. You whip them up yourself?”
“Heh, no. This is my girlfriend and Head of the Harrowick Chapter Ivy Noir, and her sister Envy, a Master Adderman and expert thaumatologist,” Erich introduced.
“…Really?” The Mandrake asked.
“My sister and I utilize proprietary implants that modulate our bodies’ bioelectrical signals, optimizing our appearance, health, cognitive faculties, mental well-being, and physical capabilities,” Ivy explained. “I can assure you, Mr. Mandrake, that my sister and I are as smart – and dangerous – as we are beautiful.”
“I’m shaking,” he scoffed. “What is that I can help you with, Miss Noir?”
“It… involves the situation with Emrys. I presume you’re aware?”
“Sorry. Can’t help you with that,” he said flatly with a shake of his head.
“We’re not asking you to bring Emrys in,” Ivy told him. “We’ve… managed to convince the Grand Adderman to bind himself in a Spell Circle as an offering to Emrys. He thinks it’s a ruse to bind and then banished Emrys; it’s not. We intend to use him as a peace offering to forge a truce with Emrys. To ensure our plan goes smoothly, we need some extra muscle to fend off anyone present that might be loyal to the Grand Adderman. Do you think you’re up for that?”
The light from The Mandrake’s face ebbed a little as he took a moment to ponder Ivy’s proposition.
“Extra muscle, eh?” he asked.
“Against the Darling Twins, specifically,” Envy added. “They hate Emrys, and they don’t care much for us either, so they’ll be sure to work against us. We don’t have a way to protect ourselves from them. Do you think that you could keep them in line, at least until Emrys shows up?”
“The Darling Twins? What about the other one?” The Mandrake asked.
“You mean that thing they call their Uncle? Deep underground and entombed within a forty-foot labyrinthine cube of self-healing titanium foam, magnetically levitated above LED floodlights and an electrified floor. We don’t need to worry about him,” Erich assured him.
The Mandrake didn’t seem particularly assured, though it was unclear if that was because he wasn’t convinced that the Darlings’ Uncle was truly out of the picture, or because that wasn’t who he was talking about it.
“Well, they’re no danger to me, either way,” he remarked. “Can’t say I’d be sad to see the Grand Adderman go either. The main risk to me is that if you fail, I’ll have made myself an enemy of the entire Ophion Occult Order. That might put a cramp in my style.”
The strange whale call from before sounded once again, this time seeming significantly closer to them than it had before. Erich, Ivy, and The Mandrake didn’t seem to think it was worth worrying about, so Envy deferred to their experience. She did, however, keep a watchful vigil on their surroundings while they had their conversation.
“And if you don’t help us and we succeed, you’ll have alienated yourself from an organization that now possesses Emrys as an ally,” Ivy countered. “Is that an opportunity you want to pass up?”
“It’s a big risk, and all you’re offering in return are promises of vague potential boons?” The Mandrake asked incredulously. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist on some payment upfront for this.”
“That’s perfectly reasonable. What can we offer you?” Ivy asked.
“If you’re the new Head of the Harrowick Chapter, does that mean you have access to Seneca Chamberlin’s Sombermorey Manor?” The Mandrake asked.
“It does. Is there a particular piece of his treasury that takes your fancy?” Ivy asked.
“Last I checked, Seneca had a somewhat extensive collection of spellwork firearms and sigil-etched silver bullets for taking out all kinds of boogeymen,” The Mandrake replied.
“You mean like one of these?” Ivy asked, pulling back her coat and reaching for the holster on her belt. She drew out a long-barrel revolver made of sterling silver and polished ebony, engraved and inlaid with a multitude of occult symbols.
“Exactly like one of those,” The Mandrake said. “I wouldn’t mind a nice new pair of sidearms, along with a generous supply of ammo. It might even give me an edge against the Darlings.”
“That sounds like a reasonable downpayment,” Ivy nodded with a slight smile. “He won’t be happy about it, but I can appropriate the weapons from Seneca without raising suspicion. As far as anyone else knows, they’re to use on Petra, Emrys’ acolyte. I doubt they’d be of any use against her, but it’s plausible enough to do as an excuse. If Seneca makes a fuss, which he will, you fully intend to return them after the ritual is complete. If we win, we intend for our treaty with Emrys to dissolve the Grand Council and decentralize our power structure, and I’ll have the authority to let you keep your new weapons permanently. If we lose, you flee and avoid the Grand Adderman and his lackeys as best you can, and if Seneca survives you may have to deal with him trying to get his guns back.”
“Ah, Ivy,” Envy said softly.
“So all I have to do is keep the Darlings and anyone else off your back until Emrys shows up?” The Mandrake asked, ignoring Envy’s interjection. “In exchange for a pair of Seneca’s finest spellwork pistols and two boxes of ammunition to be paid upfront, and afterwards I get the privilege of being the first person you call on when you’ve got some work you’d like to outsource to a third party?”
Ivy nodded, and extend her arm for a handshake. Rather than accept it, The Mandrake produced a business card embossed with the one-eyed dreamcatcher icon, and placed it in her outstretched hand.
“Give me a ring when everything’s set, and be sure to have my payment ready when you do,” he told her.
“Ivy,” Envy repeated, a little more insistently this time.
“No one else is in on our plan to betray the Grand Adderman, so I trust it goes without saying that we’re counting on your discretion?” Ivy said as she pocketed the business card.
“Confidentiality is standard in my line of work, Miss Noir. Don’t you worry about a thing,” he nodded.
“What about that? Should we worry about that?” Envy asked, pointing upwards to the top of the building in front of them.
The others all turned to where she was pointing, and upon the roof perched a creature that didn’t immediately make sense to them. It was there, and yet they could not say precisely where it was, as though its physical location was a stochastic estimate rather than a definite fact. It had no colour, and yet it was neither white nor black nor grey; it simply had no colour and there was no other way to describe it. It was large; larger than any of them, though smaller than the building it rested upon, and its size couldn’t be narrowed down any more than that. It either had a long body or a long neck, most likely both, but perhaps neither. Its face sat at the uttermost nadir of the Uncanny Valley, too inhuman to garner any sympathy but just human enough to make them wonder if it had once been a man’s, or more likely a child’s. The face was horribly strained, stretched out as it was across all the being’s possible locations, and yet it smiled down at them with a mouth devoid of teeth but still filled with malice. Several polydactyl limbs clawed into the crumbling brick of the building beneath them, and a tapering tail lazily whipped back and forth as its hollow and soulless eyes refused to break contact with them.
“Do not break eye contact with it until you’re out of town,” The Mandrake said in a hoarse whisper. “Walk backwards to your car, slowly. Don’t run, and don’t break eye contact. You’re lucky there are three of you. Two of you can keep watch while the other drives, but the driver should be looking in the rearview mirror as much as possible. Just don’t let it out of your sight before it’s occluded by the fog. You got that?”
“Mandrake, you told me the things that ravaged this town only come out at night unless provoked!” Erich hissed at him.
“Don’t take it personally. I tell that to everyone,” The Mandrake said. “Don’t break eye contact, and don’t try to fight it. I’ll see you in Adderwood.”
He leaned up against the door to his back, pushing it open and then sliding inside in a fraction of a second before slamming it shut, the sound of several locks clicking into place echoing through the alley.
The creature on the roof couldn’t have cared less about his departure, keeping its eyes keenly on the three live humans in the alley below.
“Erich – do we listen to him?” Ivy asked with a nervous swallow.
“I… I have no reason to think he wants us dead, and that thing hasn’t attacked us yet,” Erich replied, though it was obvious to both sisters that he was far from certain. “Do what he said. Back up slowly, and don’t take your eyes off it. Both of you get in the back seat and don’t block the middle.”
“But what is it?” Envy asked.
“Envy, trust me when I tell you that that information is counterproductive at this moment,” Ivy said as she grabbed her hand, and to Envy’s dismay she felt that it was trembling.
With an obedient nod, Envy began walking backwards, pulling Ivy and Erich along with her.
As they reached the end of the alley, the creature descended from the roof with both the grace of a cat and the viscosity of molasses, pouring its nebulous form to the ground as much as jumping. Each limb jerked about in what individually seemed like a chaotic fashion, but in aggregate was enough to smoothly propel the strange entity forward.
Ivy whimpered, but successfully fought the instinct to flee. She and Envy backed into the car almost simultaneously, and with only a bit of fumbling succeeded in opening the back door. Ivy went in first, followed by Envy. Once they were in, Erich opened the front passenger side door and pushed himself over into the driver’s seat, with Envy leaning forward to pull the door shut.
“Erich, drive! Drive now!” Ivy ordered, her unblinking eyes fixed upon the shambling creature stretching its elongated neck out towards their vehicle, its toothless smile so wide it looked like it might tear its face asunder.
Erich slammed on the gas, and their car sped off down Mainstreet, with the creature sprinting off after them in pursuit.
“Don’t we need to turn around at some point?” Envy asked, she and her sister now staring straight out through the rear window.
“It’s too risky. As long as we get out of town, we should be back more or less where we were,” Erich explained, his eyes glancing up into his rearview mirror every few seconds.
“Ivy, please. What is that thing?” Envy pleaded. “It doesn’t look real. Is it some kind of thoughtform?”
“It’s an inverted thoughtform, made from inverse thought,” Ivy answered. “It’s a form of consciousness that has the reverse quantum values of ordinary thought, causing wave functions to collapse in the complete opposite way they’re supposed to. Their mere presence is antithetical to life, psychic phenomenon, and any tech that relies on non-Newtonian physics.”
“Which is incidentally why we took my old Royce instead of Ivy’s Tesla,” Erich added.
“That’s why we have to keep looking at it. Our effect and its effect on wave functions cancel out and keep it from doing anything too weird,” Ivy went on. “It’s why they almost never attack in broad daylight, and why they can only exist in places devoid of sentience, like this. It’s why I thought we’d be safe meeting with The Mandrake here. Oh, God. Envy, I’m so sorry. I never should have brought you here, or at least I should have told you. I thought there’d be safety in numbers, and I didn’t want to scare you.”
The inverted thoughtform’s smile finally split its head wide open, and a great plume of monochrome flame ruptured forth from the gaping fissure. It was close, but it didn’t seem to be able to close the distance between itself and the car. A big enough bump in the road that caused them to involuntarily break line-of-sight for even an instant would be all it would take for them to lose that advantage.
“But why is it attacking though? Does it want to eat us? Is it defending its territory?” Envy demanded.
Ivy continued to stare straight ahead, fighting back tears that threatened to force her to blink.
“Inverse thought can only be made by the perversion of ordinary thought,” she said softly, seeing no need to say anything more.
Envy fell silent as well, now more than ever understanding the vital importance of maintaining their vigil on the creature before them.
It wasn’t so much running after them now as it was just tumbling, though it somehow always managed to keep its long neck held upright. It pushed itself to draw just a little bit closer to them, but that only slowed it down and caused it to sag under its own weight. Reality, or rather reality perceived by regular consciousness, was poison to it, and it dared not get too close. One instant of inattention was all it needed to strike.
When Erich saw that he had a clear path towards the fog at the edge of the town limits, he slammed down on the gas and pushed the vehicle as hard as it could go. In a desperate last ploy, the inverted thoughtform launched itself into the air in the hopes of landing on top of the car and hiding it from view long enough to grant it its victory. But the closer it got, the more real it became, and its increasing mass was enough to cause it to fall short of its target and crash into the pavement.
As the car vanished into the fog and they finally lost sight of the monstrous creature, they heard it release a shrill, forlorn howl that slowly faded into the distance. A howl which, much to their concern, was clearly not the same cry as the deep and resonating whale call they had heard earlier. For a third and final time, the whale call sounded again, perhaps in response to the howl of the creature that had been pursuing them.
Only this time, it wasn’t coming from behind them or even around them, but in front of them.
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2023.03.25 22:32 A_Vespertine What Dreams Are Made Of

“Well?” the Grand Adderman hissed impatiently as the spectral, sepia candlelight of the subterranean ritual chamber danced upon the silken robes that shrouded his stretched and wizened form.
Beneath the sacred summit of Pendragon Hill, in a great vaulted chamber built at a crossroads of otherworldly passageways, the sisters Ivy and Envy Noir sifted through the pit of Sigil Sand to confirm that it was once again pure.
“I’m afraid it’s… complicated, Grand Adderman,” Envy reported timidly as she methodically let another handful of Sand sift through her fingers. “The Sand itself has been purged of Emrys’ Miasma, but… it’s still here. It’s faint, possibly diffused, but it’s here somewhere. I’m sure of it.”
“The readings on the parathaumameter are inconclusive at best,” Ivy sighed, shoving the useless device back into the holster on her belt. “Crowley told you that they dispelled the Miasma from the Sand and into a human heart, and afterwards the heart burrowed itself into the Sand, and then they just couldn’t find it?”
“That is what he said,” the Grand Adderman replied with a noted tinge of exhaustion to his voice. “Based on what information they selectively chose to disclose to me, I can find no cause to fault them with this turn of events. I was tempted simply to torture them until they told me what they did wrong, but then thought that consulting with the two of you might yield more accurate results. Do either of you have any idea where the heart may have gone, if it ever existed in the first place?”
“If the Miasma had been bound to any corporeal object, and it was here, we’d be able to detect it,” Envy replied. “It feels like it’s in the space in between the grains rather than the grains itself, but for our purposes, I don’t think that really matters. Crowley’s ritual may have hallowed the Sand enough that the Miasma can’t reinfect it right now, but the moment we do anything with it that changes its astral frequency, the Miasma will just be reabsorbed.”
“Grand Adderman, as much as I’m loathed to admit it, I have no reason to believe that Crowley and the others did anything wrong here at all,” Ivy stated. “It appears that the ritual was successful at dispelling the Miasma, but that still wasn’t enough to save the Sand. There’s nothing else we can do with this. It’s been irreparably compromised and should be discarded. We need to start seriously considering alternatives.”
With a snarl, the Grand Adderman strode forward and impaled the Sigil Sand with the broken shards at the end of his sceptre. Slowly twisting it around, he prodded the Sand with his clairvoyance, searching for anything the Noir sisters might have overlooked.
“It’s in the shadows. I’m certain of that,” he murmured. “So like Emrys to hide in the shadows. That he has so tenaciously entrenched his very essence into this Sigil Sand can only mean that he is terrified of us using it against him. If we continue allowing Emrys to dictate the terms of engagement to us, then we are doomed! This Sand has the capacity to bind Emrys and banish him once again from the mortal plane, if only we can undo his sabotage!”
“Grand Adderman, I am sorry, but I fear we simply do not have the time to research a method to adequately purify this Sand before Emrys further escalates his assaults on us,” Ivy insisted. “Erich and I have been researching other entities we might be able to enlist as potential counters to Emrys, and I don’t think we should completely discount Seneca’s idea to try to broker some form of truce with him.”
In a flash, the Grand Adderman withdrew his sceptre from the Sand and raised it threateningly over his head as he spun towards Ivy, sending her stumbling back up against the wall.
“Maybe we don’t need to purify the Sand at all!” Envy shouted, desperate for anything that would spare her sister from the Adderman’s wrath.
To her surprise and relief, the Grand Adderman paused his advance, lowering his sceptre and turning his head towards her.
“Emrys wants us either to not use this Sand at all or try using it anyway so he can use it against us. You are correct, Grand Adderman; if we keep fighting Emrys on his terms, we will lose,” Envy began. “I have an idea, one I hesitate to suggest since it would put you personally in grave danger. We go ahead with the original plan, making a Spell Circle to bind Emrys with you to power it, but fudge it just enough so that the Miasma is able to corrupt it and bind you instead. That solves the biggest problem with the plan; getting Emrys into the Spell Circle in the first place. He’ll think it’s safe, he’ll think he’s won, and he’ll walk right in to claim you. Once he does, you expose the Sand to the Asphodel Incarnate, the one which you in your great foresight sent me down to the Reliquary to retrieve. I am certain it will provide more than enough of a counter to the Miasma that it will undo its effects on the Spell Circle and allow it to revert to its original purpose; binding Emrys and empowering you. Then we’ll be able to perform the banishing ritual and be rid of him forever!”
The Grand Adderman pondered silently for a moment, his hooded face impossible to read. Both sisters feared he was about to kill them on the spot for their heinous crime of less-than-flawless sycophancy.
“Would it be possible to move this Sand to the Adderwood Megalith?” he asked at last.
“Absolutely, Grand Adderman. I think that’s a wonderful idea. It’s a far more secure location, and it will be much easier for you to channel Ophion,” Envy assured him.
He turned his head slightly towards Ivy, who nodded emphatically as well.
“I’ll see it done, then,” he said, and started slithering towards the Cuniculi doors. “You two make the necessary alterations to your Spell Circle design. We do nothing until I am convinced that this bait and switch is safe to attempt! Is that understood?”
“Of course, Grand Adderman,” both sisters said as they bowed, respectfully remaining in place until the Grand Adderman had taken his leave of them.
Once he was gone, Ivy and Envy made their way up the spiral stairway to the manor above without daring to speak a word to each other. When they had made it into Ivy’s Tesla, and had begun their descent down Pendragon Hill and felt safely out of reach of any surveillance, Ivy smiled from ear to ear.
“You did it. You did it,” she said in hushed awe. “He’s actually just going to walk into our Spell Circle and let us bind him!”
“I just gave him what he asked for,” Envy smirked.
“Were you telling the truth about the Asphodel Incarnate?”
“It depends on how powerful Emrys has gotten, but it doesn’t really matter. Once the Grand Adderman is bound, we can take it from him. Chain him up with Erich’s Blue Moon Silver for good measure.”
“Absolutely. Can’t be too careful,” Ivy nodded. “We don’t need to hold him forever, though. Just long enough to offer him to Emrys and forge a peace pact. This is going to work. This is actually going to work!”
“You don’t think he suspects anything, do you?”
“I don’t. He’s been far too powerful for far too long. The idea that any of his underlings would actually try to overthrow him, let alone succeed, has never occurred to him. Emrys is going to kill the Grand Adderman, and the Darlings, and be very grateful to us for freeing him from his chains. I wish I could tell Erich the good news right now, but I can’t even risk texting him.”
“Oh, Bloody Hell! The Darlings!” Envy cursed. “They’ll be there for the ritual, won’t they? They’re not going to side with us! How are we going to fend them off until Emrys gets there? Other than the Grand Adderman, he’s the only one stronger than they are.”
“Right. The Spell Circle will have protection wards, but I wouldn’t trust those with my life against the Darlings,” Ivy mused. “The Effulgent One is one option, but I’d prefer something we could work out a more explicit arrangement with. Someone we could trust to keep the Darlings or anyone else off our backs while we wait for Emrys, and someone who wouldn’t be unwelcomed or suspicious if we brought them to Adderwood. That doesn’t leave a lot of options, but I think… I think I might know where we could find somebody. Don’t worry, Envy. This is just a minor detail to work out. We’re going to pull this off. I promise.”
***
“Our code-name for him is The Mandrake. I’ve heard people just call him Drake, but for today, at least, I think we’d be better to err on the side of formality,” Erich advised as he drove Ivy and Envy down the abandoned road, its every pothole filled with rainwater from the mild yet unyielding drizzle. They were far from Sombermorey, far from Harrowick County, and far from any other chapterhouse of the Ophion Occult Order, to ensure their meeting wouldn’t have any unwanted eavesdroppers.
“He lives out here?” Envy asked skeptically, looking out in disdain at the crumbling masonry around them, unable to judge its extent due to the pervasive fog. “Everyone of these buildings looks condemned. This has to be a ghost town. What is this place?”
“I don’t know. All I know is that if you want a guaranteed private meeting with The Mandrake, you drive in the direction he tells you,” Erich replied. “Once you’re somewhere remote, you’ll hit a sudden patch of fog, and then you’re here. There’s no need to worry. I wouldn’t have brought you two out here if I didn’t trust him.”
“And he’s not a part of the Order? Or an enemy?” Envy asked.
“He’s a freelancer. He’s loyal to no agenda but his own, and works with anyone who he thinks will be of help to him,” Ivy explained. “Even if he doesn’t agree to help us, he won’t rat us out. He couldn’t care less about the Grand Adderman.”
“And he can handle the Darlings? Both of them?” Envy asked skeptically.
“Outside of their playroom, the Darlings aren’t as overly powerful as they appear,” Erich claimed. “They’re physically superhuman in terms of strength, speed, stamina, sensory acuteness, agility, reaction time, resilience and recovery, but none of these are unlimited. Other than some selective telekinesis and their eternal youth, they’re still just humans with a little extra oomph. There’s a reason you never see Mary out by herself. It doesn’t matter how much stronger she is than a regular person; she’s still not indestructible, and that terrifies her. It terrifies James too, of course. He’s just better at risk management when he’s out on his errands. Remember that they did retreat from their battle with Emrys on Pendragon Hill. They’re cowards, and they will fall back if they think they’re in mortal peril. I’m not saying The Mandrake is as powerful as Emrys, but he’s definitely strong enough to keep the Darlings at bay for a bit. He might even manage to scare them off, though given how obsessed they seemed to have become with getting revenge on Emrys, that may be a long shot. At any rate, the Darlings won’t be able to hurt him.”
“Why not?” Envy asked.
“You’ll understand when you see him,” Ivy assured her.
As they drove down the ruined streets, Envy was suddenly struck by the realization that ‘ghost town’ wasn’t an adequate description. The town didn’t just seem abandoned; it felt forbidden. It felt like Chornobyl, like something monstrous had happened that hadn’t merely forced the residents to flee, but had cursed the land forever so that they could never come back. Everything was so insidiously still. There didn’t seem to be any animals at all, and the only plants she had seen looked to have been dead for some time, albeit relatively unrotten. She suspected that was because this place was as devoid of microbes as it was macroscopic life. She felt sick, being alive in a place where life of any kind was no longer welcomed. She trusted her sister, and she trusted Erich, so she assumed that short visits would do no lasting harm. Nonetheless, the sooner this was over with, the better.
She jumped in her seat at the sound of some deep, whale-like call, resonating from somewhere far within the fog.
“What was that?” she demanded.
“Naming it doesn’t make it any easier to understand,” was Erich’s cryptic response. He slowed down the car as they drove down what might have once been the town’s Mainstreet, stopping entirely in front of a dark alleyway. “He’s down there.”
Envy peered down the alley, spotting a sign with a single eye centered in a simplified dreamcatcher hanging above a doorway, with a silhouetted humanoid figure leaning up against it.
“Could he maybe come out to meet us, or – ”
“We’re going down to meet him,” Ivy said sympathetically as she opened the car door. “Don’t worry, Envy. All we need to do is have a quick word with this guy and we’ll be one step closer to overthrowing the Grand Adderman.”
Envy nodded and, taking a deep breath, forced herself out of the relative safety of the car and into the mist-swept, forlorn world outside.
Leaving the car made it clear just how quiet everything was, and now that she was no longer looking through the tinted windows, the lack of colour was much more striking as well. She pulled her cashmere cloak around her to guard off the damp chill in the air, regretting that it descended no further than the hem of her pleated skirt. Walking alongside her sister and behind Erich, she reluctantly approached the shadowed stranger in the alley.
The first thing she noticed about him was that he was wearing a trench coat and fedora like a detective in a film noir movie, which fit with the eye-themed logo on the sign above him. There was a dim glow coming from his face, and at first, Envy just assumed that he was smoking.
Then he looked directly at them, and she saw an illuminated version of the one-eyed dreamcatcher icon carved into an otherwise featureless face of iridescent silver. Envy instantly wondered if it was a helmet, or if he was perhaps some kind of android. If it was a helmet, it seamlessly concealed anything human that might be under it. Unless it had some kind of internal heads-up display, she didn’t see how he could have any vision through it. Being an android, on the other hand, would explain how he could exist in a place that was so unwelcoming to life.
“Erich Thorne. Welcome back,” The Mandrake said in a listless monotone. “Nice ladies. You whip them up yourself?”
“Heh, no. This is my girlfriend and Head of the Harrowick Chapter Ivy Noir, and her sister Envy, a Master Adderman and expert thaumatologist,” Erich introduced.
“…Really?” The Mandrake asked.
“My sister and I utilize proprietary implants that modulate our bodies’ bioelectrical signals, optimizing our appearance, health, cognitive faculties, mental well-being, and physical capabilities,” Ivy explained. “I can assure you, Mr. Mandrake, that my sister and I are as smart – and dangerous – as we are beautiful.”
“I’m shaking,” he scoffed. “What is that I can help you with, Miss Noir?”
“It… involves the situation with Emrys. I presume you’re aware?”
“Sorry. Can’t help you with that,” he said flatly with a shake of his head.
“We’re not asking you to bring Emrys in,” Ivy told him. “We’ve… managed to convince the Grand Adderman to bind himself in a Spell Circle as an offering to Emrys. He thinks it’s a ruse to bind and then banished Emrys; it’s not. We intend to use him as a peace offering to forge a truce with Emrys. To ensure our plan goes smoothly, we need some extra muscle to fend off anyone present that might be loyal to the Grand Adderman. Do you think you’re up for that?”
The light from The Mandrake’s face ebbed a little as he took a moment to ponder Ivy’s proposition.
“Extra muscle, eh?” he asked.
“Against the Darling Twins, specifically,” Envy added. “They hate Emrys, and they don’t care much for us either, so they’ll be sure to work against us. We don’t have a way to protect ourselves from them. Do you think that you could keep them in line, at least until Emrys shows up?”
“The Darling Twins? What about the other one?” The Mandrake asked.
“You mean that thing they call their Uncle? Deep underground and entombed within a forty-foot labyrinthine cube of self-healing titanium foam, magnetically levitated above LED floodlights and an electrified floor. We don’t need to worry about him,” Erich assured him.
The Mandrake didn’t seem particularly assured, though it was unclear if that was because he wasn’t convinced that the Darlings’ Uncle was truly out of the picture, or because that wasn’t who he was talking about it.
“Well, they’re no danger to me, either way,” he remarked. “Can’t say I’d be sad to see the Grand Adderman go either. The main risk to me is that if you fail, I’ll have made myself an enemy of the entire Ophion Occult Order. That might put a cramp in my style.”
The strange whale call from before sounded once again, this time seeming significantly closer to them than it had before. Erich, Ivy, and The Mandrake didn’t seem to think it was worth worrying about, so Envy deferred to their experience. She did, however, keep a watchful vigil on their surroundings while they had their conversation.
“And if you don’t help us and we succeed, you’ll have alienated yourself from an organization that now possesses Emrys as an ally,” Ivy countered. “Is that an opportunity you want to pass up?”
“It’s a big risk, and all you’re offering in return are promises of vague potential boons?” The Mandrake asked incredulously. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist on some payment upfront for this.”
“That’s perfectly reasonable. What can we offer you?” Ivy asked.
“If you’re the new Head of the Harrowick Chapter, does that mean you have access to Seneca Chamberlin’s Sombermorey Manor?” The Mandrake asked.
“It does. Is there a particular piece of his treasury that takes your fancy?” Ivy asked.
“Last I checked, Seneca had a somewhat extensive collection of spellwork firearms and sigil-etched silver bullets for taking out all kinds of boogeymen,” The Mandrake replied.
“You mean like one of these?” Ivy asked, pulling back her coat and reaching for the holster on her belt. She drew out a long-barrel revolver made of sterling silver and polished ebony, engraved and inlaid with a multitude of occult symbols.
“Exactly like one of those,” The Mandrake said. “I wouldn’t mind a nice new pair of sidearms, along with a generous supply of ammo. It might even give me an edge against the Darlings.”
“That sounds like a reasonable downpayment,” Ivy nodded with a slight smile. “He won’t be happy about it, but I can appropriate the weapons from Seneca without raising suspicion. As far as anyone else knows, they’re to use on Petra, Emrys’ acolyte. I doubt they’d be of any use against her, but it’s plausible enough to do as an excuse. If Seneca makes a fuss, which he will, you fully intend to return them after the ritual is complete. If we win, we intend for our treaty with Emrys to dissolve the Grand Council and decentralize our power structure, and I’ll have the authority to let you keep your new weapons permanently. If we lose, you flee and avoid the Grand Adderman and his lackeys as best you can, and if Seneca survives you may have to deal with him trying to get his guns back.”
“Ah, Ivy,” Envy said softly.
“So all I have to do is keep the Darlings and anyone else off your back until Emrys shows up?” The Mandrake asked, ignoring Envy’s interjection. “In exchange for a pair of Seneca’s finest spellwork pistols and two boxes of ammunition to be paid upfront, and afterwards I get the privilege of being the first person you call on when you’ve got some work you’d like to outsource to a third party?”
Ivy nodded, and extend her arm for a handshake. Rather than accept it, The Mandrake produced a business card embossed with the one-eyed dreamcatcher icon, and placed it in her outstretched hand.
“Give me a ring when everything’s set, and be sure to have my payment ready when you do,” he told her.
“Ivy,” Envy repeated, a little more insistently this time.
“No one else is in on our plan to betray the Grand Adderman, so I trust it goes without saying that we’re counting on your discretion?” Ivy said as she pocketed the business card.
“Confidentiality is standard in my line of work, Miss Noir. Don’t you worry about a thing,” he nodded.
“What about that? Should we worry about that?” Envy asked, pointing upwards to the top of the building in front of them.
The others all turned to where she was pointing, and upon the roof perched a creature that didn’t immediately make sense to them. It was there, and yet they could not say precisely where it was, as though its physical location was a stochastic estimate rather than a definite fact. It had no colour, and yet it was neither white nor black nor grey; it simply had no colour and there was no other way to describe it. It was large; larger than any of them, though smaller than the building it rested upon, and its size couldn’t be narrowed down any more than that. It either had a long body or a long neck, most likely both, but perhaps neither. Its face sat at the uttermost nadir of the Uncanny Valley, too inhuman to garner any sympathy but just human enough to make them wonder if it had once been a man’s, or more likely a child’s. The face was horribly strained, stretched out as it was across all the being’s possible locations, and yet it smiled down at them with a mouth devoid of teeth but still filled with malice. Several polydactyl limbs clawed into the crumbling brick of the building beneath them, and a tapering tail lazily whipped back and forth as its hollow and soulless eyes refused to break contact with them.
“Do not break eye contact with it until you’re out of town,” The Mandrake said in a hoarse whisper. “Walk backwards to your car, slowly. Don’t run, and don’t break eye contact. You’re lucky there are three of you. Two of you can keep watch while the other drives, but the driver should be looking in the rearview mirror as much as possible. Just don’t let it out of your sight before it’s occluded by the fog. You got that?”
“Mandrake, you told me the things that ravaged this town only come out at night unless provoked!” Erich hissed at him.
“Don’t take it personally. I tell that to everyone,” The Mandrake said. “Don’t break eye contact, and don’t try to fight it. I’ll see you in Adderwood.”
He leaned up against the door to his back, pushing it open and then sliding inside in a fraction of a second before slamming it shut, the sound of several locks clicking into place echoing through the alley.
The creature on the roof couldn’t have cared less about his departure, keeping its eyes keenly on the three live humans in the alley below.
“Erich – do we listen to him?” Ivy asked with a nervous swallow.
“I… I have no reason to think he wants us dead, and that thing hasn’t attacked us yet,” Erich replied, though it was obvious to both sisters that he was far from certain. “Do what he said. Back up slowly, and don’t take your eyes off it. Both of you get in the back seat and don’t block the middle.”
“But what is it?” Envy asked.
“Envy, trust me when I tell you that that information is counterproductive at this moment,” Ivy said as she grabbed her hand, and to Envy’s dismay she felt that it was trembling.
With an obedient nod, Envy began walking backwards, pulling Ivy and Erich along with her.
As they reached the end of the alley, the creature descended from the roof with both the grace of a cat and the viscosity of molasses, pouring its nebulous form to the ground as much as jumping. Each limb jerked about in what individually seemed like a chaotic fashion, but in aggregate was enough to smoothly propel the strange entity forward.
Ivy whimpered, but successfully fought the instinct to flee. She and Envy backed into the car almost simultaneously, and with only a bit of fumbling succeeded in opening the back door. Ivy went in first, followed by Envy. Once they were in, Erich opened the front passenger side door and pushed himself over into the driver’s seat, with Envy leaning forward to pull the door shut.
“Erich, drive! Drive now!” Ivy ordered, her unblinking eyes fixed upon the shambling creature stretching its elongated neck out towards their vehicle, its toothless smile so wide it looked like it might tear its face asunder.
Erich slammed on the gas, and their car sped off down Mainstreet, with the creature sprinting off after them in pursuit.
“Don’t we need to turn around at some point?” Envy asked, she and her sister now staring straight out through the rear window.
“It’s too risky. As long as we get out of town, we should be back more or less where we were,” Erich explained, his eyes glancing up into his rearview mirror every few seconds.
“Ivy, please. What is that thing?” Envy pleaded. “It doesn’t look real. Is it some kind of thoughtform?”
“It’s an inverted thoughtform, made from inverse thought,” Ivy answered. “It’s a form of consciousness that has the reverse quantum values of ordinary thought, causing wave functions to collapse in the complete opposite way they’re supposed to. Their mere presence is antithetical to life, psychic phenomenon, and any tech that relies on non-Newtonian physics.”
“Which is incidentally why we took my old Royce instead of Ivy’s Tesla,” Erich added.
“That’s why we have to keep looking at it. Our effect and its effect on wave functions cancel out and keep it from doing anything too weird,” Ivy went on. “It’s why they almost never attack in broad daylight, and why they can only exist in places devoid of sentience, like this. It’s why I thought we’d be safe meeting with The Mandrake here. Oh, God. Envy, I’m so sorry. I never should have brought you here, or at least I should have told you. I thought there’d be safety in numbers, and I didn’t want to scare you.”
The inverted thoughtform’s smile finally split its head wide open, and a great plume of monochrome flame ruptured forth from the gaping fissure. It was close, but it didn’t seem to be able to close the distance between itself and the car. A big enough bump in the road that caused them to involuntarily break line-of-sight for even an instant would be all it would take for them to lose that advantage.
“But why is it attacking though? Does it want to eat us? Is it defending its territory?” Envy demanded.
Ivy continued to stare straight ahead, fighting back tears that threatened to force her to blink.
“Inverse thought can only be made by the perversion of ordinary thought,” she said softly, seeing no need to say anything more.
Envy fell silent as well, now more than ever understanding the vital importance of maintaining their vigil on the creature before them.
It wasn’t so much running after them now as it was just tumbling, though it somehow always managed to keep its long neck held upright. It pushed itself to draw just a little bit closer to them, but that only slowed it down and caused it to sag under its own weight. Reality, or rather reality perceived by regular consciousness, was poison to it, and it dared not get too close. One instant of inattention was all it needed to strike.
When Erich saw that he had a clear path towards the fog at the edge of the town limits, he slammed down on the gas and pushed the vehicle as hard as it could go. In a desperate last ploy, the inverted thoughtform launched itself into the air in the hopes of landing on top of the car and hiding it from view long enough to grant it its victory. But the closer it got, the more real it became, and its increasing mass was enough to cause it to fall short of its target and crash into the pavement.
As the car vanished into the fog and they finally lost sight of the monstrous creature, they heard it release a shrill, forlorn howl that slowly faded into the distance. A howl which, much to their concern, was clearly not the same cry as the deep and resonating whale call they had heard earlier. For a third and final time, the whale call sounded again, perhaps in response to the howl of the creature that had been pursuing them.
Only this time, it wasn’t coming from behind them or even around them, but in front of them.
submitted by A_Vespertine to libraryofshadows [link] [comments]


2023.03.25 22:30 A_Vespertine The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of

“Well?” the Grand Adderman hissed impatiently as the spectral, sepia candlelight of the subterranean ritual chamber danced upon the silken robes that shrouded his stretched and wizened form.
Beneath the sacred summit of Pendragon Hill, in a great vaulted chamber built at a crossroads of otherworldly passageways, the sisters Ivy and Envy Noir sifted through the pit of Sigil Sand to confirm that it was once again pure.
“I’m afraid it’s… complicated, Grand Adderman,” Envy reported timidly as she methodically let another handful of Sand sift through her fingers. “The Sand itself has been purged of Emrys’ Miasma, but… it’s still here. It’s faint, possibly diffused, but it’s here somewhere. I’m sure of it.”
“The readings on the parathaumameter are inconclusive at best,” Ivy sighed, shoving the useless device back into the holster on her belt. “Crowley told you that they dispelled the Miasma from the Sand and into a human heart, and afterwards the heart burrowed itself into the Sand, and then they just couldn’t find it?”
“That is what he said,” the Grand Adderman replied with a noted tinge of exhaustion to his voice. “Based on what information they selectively chose to disclose to me, I can find no cause to fault them with this turn of events. I was tempted simply to torture them until they told me what they did wrong, but then thought that consulting with the two of you might yield more accurate results. Do either of you have any idea where the heart may have gone, if it ever existed in the first place?”
“If the Miasma had been bound to any corporeal object, and it was here, we’d be able to detect it,” Envy replied. “It feels like it’s in the space in between the grains rather than the grains itself, but for our purposes, I don’t think that really matters. Crowley’s ritual may have hallowed the Sand enough that the Miasma can’t reinfect it right now, but the moment we do anything with it that changes its astral frequency, the Miasma will just be reabsorbed.”
“Grand Adderman, as much as I’m loathed to admit it, I have no reason to believe that Crowley and the others did anything wrong here at all,” Ivy stated. “It appears that the ritual was successful at dispelling the Miasma, but that still wasn’t enough to save the Sand. There’s nothing else we can do with this. It’s been irreparably compromised and should be discarded. We need to start seriously considering alternatives.”
With a snarl, the Grand Adderman strode forward and impaled the Sigil Sand with the broken shards at the end of his sceptre. Slowly twisting it around, he prodded the Sand with his clairvoyance, searching for anything the Noir sisters might have overlooked.
“It’s in the shadows. I’m certain of that,” he murmured. “So like Emrys to hide in the shadows. That he has so tenaciously entrenched his very essence into this Sigil Sand can only mean that he is terrified of us using it against him. If we continue allowing Emrys to dictate the terms of engagement to us, then we are doomed! This Sand has the capacity to bind Emrys and banish him once again from the mortal plane, if only we can undo his sabotage!”
“Grand Adderman, I am sorry, but I fear we simply do not have the time to research a method to adequately purify this Sand before Emrys further escalates his assaults on us,” Ivy insisted. “Erich and I have been researching other entities we might be able to enlist as potential counters to Emrys, and I don’t think we should completely discount Seneca’s idea to try to broker some form of truce with him.”
In a flash, the Grand Adderman withdrew his sceptre from the Sand and raised it threateningly over his head as he spun towards Ivy, sending her stumbling back up against the wall.
“Maybe we don’t need to purify the Sand at all!” Envy shouted, desperate for anything that would spare her sister from the Adderman’s wrath.
To her surprise and relief, the Grand Adderman paused his advance, lowering his sceptre and turning his head towards her.
“Emrys wants us either to not use this Sand at all or try using it anyway so he can use it against us. You are correct, Grand Adderman; if we keep fighting Emrys on his terms, we will lose,” Envy began. “I have an idea, one I hesitate to suggest since it would put you personally in grave danger. We go ahead with the original plan, making a Spell Circle to bind Emrys with you to power it, but fudge it just enough so that the Miasma is able to corrupt it and bind you instead. That solves the biggest problem with the plan; getting Emrys into the Spell Circle in the first place. He’ll think it’s safe, he’ll think he’s won, and he’ll walk right in to claim you. Once he does, you expose the Sand to the Asphodel Incarnate, the one which you in your great foresight sent me down to the Reliquary to retrieve. I am certain it will provide more than enough of a counter to the Miasma that it will undo its effects on the Spell Circle and allow it to revert to its original purpose; binding Emrys and empowering you. Then we’ll be able to perform the banishing ritual and be rid of him forever!”
The Grand Adderman pondered silently for a moment, his hooded face impossible to read. Both sisters feared he was about to kill them on the spot for their heinous crime of less-than-flawless sycophancy.
“Would it be possible to move this Sand to the Adderwood Megalith?” he asked at last.
“Absolutely, Grand Adderman. I think that’s a wonderful idea. It’s a far more secure location, and it will be much easier for you to channel Ophion,” Envy assured him.
He turned his head slightly towards Ivy, who nodded emphatically as well.
“I’ll see it done, then,” he said, and started slithering towards the Cuniculi doors. “You two make the necessary alterations to your Spell Circle design. We do nothing until I am convinced that this bait and switch is safe to attempt! Is that understood?”
“Of course, Grand Adderman,” both sisters said as they bowed, respectfully remaining in place until the Grand Adderman had taken his leave of them.
Once he was gone, Ivy and Envy made their way up the spiral stairway to the manor above without daring to speak a word to each other. When they had made it into Ivy’s Tesla, and had begun their descent down Pendragon Hill and felt safely out of reach of any surveillance, Ivy smiled from ear to ear.
“You did it. You did it,” she said in hushed awe. “He’s actually just going to walk into our Spell Circle and let us bind him!”
“I just gave him what he asked for,” Envy smirked.
“Were you telling the truth about the Asphodel Incarnate?”
“It depends on how powerful Emrys has gotten, but it doesn’t really matter. Once the Grand Adderman is bound, we can take it from him. Chain him up with Erich’s Blue Moon Silver for good measure.”
“Absolutely. Can’t be too careful,” Ivy nodded. “We don’t need to hold him forever, though. Just long enough to offer him to Emrys and forge a peace pact. This is going to work. This is actually going to work!”
“You don’t think he suspects anything, do you?”
“I don’t. He’s been far too powerful for far too long. The idea that any of his underlings would actually try to overthrow him, let alone succeed, has never occurred to him. Emrys is going to kill the Grand Adderman, and the Darlings, and be very grateful to us for freeing him from his chains. I wish I could tell Erich the good news right now, but I can’t even risk texting him.”
“Oh, Bloody Hell! The Darlings!” Envy cursed. “They’ll be there for the ritual, won’t they? They’re not going to side with us! How are we going to fend them off until Emrys gets there? Other than the Grand Adderman, he’s the only one stronger than they are.”
“Right. The Spell Circle will have protection wards, but I wouldn’t trust those with my life against the Darlings,” Ivy mused. “The Effulgent One is one option, but I’d prefer something we could work out a more explicit arrangement with. Someone we could trust to keep the Darlings or anyone else off our backs while we wait for Emrys, and someone who wouldn’t be unwelcomed or suspicious if we brought them to Adderwood. That doesn’t leave a lot of options, but I think… I think I might know where we could find somebody. Don’t worry, Envy. This is just a minor detail to work out. We’re going to pull this off. I promise.”
***
“Our code-name for him is The Mandrake. I’ve heard people just call him Drake, but for today, at least, I think we’d be better to err on the side of formality,” Erich advised as he drove Ivy and Envy down the abandoned road, its every pothole filled with rainwater from the mild yet unyielding drizzle. They were far from Sombermorey, far from Harrowick County, and far from any other chapterhouse of the Ophion Occult Order, to ensure their meeting wouldn’t have any unwanted eavesdroppers.
“He lives out here?” Envy asked skeptically, looking out in disdain at the crumbling masonry around them, unable to judge its extent due to the pervasive fog. “Everyone of these buildings looks condemned. This has to be a ghost town. What is this place?”
“I don’t know. All I know is that if you want a guaranteed private meeting with The Mandrake, you drive in the direction he tells you,” Erich replied. “Once you’re somewhere remote, you’ll hit a sudden patch of fog, and then you’re here. There’s no need to worry. I wouldn’t have brought you two out here if I didn’t trust him.”
“And he’s not a part of the Order? Or an enemy?” Envy asked.
“He’s a freelancer. He’s loyal to no agenda but his own, and works with anyone who he thinks will be of help to him,” Ivy explained. “Even if he doesn’t agree to help us, he won’t rat us out. He couldn’t care less about the Grand Adderman.”
“And he can handle the Darlings? Both of them?” Envy asked skeptically.
“Outside of their playroom, the Darlings aren’t as overly powerful as they appear,” Erich claimed. “They’re physically superhuman in terms of strength, speed, stamina, sensory acuteness, agility, reaction time, resilience and recovery, but none of these are unlimited. Other than some selective telekinesis and their eternal youth, they’re still just humans with a little extra oomph. There’s a reason you never see Mary out by herself. It doesn’t matter how much stronger she is than a regular person; she’s still not indestructible, and that terrifies her. It terrifies James too, of course. He’s just better at risk management when he’s out on his errands. Remember that they did retreat from their battle with Emrys on Pendragon Hill. They’re cowards, and they will fall back if they think they’re in mortal peril. I’m not saying The Mandrake is as powerful as Emrys, but he’s definitely strong enough to keep the Darlings at bay for a bit. He might even manage to scare them off, though given how obsessed they seemed to have become with getting revenge on Emrys, that may be a long shot. At any rate, the Darlings won’t be able to hurt him.”
“Why not?” Envy asked.
“You’ll understand when you see him,” Ivy assured her.
As they drove down the ruined streets, Envy was suddenly struck by the realization that ‘ghost town’ wasn’t an adequate description. The town didn’t just seem abandoned; it felt forbidden. It felt like Chornobyl, like something monstrous had happened that hadn’t merely forced the residents to flee, but had cursed the land forever so that they could never come back. Everything was so insidiously still. There didn’t seem to be any animals at all, and the only plants she had seen looked to have been dead for some time, albeit relatively unrotten. She suspected that was because this place was as devoid of microbes as it was macroscopic life. She felt sick, being alive in a place where life of any kind was no longer welcomed. She trusted her sister, and she trusted Erich, so she assumed that short visits would do no lasting harm. Nonetheless, the sooner this was over with, the better.
She jumped in her seat at the sound of some deep, whale-like call, resonating from somewhere far within the fog.
“What was that?” she demanded.
“Naming it doesn’t make it any easier to understand,” was Erich’s cryptic response. He slowed down the car as they drove down what might have once been the town’s Mainstreet, stopping entirely in front of a dark alleyway. “He’s down there.”
Envy peered down the alley, spotting a sign with a single eye centered in a simplified dreamcatcher hanging above a doorway, with a silhouetted humanoid figure leaning up against it.
“Could he maybe come out to meet us, or – ”
“We’re going down to meet him,” Ivy said sympathetically as she opened the car door. “Don’t worry, Envy. All we need to do is have a quick word with this guy and we’ll be one step closer to overthrowing the Grand Adderman.”
Envy nodded and, taking a deep breath, forced herself out of the relative safety of the car and into the mist-swept, forlorn world outside.
Leaving the car made it clear just how quiet everything was, and now that she was no longer looking through the tinted windows, the lack of colour was much more striking as well. She pulled her cashmere cloak around her to guard off the damp chill in the air, regretting that it descended no further than the hem of her pleated skirt. Walking alongside her sister and behind Erich, she reluctantly approached the shadowed stranger in the alley.
The first thing she noticed about him was that he was wearing a trench coat and fedora like a detective in a film noir movie, which fit with the eye-themed logo on the sign above him. There was a dim glow coming from his face, and at first, Envy just assumed that he was smoking.
Then he looked directly at them, and she saw an illuminated version of the one-eyed dreamcatcher icon carved into an otherwise featureless face of iridescent silver. Envy instantly wondered if it was a helmet, or if he was perhaps some kind of android. If it was a helmet, it seamlessly concealed anything human that might be under it. Unless it had some kind of internal heads-up display, she didn’t see how he could have any vision through it. Being an android, on the other hand, would explain how he could exist in a place that was so unwelcoming to life.
“Erich Thorne. Welcome back,” The Mandrake said in a listless monotone. “Nice ladies. You whip them up yourself?”
“Heh, no. This is my girlfriend and Head of the Harrowick Chapter Ivy Noir, and her sister Envy, a Master Adderman and expert thaumatologist,” Erich introduced.
“…Really?” The Mandrake asked.
“My sister and I utilize proprietary implants that modulate our bodies’ bioelectrical signals, optimizing our appearance, health, cognitive faculties, mental well-being, and physical capabilities,” Ivy explained. “I can assure you, Mr. Mandrake, that my sister and I are as smart – and dangerous – as we are beautiful.”
“I’m shaking,” he scoffed. “What is that I can help you with, Miss Noir?”
“It… involves the situation with Emrys. I presume you’re aware?”
“Sorry. Can’t help you with that,” he said flatly with a shake of his head.
“We’re not asking you to bring Emrys in,” Ivy told him. “We’ve… managed to convince the Grand Adderman to bind himself in a Spell Circle as an offering to Emrys. He thinks it’s a ruse to bind and then banished Emrys; it’s not. We intend to use him as a peace offering to forge a truce with Emrys. To ensure our plan goes smoothly, we need some extra muscle to fend off anyone present that might be loyal to the Grand Adderman. Do you think you’re up for that?”
The light from The Mandrake’s face ebbed a little as he took a moment to ponder Ivy’s proposition.
“Extra muscle, eh?” he asked.
“Against the Darling Twins, specifically,” Envy added. “They hate Emrys, and they don’t care much for us either, so they’ll be sure to work against us. We don’t have a way to protect ourselves from them. Do you think that you could keep them in line, at least until Emrys shows up?”
“The Darling Twins? What about the other one?” The Mandrake asked.
“You mean that thing they call their Uncle? Deep underground and entombed within a forty-foot labyrinthine cube of self-healing titanium foam, magnetically levitated above LED floodlights and an electrified floor. We don’t need to worry about him,” Erich assured him.
The Mandrake didn’t seem particularly assured, though it was unclear if that was because he wasn’t convinced that the Darlings’ Uncle was truly out of the picture, or because that wasn’t who he was talking about it.
“Well, they’re no danger to me, either way,” he remarked. “Can’t say I’d be sad to see the Grand Adderman go either. The main risk to me is that if you fail, I’ll have made myself an enemy of the entire Ophion Occult Order. That might put a cramp in my style.”
The strange whale call from before sounded once again, this time seeming significantly closer to them than it had before. Erich, Ivy, and The Mandrake didn’t seem to think it was worth worrying about, so Envy deferred to their experience. She did, however, keep a watchful vigil on their surroundings while they had their conversation.
“And if you don’t help us and we succeed, you’ll have alienated yourself from an organization that now possesses Emrys as an ally,” Ivy countered. “Is that an opportunity you want to pass up?”
“It’s a big risk, and all you’re offering in return are promises of vague potential boons?” The Mandrake asked incredulously. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist on some payment upfront for this.”
“That’s perfectly reasonable. What can we offer you?” Ivy asked.
“If you’re the new Head of the Harrowick Chapter, does that mean you have access to Seneca Chamberlin’s Sombermorey Manor?” The Mandrake asked.
“It does. Is there a particular piece of his treasury that takes your fancy?” Ivy asked.
“Last I checked, Seneca had a somewhat extensive collection of spellwork firearms and sigil-etched silver bullets for taking out all kinds of boogeymen,” The Mandrake replied.
“You mean like one of these?” Ivy asked, pulling back her coat and reaching for the holster on her belt. She drew out a long-barrel revolver made of sterling silver and polished ebony, engraved and inlaid with a multitude of occult symbols.
“Exactly like one of those,” The Mandrake said. “I wouldn’t mind a nice new pair of sidearms, along with a generous supply of ammo. It might even give me an edge against the Darlings.”
“That sounds like a reasonable downpayment,” Ivy nodded with a slight smile. “He won’t be happy about it, but I can appropriate the weapons from Seneca without raising suspicion. As far as anyone else knows, they’re to use on Petra, Emrys’ acolyte. I doubt they’d be of any use against her, but it’s plausible enough to do as an excuse. If Seneca makes a fuss, which he will, you fully intend to return them after the ritual is complete. If we win, we intend for our treaty with Emrys to dissolve the Grand Council and decentralize our power structure, and I’ll have the authority to let you keep your new weapons permanently. If we lose, you flee and avoid the Grand Adderman and his lackeys as best you can, and if Seneca survives you may have to deal with him trying to get his guns back.”
“Ah, Ivy,” Envy said softly.
“So all I have to do is keep the Darlings and anyone else off your back until Emrys shows up?” The Mandrake asked, ignoring Envy’s interjection. “In exchange for a pair of Seneca’s finest spellwork pistols and two boxes of ammunition to be paid upfront, and afterwards I get the privilege of being the first person you call on when you’ve got some work you’d like to outsource to a third party?”
Ivy nodded, and extend her arm for a handshake. Rather than accept it, The Mandrake produced a business card embossed with the one-eyed dreamcatcher icon, and placed it in her outstretched hand.
“Give me a ring when everything’s set, and be sure to have my payment ready when you do,” he told her.
“Ivy,” Envy repeated, a little more insistently this time.
“No one else is in on our plan to betray the Grand Adderman, so I trust it goes without saying that we’re counting on your discretion?” Ivy said as she pocketed the business card.
“Confidentiality is standard in my line of work, Miss Noir. Don’t you worry about a thing,” he nodded.
“What about that? Should we worry about that?” Envy asked, pointing upwards to the top of the building in front of them.
The others all turned to where she was pointing, and upon the roof perched a creature that didn’t immediately make sense to them. It was there, and yet they could not say precisely where it was, as though its physical location was a stochastic estimate rather than a definite fact. It had no colour, and yet it was neither white nor black nor grey; it simply had no colour and there was no other way to describe it. It was large; larger than any of them, though smaller than the building it rested upon, and its size couldn’t be narrowed down any more than that. It either had a long body or a long neck, most likely both, but perhaps neither. Its face sat at the uttermost nadir of the Uncanny Valley, too inhuman to garner any sympathy but just human enough to make them wonder if it had once been a man’s, or more likely a child’s. The face was horribly strained, stretched out as it was across all the being’s possible locations, and yet it smiled down at them with a mouth devoid of teeth but still filled with malice. Several polydactyl limbs clawed into the crumbling brick of the building beneath them, and a tapering tail lazily whipped back and forth as its hollow and soulless eyes refused to break contact with them.
“Do not break eye contact with it until you’re out of town,” The Mandrake said in a hoarse whisper. “Walk backwards to your car, slowly. Don’t run, and don’t break eye contact. You’re lucky there are three of you. Two of you can keep watch while the other drives, but the driver should be looking in the rearview mirror as much as possible. Just don’t let it out of your sight before it’s occluded by the fog. You got that?”
“Mandrake, you told me the things that ravaged this town only come out at night unless provoked!” Erich hissed at him.
“Don’t take it personally. I tell that to everyone,” The Mandrake said. “Don’t break eye contact, and don’t try to fight it. I’ll see you in Adderwood.”
He leaned up against the door to his back, pushing it open and then sliding inside in a fraction of a second before slamming it shut, the sound of several locks clicking into place echoing through the alley.
The creature on the roof couldn’t have cared less about his departure, keeping its eyes keenly on the three live humans in the alley below.
“Erich – do we listen to him?” Ivy asked with a nervous swallow.
“I… I have no reason to think he wants us dead, and that thing hasn’t attacked us yet,” Erich replied, though it was obvious to both sisters that he was far from certain. “Do what he said. Back up slowly, and don’t take your eyes off it. Both of you get in the back seat and don’t block the middle.”
“But what is it?” Envy asked.
“Envy, trust me when I tell you that that information is counterproductive at this moment,” Ivy said as she grabbed her hand, and to Envy’s dismay she felt that it was trembling.
With an obedient nod, Envy began walking backwards, pulling Ivy and Erich along with her.
As they reached the end of the alley, the creature descended from the roof with both the grace of a cat and the viscosity of molasses, pouring its nebulous form to the ground as much as jumping. Each limb jerked about in what individually seemed like a chaotic fashion, but in aggregate was enough to smoothly propel the strange entity forward.
Ivy whimpered, but successfully fought the instinct to flee. She and Envy backed into the car almost simultaneously, and with only a bit of fumbling succeeded in opening the back door. Ivy went in first, followed by Envy. Once they were in, Erich opened the front passenger side door and pushed himself over into the driver’s seat, with Envy leaning forward to pull the door shut.
“Erich, drive! Drive now!” Ivy ordered, her unblinking eyes fixed upon the shambling creature stretching its elongated neck out towards their vehicle, its toothless smile so wide it looked like it might tear its face asunder.
Erich slammed on the gas, and their car sped off down Mainstreet, with the creature sprinting off after them in pursuit.
“Don’t we need to turn around at some point?” Envy asked, she and her sister now staring straight out through the rear window.
“It’s too risky. As long as we get out of town, we should be back more or less where we were,” Erich explained, his eyes glancing up into his rearview mirror every few seconds.
“Ivy, please. What is that thing?” Envy pleaded. “It doesn’t look real. Is it some kind of thoughtform?”
“It’s an inverted thoughtform, made from inverse thought,” Ivy answered. “It’s a form of consciousness that has the reverse quantum values of ordinary thought, causing wave functions to collapse in the complete opposite way they’re supposed to. Their mere presence is antithetical to life, psychic phenomenon, and any tech that relies on non-Newtonian physics.”
“Which is incidentally why we took my old Royce instead of Ivy’s Tesla,” Erich added.
“That’s why we have to keep looking at it. Our effect and its effect on wave functions cancel out and keep it from doing anything too weird,” Ivy went on. “It’s why they almost never attack in broad daylight, and why they can only exist in places devoid of sentience, like this. It’s why I thought we’d be safe meeting with The Mandrake here. Oh, God. Envy, I’m so sorry. I never should have brought you here, or at least I should have told you. I thought there’d be safety in numbers, and I didn’t want to scare you.”
The inverted thoughtform’s smile finally split its head wide open, and a great plume of monochrome flame ruptured forth from the gaping fissure. It was close, but it didn’t seem to be able to close the distance between itself and the car. A big enough bump in the road that caused them to involuntarily break line-of-sight for even an instant would be all it would take for them to lose that advantage.
“But why is it attacking though? Does it want to eat us? Is it defending its territory?” Envy demanded.
Ivy continued to stare straight ahead, fighting back tears that threatened to force her to blink.
“Inverse thought can only be made by the perversion of ordinary thought,” she said softly, seeing no need to say anything more.
Envy fell silent as well, now more than ever understanding the vital importance of maintaining their vigil on the creature before them.
It wasn’t so much running after them now as it was just tumbling, though it somehow always managed to keep its long neck held upright. It pushed itself to draw just a little bit closer to them, but that only slowed it down and caused it to sag under its own weight. Reality, or rather reality perceived by regular consciousness, was poison to it, and it dared not get too close. One instant of inattention was all it needed to strike.
When Erich saw that he had a clear path towards the fog at the edge of the town limits, he slammed down on the gas and pushed the vehicle as hard as it could go. In a desperate last ploy, the inverted thoughtform launched itself into the air in the hopes of landing on top of the car and hiding it from view long enough to grant it its victory. But the closer it got, the more real it became, and its increasing mass was enough to cause it to fall short of its target and crash into the pavement.
As the car vanished into the fog and they finally lost sight of the monstrous creature, they heard it release a shrill, forlorn howl that slowly faded into the distance. A howl which, much to their concern, was clearly not the same cry as the deep and resonating whale call they had heard earlier. For a third and final time, the whale call sounded again, perhaps in response to the howl of the creature that had been pursuing them.
Only this time, it wasn’t coming from behind them or even around them, but in front of them.
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2023.03.25 22:29 oreosghost Here’s to hoping it ships

Here’s to hoping it ships submitted by oreosghost to PokemonTCG [link] [comments]


2023.03.25 22:01 Animaleyz Newest addition

Newest addition
Taurus .357
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