BrokenPromise

Symphony of Espers

Mmmmmmmmman, last week was not a good week for working on esper related stuff. Still, I got a few notes updated.

I've decided I'm going to post any and all patch notes In their own place to keep them organized. If you want to know what was done, you can find the patch notes Here

Now I just gotta balance the rest of the stuff I wanna patch with writing for the RP. gunna be a fun week.

I'd say more about the patch I implemented, but it's all stuff I talked about previously. The modification notes are coming up next, followed by the shop. May hold off on implementing note speed for another time, we'll see what I can get done.

SoE Patch Notes

Patch notes to the Doctrine of Combat Supremacy (DOCS) will be posted here to be kept together and not get spread all over the OOC. To sate the curiosity of anyone wondering by, the DoCS is for the Symphony of Espers RP.

4/11/2022 update

-SoE Patch Note Page created.

-All heal notes can now heal any wound, albite with less or more effectiveness than others. You may need to cast a healing melody many times to compleatly heal a wound, but the effects are more or less instantaneous. More details about healing wounds to come at a later date.

Old:

Minor Heal: Mana cost (2)
Bolsters the body’s natural ability to heal. On an esper: Cuts and bruises heal in 6 seconds, deep lacerations and broken bones heal in 6 hours, and missing limbs or vital organs are mended in 6 days. If used with an AoE note, the speeds decrease to minutes/days/weeks respectively. Higher rank healing notes can better heal higher rank wounds.

Heal: Mana cost (6)
Bolsters the body’s natural ability to heal. On an esper: Cuts and bruises heal instantly, deep lacerations and broken bones heal in 6 seconds, and missing limbs or vital organs are mended in 6 hours. If used with an AoE note, this note behaves like Minor Heal. Higher rank healing notes can better heal higher rank wounds.

Major Heal: Mana cost (18)
Bolsters the body’s natural ability to heal. On an esper: Cuts, bruises, deep lacerations, and broken bones heal instantly. Missing limbs or vital organs are mended in 6 seconds. If used with an AoE note, this note behaves like Heal. Higher rank healing notes can better heal higher rank wounds.

New:

Minor Heal: Mana cost (2)
Bolsters the body’s natural ability to heal. On an esper: Cuts and bruises can be healed completely, but Minor Heal is only 50% effective on deep lacerations and broken bones, and 25% effective on missing limbs or vital organs. If used with an AoE note, this note is only half as effective as it would normally be. Higher rank healing notes can better heal higher rank wounds.

Heal: Mana cost (6)
Bolsters the body’s natural ability to heal. On an esper: Cuts, bruises, deep lacerations, and broken bones can be healed completely, but Heal is only 50% effective on missing limbs or vital organs. If used with an AoE note, this note is only half as effective as it would normally be. Higher rank healing notes can better heal higher rank wounds.

Major Heal: Mana cost (18)
Bolsters the body’s natural ability to heal. On an esper: Any wound can be healed completely. If used with an AoE note, this note is only half as effective as it would normally be. Higher rank healing notes can better heal higher rank wounds.

-Craft, Build, and Construction have been merged into the Construction note. It's cheaper, but now the build size is controlled by the rank of the note.

Old:

Craft: Mana cost (2)
Makes a solid obstacle, trinket, etc out of an esper’s element at the target area. The obstacle can be no larger than a 1X1 foot cube. Making complex things such as a stop watch or a scale is impossible. Lasts 10 minutes.

Build: Mana cost (4)
Makes a solid obstacle, bridge, etc out of an esper’s element at the target area. The obstacle can be no larger than a 5X5 foot cube. Whatever is built, it cannot have a complex shape, such as feature corridors, trick walls, etc. Lasts 10 minutes.

Construction: Mana cost (8)
Makes a solid obstacle, fort, etc out of an esper’s element. The obstacle can be no larger than a 25X25 foot cube. Some level of complexity is allowed, such as making drawbridges and doors. Machinery and equally complex items cannot be made. Lasts 10 minutes.

New:

Construction: Mana cost (4)
Makes a solid obstacle out of an esper’s element. The obstacle’s size is dependent on the rank of the melody. at E rank, it can be no larger than a 5x5 cube. Every rank above E increases the max dimensions by 5 feet. Some level of complexity is allowed, such as making drawbridges and doors. Machinery and equally complex items cannot be made. Lasts 10 minutes.

-Purify and Dispel are worded better for clarity.

Old:

Purify: Mana cost (6)
Removes debuffs and negative magical effects from the target, such as curses and also cures poisons/diseases. Effects must be equal to or weaker to the rank of the melody to be effectively removed. Will not heal wounds, fix physical afflictions, or unbind magical constructs such as those created with a restrain note.

Dispel: Mana cost (6)
Removes positive magical effects from the target, such as barriers, magical strength, and other enchantments. This note can also be used to destroy magical constructs and banish summoned creatures. Effects must be equal to or weaker to the rank of the melody to be effectively removed. Monsters that enter the world directly from the elemental chaos are immune to this effect.

New:

Purify: Mana cost (6)
Removes debuffs and negative magical effects from the target. Effects must be equal to or weaker than the rank of the melody to be removed. Will not heal wounds, fix physical afflictions, or unbind magical constructs such as those created with a restrain note.

Dispel: Mana cost (6)
Removes positive magical effects from a target. If the target is a magical construct, it will be destroyed instead. Effects/constructs must be equal to or weaker to the rank of the melody for it to work.

-Portal's mana cost has been dropped from 8 to 4, as it was too expensive for a melody that needed to be cast twice.

Symphony of Espers

Kinda wish there was a way to properly determine the sorts of impact it can shield from, but damage related to falls or being thrown are rare enough I don't think it'll be a problem.

Oh, and nice hands. I'm working on something too, but it'll be a week or so before anyone can see it.

Looks good. Slap it in your CS, speed.

Symphony of Espers

So as most of you know, we had a survey recently. Last time I didn't post the results because there were onlly four or five votes, and everyone more or less agreed on everything. But this time, things were a little bit spicier.

So here's the results of the survey, as well as some commentary. I'm not going to put them up in any kind of order, save for putting the written ones on the end.



The first question pertains to how organized the DoCS is, which most of you seem to feel like it's in usable condition.

Unfortunately, we had an error with the survey, and I was not able to record the true number of people who did not feel the encountera were fair. But it was swiftly fixed, so I think I'm just missing one vote. But I was able to record comments on why they felt unfair. One player did not like the frequency in which espers have been using notes to escape combat, while another cautioned against having enemy reinforcements "come out of the walls."



The bulk of you are unawqare of how long you'd like downtime to last, whhile there are a few votes for 2-3 weeks respectively. If there isn't a big push to continue right away, I may have this downtime last 3 weeks just to get some extra edits into the DoCS. Subject to change if if everyone's itching to go by the end of this next week.

It also seems like the bounties are not of interest to most, while at least two others are FURIOUS!



You're an easygoing lot, ain'tcha?

I see no reason to make a change to the DoCS if no one is asking for it.

And yes, you all are in agreement that Damage X is working as intended.



I'm glad the new Melody Cost Calculator is working swimmingly for almost everyone. Remember that if you have any problems, a GM will likely be able to assist you. Though by the looks of it, most of the players can offer assistance as well.



Oof, seems everyone's pretty divided on what the perfect length for an operation is. Though perhapse it was the content rather than the length that made some vote the way they did...

At least you read everything, or make an effort to. I do occasionally have story beats happen in scenarios not everyone gets to experience.



Everyone wants something, but it seems like there's a lot of interest in less combat orientated stuff. That's what downtime is for, so I hope you guys are making an effort to seek each other out for collabs. Or are you interested in having the GMs do something of a social-style operation?

For anyone who's curious, the votes hiding behind the text box are non-paranormal life and a single write-in vote for Stacy.



*Giggles*

So yea, the write-ins.

The only serious one was for the melody system, which most of you seemed more or less fine with. One player did say they thought the system often seemed too limiting, and pointed out that logic-gate melodies are fun but not really worth the note slot. This is something I agree with, and I may find a way to let everyone take some or even all of the logic notes with them in addition to the rest of their load outs.

Most of the write-ins for best boy/girl and gear-grinder were serious, with no clear winners. But there were a few funny ones I feel like sharing.

If Finn somehow gets the most votes as best boy, should I be concerned???

Not funny on its own, but Finn did get a vote for best boy!

Mary is best girl/boy.

I mean, he's not wrong...

And for the gear grinders:

Fable is the clock guy yes. But actual answer idk.

This also just makes sense.

i am going to strangle that ghost man.

I feel like this was from the person who doesn't like people who come out of walls.

And then there were the closing thoughts from those who submitted them.

Plethora.

Alotta!

I rule, bitch!

So did king Henry, and tuberculosis kicked his ass.

Stacy better play chess with Marrie before the end of the year, or I'm dropping.

I've got a few months to make it happen.

Thanks for hosting the second mission! Lots of juicy stuff to take away afterwards.

You're juicy stuff to take away.

Or.

Something like that.

All the Arknights images used, yet none of the characters so far use an Arknights faceclaim. Smh, GM.

Su weeps.

Also Arknights is filled with furies, get out of here, yiffer.

---

So in closing, Downtime will be a week or two longer. Didn't have much time to work on the DoCS this week, so we'll see what happens going into the next one. Until then, stay safe, and watch out for late-coming April fool's jokes.

Symphony of Espers

Earlier...

A marble statue stood before Handsome Gunther. It depicted a young woman with her arms raised over her head, and a face frozen in fear. Her toga was pulled tight against her shoulders while ghoulish claws attempted to drag her into the earth.

The ghost tipped his head side to side. He observed it from every angle. Above, below, before floating around all sides. But he was still unsure what its purpose was. He floated up to it and stuck his head inside. Easy enough for a specter to do, as few physical objects impeded their movement. It was dark, but Gunther could smell something inside the statue.

”Ah.“ Gunther pulled his head out. ”Is that gasoline? That must be why you've got torches everywhere.“ He folded his hands behind his back. ”Not bad, Dale, not bad at all.“

“It’s no replacement for Sofron, but I wouldn’t want him on my team anyhow.” Arzendale laughed, taking a sip from his champagne flute. Red stained his lips as he partook in libations, extending another glass to fill from his fountain before offering it to the floating ghost. “How’s the cellar’s renovations going? Suppose you too were against having those kids of yours just plant the place with explosives and bury the intruders?”

”Maverick has Bastion now, so we’re expecting Billy boy and some espers. Explosives won’t set a monster of his caliber back too much. Even less so if he brings some of his monstrous buddies along. And with my luck those kids’d cave the place in. They’ve all got butterfingers, can’t hold nothin’ but fireballs.“ Gunther looked at the glass of wine and raised an eyebrow. Poltergeists couldn’t really interact with the physical world, and that meant drinking from a glass, regardless of what was inside it. But there was a certain image holding a glass conveyed, so Gunther released a single spirit from his tome, and the glass floated between his fingers. ”No love for Sofron huh? I doubt Justin would part with him anyway. Why don’t you like him? Is it his ego, or that he failed to stop a group of espers once already?“

“Neither, dear friend.” The sovereign raised his flute, clinking it against Gunther’s own. “It’s just a matter of generational divide, you see. Sofron’s blood still runs too hot in his veins and for all his experience, he’s still naught more than an esper. Obsessed with power and violence, with singular blows to end fights before they begin. No love for the dance, nor for the rest.” The blood filling his glass rose up, crystallizing into a gem that Arzendale caught between his fangs.

“Mere beasts, the lot of them. And while beasts are fun to toy with, they are so bothersome to leash, especially when his favorite methodology involves setting everything ablaze with arcane flame.” The sanguine crystal shattered, and he smiled as if he had eaten a piece of candy. “Though passion and practicality too has its merits I suppose. This soul is simply too old to appreciate the efficiency espoused by this era of esper.”

”Their passion is the most interesting thing about them. So short lived, but the brightest candles often are.“ Gunther went to drink, but the blood ran down the side of the glass instead of his intangible throat. ”Yet we are both working with espers anyway. Justin’s letting me use his violin player. Going by what you said about Sofron, you wouldn’t like her. I’ve taken to calling her ‘wild child’ when I know she can’t hear me.“ His tube-like lips curled into a smile ”But there are some people who really care about her, and it’ll be fascinating to see what happens if they meet.“ He jostled his flute and watched the blood swirl inside the glass. ”The sight of blood does nothing for me Dale. But emotion? That’s something I could get drunk off of.“

“That is what sustains us, isn’t it? Though as the architect of your own defenses, would it not be a simple matter for you to dangle this wild child of yours above, say, a lake of liquid death and see which of them takes the bite?”

”I could, but honestly Dale? I’m not an old fashioned villain. Tying her up over pits of lava or to train tracks isn’t my thing.“ With a chuckle, Gunther attempted to drink a second time, and a second bead of blood ran down the side of the glass. ”I don’t want to be an interface for their despair. Humans are selfish, love to get angry, and they don’t forgive easily. If I tie her up somewhere dangerous, they’re going to target that hatred at me. But if I let her run free? If she tells her friends how much she hates them with her own lips? If they kill her because she’s too strong to neutralize otherwise? Then they have to turn that hatred on themselves or her.“ He shook his head. ”In this day and age, humans only take responsibility for things they do directly. I’m not going to hang her over a pool of liquid death, because I know they’ll push her into it for me.“

“That’s a fair enough point, but to play the devil’s advocate just a little bit, I do believe the nature of interfacing means that they’ll neither blame themselves nor that tiger cub.” The beads that rolled off Gunther’s glass crawled back up, slithering into the flute once more. Arzendale placed his own empty glass back into the pallid hands of his fountain, his gaze turning towards that massive portrait of Justin once more. “They’ll naturally turn their hatred to the young master himself, no matter how genuine the cub’s vitriol is. Hatred feeds best upon grand ideas and unreachable targets, after all, so for it to direct itself onto an individual instead…well, staining your hands is the bare minimum here.”

”I think it’s worth mentioning that I have no preference for who or what feels despair. The espers are only half the equation after all. Wild child, the little pyromancers, all capable of feeling things that their fellow man inflicts on them. It’s all just a bonus on top of keeping the mansion safe. It’s not always possible to invoke despair in humans.“ He rolled his eyes off to the side. ”There are going to be people who feel no remorse. Humans that delight in just killing things, more so than any ‘monster’ an esper would try to slay. But in those cases, I’m unsure if there is an approach that works for them.“ Gunther put on a crooked smile. ”You might not approve, but I’d be okay with them hating master Carnage. You live a lot longer when you don’t make yourself the subject of people’s ire, so I’m fine with all that being put against him instead of me. I’m sure he revels in that hatred anyway.“

“Ah, and so, our friendship ends,” Arzendale chuckled, “for I too am an exceedingly greedy being, desiring nothing more than the rage of all those who’d face me. Life is little more than a dream, so spoke the poet. Transient and fleeting, yet stagnant and suffocating. It delights me to know though, Gunther, that you still possess that attachment to life, in spite of your current constitution.”

The sovereign pressed his nail against his fountain again, creating a new spot from which crimson flowed. Bringing it up to blot out the candlelight of the chandelier, Arzendale marveled at the complexities of light and shadow within human blood.

“When this falls, will you flee? Or will you perish?”

”I don’t want you to get the wrong idea, Dale. Like any poltergeist, I’ve never actually lived. It’s been places like this where people’s grudges build until I came into being. And while I may exist, I don’t truly live unless I’m taking in spectacles like what this foyer will become!” Gunther cast his arms out at his surroundings, spinning into the air. ”I only lament that we can’t work together.”

“But alas, it wouldn’t be any fun for either of us, and the side we leave uncovered would inevitably be broken through.” Arzendale shrugged languidly. “Mayhaps another opportunity will present itself, my friend. The Bates could pay a visit after GEMINI and Maverick do. Though those two are just another collective of pyromaniacs in a long line of them.”

”It is just a job at the end of the day.” Gunther said with a bow. ”It would be an opportunity to test your ability against Sofrons indirectly, would it not?”

“A job for you, a diversion for me.” Arzendale raised his glass and drained it dry. “And perhaps it would be a worthwhile trial, but the stories I’ve heard of Sofron in his youth make even darling Regina’s tantrums dim in comparison. Pity, what he is now.”

A snort.

“A toast, to the Timekeeper, that nagging whoreson.”

”Cheers.”

After the glasses clicked, both creatures tipped back their glasses.

Symphony of Espers

@Crusader Lord Yea that works.

SMASH IT IN THERE!

Symphony of Espers

Probably not. Buffs are rare outside of humans with dark blessings, which aren't common foes. Like pry, it has the potential to be very useful, but requires a somewhat niche situation to really work. It has my approval.

Symphony of Espers

Later than normal, but it's still Sunday my time.

The operation is over and downtime has started. You can start working on collabs with your fellow espers. There's going to be an other operation at some point, so you might as well take Apollo on a bad date or hug Ashley before it's too late. I'll be open to doing collabs, but unlike last time, I'm not going to actively seek everyone out. I think last time I was in all but two posts done over down time. Also, no hunts this time. I've got some systems to revamp and others to add. We'll see if this becomes a regular thing or if they come back later.

Some of the updates I'll be working on and am hyappy to announce are the following.

-Second (and hopefully final) Healing note revamp.

I do feel heal was a lot more useful on this operation, but I noticed it's still kind of confusing, and the whole "healing over time" thing is kind of confusing. That's how I work: I make cumbersome systems that do the job at a barely satisfactory level, and then I implement one that is simpler and does the job later after the "prototype" does its job. Anyway, the goal is to give healers the choice to cast powerful and unreasonably expensive healing magic, or to spend several turns casting a less expensive spell while falling behind in the action economy. Just don't get hit guys!

-Construct is going to be less wonkey

Crazy how newby espers can reshape the battlefield with a single note. I mean it's expensive and obtuse, but we can do better.

-Portal will be cheaper.

It's just too expensive for a note that needs forethought to use and has to be cast over two turns.

-Notes will have a "measure" attached to them to determine how fast they are.

Mostly for GM convenience, but will likely be useful in clutch moments when two espers cast a melody at the same time.

-Modification note revamps.

I don't know what I'm going to find, but the modification notes were made with a different system in mind. Now that I've seen how RP combat is moving, they need to be updated.

-New system: Combat Items

Everyone responded pretty well to the "expansions" in the last survey. Though the one that got the most interest was the item one. Espers will have a number of credits they can use to purchase mundane items before every operation. Depending on how things go, it might be upgradable via glamor to allow for more credits as well as special "backup items" that would let you call upon powerful effects once per operation.

Speaking of survey, sometime tommorow I'll have the new one out. Unlike the last one, anything you write in should be 100% anonymous. I'm not too worried about getting duplicate submissions given how small our group is. The survey is also going to influence how long downtime is, so be sure to take it if you care about stuff like that.

Symphony of Espers

“Excuse me, Doctor,” Ashley called as she walked over to her superior. “May I speak with you for a moment?”

Veronica was watching the rest of the non-esper as they moved about the room. Most of them were just armed men, but there were a few others who were taking pictures, collecting samples, and talking amongst themselves. ”They won’t find anything.” She groaned under her breath. Before long, Veronica turned her head to look at Ashley. She was smiling like a porcelain doll. ”Sure! Sure, let’s just move over here so that there’s a little bit less noise.” Veronica stepped back into the hallway with Ashley. There were a few agents moving to and from the center room, so it was hardly private, but it was far less noisy. ”Alright, You can speak away now.”

“Well, um, it’s about the operation,” Ashley began once they’d moved to a slightly more suitable location. “After we all put forth so much effort, Justin and Billy both managed to escape, along with most of their henchmen. Two horrendous monsters are still on the loose, and so many innocents lost their lives, yet you seem so… so unconcerned with any of it, like none of it matters. I don’t understand. What did we even manage to achieve here?”

”Is that what this looks like to you?” Fritzi was a tall woman, but Veronica’s small body wasn’t much taller than a middle schooler. She looked up at Ashley with a smile. ”Yes, two monsters escaped. We captured an officer and secured the area. We do not have the manpower to hold the place for long, and I doubt we will get much out of our prisoner. It was an expensive proposition for us as well as our enemies, but our enemies have more resources to waste.” Veronica locked her hands behind her back. ”Tell me, how strong do you think I am?” She rocked her shoulders like an excited child. ”Do you think I’m powerful enough to take on Billy, two flightless angels, and a group of freelancers? Binky was out of mana, and few of the others were fit to fight. How many operatives would have perished if they chose to attack?”

Ashley frowned slightly at Veronica’s response. “Um, w-well, I imagine someone with your experience would be fairly powerful,” she replied hesitantly. “Certainly more powerful than the rest of us, and, uh, you did say you were planning to eliminate Billy…” she continued. “But, um, I didn’t mean to imply that you chose the wrong course of action by taking a hostage instead, it’s just that, well… it seems as though you know something we don’t, like we accomplished some hidden objective that made all these sacrifices worth it. That it wasn’t all for nothing…”

”I’m getting toi that, darling, just hold your horses.” With a sigh, Veronica’s hands moved out from behind her back and onto her hips. ”Success should never be expected. Especially in situations like this when our enemies outnumber us and our friends can be bought at a pittance.” She thrust a finger down the hall. ”As much experience as I have, nothing can beat good old fashioned numbers. Certainly when there are that many. The chances of everyone getting out of there alive if they chose to attack was slim.” For a moment, Veronica’s eyes were downcast. ”I’m not an easy person to read, Orion. If I was, Billy might have picked up on the fact that I was concerned. He might have ordered everyone to charge instead of run. I am strong, but so is Billy. He would have massacred everyone if I showed even an ounce of weakness.” The corners of her lips curled upward. ”No ulterior motives here. I’m just pleased that we suffered no casualties. No agents at least. That’s not an outcome you always get to enjoy. Binky will be out of commission for a bit, but I’m sure she’ll be back on the front line in no time.” Veronica pat Ashley’s shoulder once leaning against the wall. ”Go write up that report. You did well for your first operation, the outcome was out of your hands.”

As Ashley listened to everything Veronica had to say, she couldn’t help but agree that what the doctor said made sense, although it was somewhat disheartening to know that this operation truly had been almost entirely meaningless. “I see…” she replied softly. “And thank you, ma’am,” she added in a stronger voice. “I’ll get right to work on that. Oh!” she gasped as she recalled something important. “When I was separated from the rest of the team, I found an underground chamber filled with…” she paused for a moment at the thought of the nightmarish scene. “People Justin had turned into thralls. I-It was absolutely horrible! I-Is… Is there anything we can do for them?”

”It’s not possible to tell at this time, but thank you for letting me know.” Veronica nodded. ”I’ll let the other operatives know right now.” She turned her back to Ashley and raised a hand to the side of her head. ”Hey, got word there’s some thralls by the door. Stand by until Delta…” Veronica continued to relay information as she walked back into the center room.

As Ashley watched Veronica depart, the young esper allowed herself to feel a small measure of relief. At least the poor thralls would be freed from their abhorrent prison, and hopefully even receive the treatment needed to restore their humanity. If so, then at least there would be one positive outcome to this depressing debacle. As she turned to depart, Ashley’s foot bumped into a piece of debris. Looking down, she saw that it was the still-intact head of Justin’s disgusting statue, its unmarred visage one of smug mockery. Feeling her righteous fury return with full force, she raised her foot, before savagely driving her boot’s heel through the center of Justin’s face, shattering it completely.

Next time, you monster, it’ll be for real…

---

_{@The World}

Stacy jumped when the phone was put in her hand, but seemed to understand what it was soon enough. She moved her thumb, pressed a button, then another button, then several other buttons. It worked! Stacy was typing something into the phone! Everyone knew how to text these days, and someone like Stacy had to log a lot of hours typing to friends. She then handed the phone back to Marrie. It was just a seven digit number. It seemed like she was trying to call someone. Should Marrie hit send?

Of course she is! This GM isn't going to make anyone wait an extra week for that! The phone rang several times before going to a recorded message.

”Hello hello hello! You've reached the the number of one Stacy Stitches! If you're calling this number, it's either because I forgot it was tabletop Tuesday, or I've lost my head! In the case of the latter, it's nothing to worry about. If you can't find my old head, just get me a new one. So long as it use to belong to a human, it should do the trick! My preference would be one that matches what's left of my body, you know? But I'm really not too picky. Don't bother leaving a message, I never empty my voice mail, so it won't record, haha!”

It seemed that Marrie would be bringing Stacy back to her place until she could decide how to deal with all of this.

Her home reaserch proved to be fruitful, and not so fruitful. There was plenty of talk online about Justin. Most of it was pretty general, with him being a vampire and owning a lot of property in Pax Septimus. There were some rumors about him owning some silk farms in China and maybe having his own clothing line, but there wasn't anything else about him. There were plenty of stories about his atrocities within the city. It seemed like he made a habit of pulling stunts like this, only to lay low for months at a time before everyone forgot about him. And with the Iron Queen around, people forgot about him quickly.

There was far less on the Knight of Tommorow, to the point where Marrie had to wonder if it was a moniker or slang term for something. Shimr had nothing, and a courtesy internet search just brought up an episode from a batman cartoon with a similar sounding name. But Marrie would get another text while she was doing her research. Again, it was from the coin requester.

So are you up for another job or what? You should be happy I'm willing to hire you again!

---

News of Pac-a-fist's dissapearance began to spread. Veronica and Luna were among the first to be notified, but the greater circle of freelance espers were also starting to get the message.

---

"What a most curious array of messages! According to my deductions, there is an odd correlation between who sent the messages. I can't put my finger on it, but it's almost like the same person sent the same message from both phones. Thus, if we find the phones... we find her kidnapper! Come, Pickles! A case like this is one in a lifetime, an no one shall keep us waiting! To Pax Septimus!"

---

"Ugh, this work sucks! It's too hot this time of year! Hmm? Wait, wha-? Pac's work finally caught up to her? This is big news. If someone sent me a message over this, then others must have heard of it too! I'll back up here and open shop in Pax Septimus!"

---

"Huh?"

"Angel of hope? What is it?"

"Raphael the Righteous Hearted, something Terrible has happened in Pax Septimus."

"I am not surprised. It is one of the few cities that has no right to exist."

"Pac-a-fist was captured by a vampire."

"Ahhh..."

"You knew her well, if memory serves."

"She was a good girl. She deserved better than this."

"I'm sorry, I did not mean to upset you."

"Don't be, but understand that I cannot remain here any longer."

"You are part of the Inquisition! You cannot leave the Vatican. Let me handle this, I'm a freelancer now."

"A freelancer let Pac-a-fist come to harm, and he was far stronger than you are."

"What will you do?"

"First, I will consult the pope. Then, I will depart for Pax Septimus."

"And if he says you can't?"

"Sister... Do not ask me questions better left unanswered."

Symphony of Espers

I'm not approving it until you fix the bio.