Spessgot

Character Reference Sheet

AN: Please bear with me while I adapt to my new schedule. Editing Interlude 9 took up much more of my time than I'd anticipated, so I used what I had to finally put this together. I will update this post on occasion. Still trying to figure out what the best format for this is.

 Google Docs Link for Mobile Users: 2024-10-20 19:53:57 +0000 UTC View Post

Interlude 9: Star Crossed

The castle of Tempesthurst Wood slumped upon its foundations, its great stones like sleeping giants resting their misshapen heads upon the shoulders of their compatriots. There was an odd majesty to its hapless walls that defied all appearances. Constructed with bewitched stones and sacred geometry, the fortress had stood for more than a thousand years, and would for thousands more. But it was not the manmade structure that demanded reverence from visitors or conjured the undeniable awe withi...

Escort Mission 4

“What the fuck, bro?” I muttered. “What is wrong with this neighborhood?”

 We were essentially at the theater, just across the street from one of its side entrances, when the sounds of fighting and breaking of glass broke out from a nearby herbalist shop. I had thought that if we encountered more trouble, it would be on the way back home after dark, not at the edge of Harbor Hill and Sugar Forest, with a ton of people milling about. This was one of the nicest places in the ...

Escort Mission 3

It was past time to get moving once the girls had calmed down. Shania had to reapply her makeup, and Aminah had taken the opportunity to put some on as well. Otherwise, I'd have shown them a few balance drills they could add to their nightly routines. Unfortunately, we couldn't skip the movie entirely to train. The teenage overachievers had to watch the historical drama we were heading to for one of their college-level English courses by Monday and were otherwise busy the remainder of the wee...

Escort Mission 2

“Smoothie!” I chided, arms crossed in disappointment. “What happened to your warrior’s pride? Three treats and a makeshift toy were all it took for you to abandon your hood ways, little man?”

 Smoothie ignored me. He was otherwise occupied on his back in Aminah’s lap, purring and batting at the tassels of her head scarf while the girls cooed over him.

 Aminah laughed. "All boys from the streets really want are a lap pillow and a little affection. Isn't that r...

Delay - Switching to a Friday/Saturday schedule

Hello, gang. No post today/tomorrow, instead there will be two Updates coming on Friday/Saturday which will be the new schedule from here on out. I picked up a seasonal job that's leaving my weekends pretty busy.

Edit: Friday/Saturday will be the drop day, with 2 updates this week to make up for the delay and change of schedule. Still on a one update a week schedule in general until I figure out a way to go full time.

Escort Mission 1

Here was the closet of a powerful business villain, the sort that could be both the love interest and antagonist in a dark modern romance. The shoe rack shelves were authentic ebony to obscure any errant marks and long and tall to fit all manner of gentlemanly needs, from the conference room to the ski slope. There were floor-to-ceiling hangers for your great coats and the like, with drawers and shelves beside them for cufflinks and various accessories. The only homage to a more rustic existe...

Breakout Role 3

“Go when you’re ready.”

I nodded, took a few breaths to center myself, and mentally directed a prayer to the Dice Gods. It was funny; I hadn’t been half this nervous at the Kingfisher.

I started whistling the Pengies Chocolate jingle, triggering my Acting roll. This was the take of the day, the last and most important, and if I fucked it up, then my earlier double-digit Successes on the backup shots would be a small solace. Pengies, or the cheap marketing fir...

Breakout Role 2

Edited 10/7/24: Added a few lines and clarified some things during the crime-fighting scene and the scene with Paul's introduction.

I decided to take a few minutes to clear my head in the meditation chamber before heading out, figuring I could make up the time by skipping my usual home-cooked breakfast. It was only a half-day of non-union work anyway; if they'd really wanted me to be on time, then the cheap bastards could have shelled out the extra couple of...

Interlude Poll September #2 & Player locations and hints

Okay, the results flip-flopped multiple times, but it's currently looking like it's another Player. I'll try to do an extra Interlude this month for the people who voted for an existing character, and if not we'll return to them next month for sure.

I'll put reminders of where the players were sent to as well below, including the hints that have been revealed of where they were sent to/what they're dealing with. I was going to stay cryptic, but some of these were revealed ...

Breakout Role

He died afraid for his life. Which was fair; he’d been about to die. But what I couldn’t get over, what was sticking in me like a knife, was that he died afraid of me. His untrained eyes had been too slow, staring at me instead of the Thing that had killed him, turned him into mince meat, blended him into chunks. Fuck a closed casket; they'd be sending him to his family in a sealed keg if they sent them anything at all. I'd saved everyone in that room except for the one innocent – And h...

Interlude Poll September #1

Wanted to get people's takes on the broad strategy this month. Depending on results, there might be a follow up Poll. Will wait a few days to see how things are playing out first. Would you prefer I:

Interlude 8: Cici In Paradise

Warning: Contains NSFW images at the bottom of post.

Sin and air alike tasted sweeter in Tokyo. All the annoyances, the cluttered, cramped environments and the city cacophonies that had once kept her bound to a droll suburban existence meant nothing here. All her fears now thrilled. Crowds and strange men, dark alleys and dangerous women, she fit right in alongside them, a pantheress amidst prey. Finally, for the first time in two lifetimes, she was thriving, she...

Cage Fight 3

"Right, where were we?" I started, scratching both mine and Smoothie's chin. "Ah, I remember. Listen, Hou, obviously you can pay me to fight literal monsters – but you will have to pay me. You fuckers are the ones charging protection money from a bunch of dentists and window cleaners; you better be okay with spending some of that money to protect the city. I'd also consider trading some instruction for big-time favors, but whoever I'd teach would be training with my other students, regardle...

Cage Fight 2

I couldn't imagine how the Cranes would defend this place in court if it ever got raided by the police. The door Mao led me to was lacquered a traditional red and carved with an elaborate relief of a great crane spearing a snake with its beak. It was awesome—and if the Cranes ever did start beef with me, I was absolutely stealing it for my bedroom—but it did lack any subtlety whatsoever.

 All six-and-a-half feet of 'Fat Frog' Hsieh greeted us on the other side of the doorway wi...

Cage Fight

There was a cat on the roof above us, lazily wishing death on every bird it could perceive. The longing grew more intense as the birds flew nearer, which was to be expected, but also lazier in equal measure. For cats, I'd noticed, the desire to kill was forever at war with the desire to nap; I found that oddly relatable. You'd think that being able to sense the constant and universal feline affinity for murder would have made me like them less, but on the contrary, I was never more sure that ...

Kingfisher 4

The upstairs of Garibaldi's Couturier, est. 1896, smelled of wood polish, sandalwood, and the indescribable remnants from a century's worth of cologne spritzes. It was a manly place for manly men like me, as the little Italian assigned to me had told me multiple times in the brief time I'd been here.

 I handed my t-shirt to Cavalcante Garavaglia, who sneered at the cloth. According to the tailor, a princely fellow like me should dress like an aristocrat at all times. It was a sin a...

August Interlude Poll: Players

Let's expand on the Party this month! I'm going to post their original names with a little teaser after to make it much easier to pick this time, but don't expect such benevolent mercy from me again. I like making people guess, damnit! Will I finally only release a mere 2k words as originally promised this month? Probably not, but I'm leaving open the possibility as always because I'm a coward.

Kingfisher 3

I drunkenly meandered my way to Octavio Square out of my gourd on ludicrously expensive champagne. There were still four to six hours before any important politicking would occur, and while that wasn't a lot of time to get my shit together before my mission-critical meeting, I, uh…

Okay, so I didn't have a follow up to that thought yet, but I could improvise. More importantly, this was one of those rare occasions where I was fully in tune with all aspects of my personali...

Interlude 7: A Bard's Life

Wednesday Night

Susy's ADHD was in peak form tonight. High-energy remixes of K and J-Pop songs played at a respectful volume from her laptop speakers while she danced at her standing desk. Big things were happening in Susy Land. There was a pen in her hand (with another behind her ear that she'd forgotten about) and no less than five notebooks to keep track of all her ideas and exciting new projects. Look at her, she thought proudly, actually organizing her notes and not just scribbling...

Kingfisher 2

The Hartwood was in the category of restaurants I would have normally walked past without bothering to check the menu posted outside, one where the prices were set by its inordinate rent and not the quality of the food. It looked like a good gig for a waitress though; the cheapest appetizer was $22, and the menu had a line at the bottom about how gratuity was added automatically – a necessity in a touristy neighborhood like North River. Annie must have really liked me or really hated the ma...

Delay

Just got back from vacation; didn't have time for any writing unfortunately. Be back next week.

Kingfisher 1

"What do you mean it isn't covered? It's called a Total Protection Plan. How can we possibly have different definitions for the word 'total'?"

I was at a small tech shop near my apartment, the same one I'd bought my replacement phone from out of a, clearly misguided, desire to support local business. Since I hadn't been looking for a laptop and cameras this time around, I figured it would be fine to go to whatever was closest.

The man at the counter was somewhere in his late forti...

July Interlude Poll

FYI: Going on vacation this week, so it might come in first week of August. Took a little bit to decide what I wanted to write. Annie's second interlude was over 6k words - I might hit that same number this month, but I'd like to distribute it across different PoVs this time around.

Character Sheet as of 'Little Sister'

And also 'Betting Man', probably more importantly

Name: James Li

Archetype: Martial Arts Stunt Performer / Charming Rogue (Human)

Description: James Li is a skilled martial artist and stunt performer, known for his incredible acrobatics and charismatic personality. He combines the daring and physical prowess of Jackie Chan's characters with the wit and charm of a rogue. James is not only a master of martial arts but also a smooth-talker and expert in pulling off darin...

Little Sister

 I was death-wish-tired stepping out of my childhood bathroom, showered and with a freshly ruined, blood-soaked towel around my waist. The adrenaline crash had done to my migraine what gamma radiation had done to Bruce Banner. The Injury Threshold pain was one thing, but it wasn't until the dust had settled that I could feel what my mother's fighting spirit had inflicted upon my Qi network – a thousand paper cuts on my soul, was the best I could think to describe it. There had been no ...

Interlude 6: In Which There Is Absolutely NO Foreshadowing Whatsoever

The artisanal churro truck on her block was a doomed endeavor but at least it overpowered the smell of the fish market across the street. She still wasn't paying six dollars for a churro, but the warm cinnamon-sugar scent was a welcome change, nonetheless. The air coming out of the fish market's HVAC exhausts had made it all but impossible to enjoy the roof deck for the entirety of the summer.

 Annie tried the door; the handle turned but it wouldn't open. She frowned. "What the hel...

Commissioned Art of Maki from Session Zero

Big, big thanks to all of you for subscribing! I'm so thrilled to have reached a point where I can commission art for the story.

This is from Jenny aka scabslut. If you like this then please let her know and check out more of her work on twitter @scabmeat. Jenny was a dream to work with and I hope to commission more work from her whenever her slots open up.

The June Interlude is coming along nicely. It got away fr...

Betting Man 3

A gale began to blow in from the shattered window, swirling around Ma, whipping her hair and clothes wildly. That golden aura she'd used against the Rain-Woman in Funikugami's memory started crackling across her arms and legs, the faint images of talons appearing and disappearing. Her fighting spirit sharpened, lacerating my own with its fury, assuring me that there would be no more non-lethal Damage from here on out. Some distant part of me noted that the lotus root and pork soup in the kitc...

Betting Man 2

First things first, it was time to spend some Experience. Thus far, after the enormous amount I'd gained from my nights with Maki, the only purchases I'd made were 2 Dice in Martial Arts to give me 1 more than I had in Erotic Sorcery. I'd almost bought my Agility up to par with my Aura to really keep to the spirit of the promise I'd made to the Audience – the loud proclamation to always be a martial artist first and a sorcerer second – but had decided to hold off and give myself some time...