u/1isalonelynumber

Aspen tears through the insects immediately around him. The Swarm responds quickly, throwing anything and everything at him, in order to stall/kill him. This buys 5 more seconds for Betty. The Swarm then uses its immense processing power to slow her perception of time to a crawl. This gives her a minute of relative time to make a decision. The Swarm gives an ultimatum: sink into the Hivemind or die. If she declines she will likely die. If she accepts, there is a chance she will survive. (u/Additional_Ad372)

Ignoring this, Betty opens up another portal to escape, but Aspen is faster. Vixen steps in the way buying Betty the precious millisecond needed to escape. Betty gets to see her die in slow motion. This leaves Aspen to tear through the Hive until the effects of the rage wear off. (u/reapergod77766)

Away from all that, some other stuff happens.

The ant in Daisy’s head eventually dies from exhaustion. But before it does that, i causes the destruction of most of Mint’s castle. One of Mint’s Ghouls says, “Fuuuuuuuuck duuuuuude that cost sooooo much time and money fuuuuuck.” (u/DrakarNoire)

Also, the damage that Aspen inflicted on Bathory forced her to evolve and adapt like Doomsday. Her physical form becomes a more streamlined and compressed humanoid form. Her mind evolves to the point where she is no longer a mindless weapon, but a devoted servant to the Vampires who exists to destroy all enemies to the Empire. (u/BoredH14)

The Swarm gets a real bad luck consequence for eating the fruit and rolling badly instead of the ‘Mickey Mouse’ consequence that made their opponent get super brain damage.(u/Thecodermau)

…

Fine.

Bathory has read Daisy’s mind, knows everything relevant about the Swarm, and telepathically sends that information to Sweetpea. Sweetpea and the Circulation Council effectively now know how to kill the Swarm permanently.

Suggestion

Next post is the end of this round

There is only one thing left to decide. Does Aspen kill all the insects in the Hive, securing a win? Or does the Swarm simply kill him, earning another win for them? Or, is it a tie with both sides dead/in retreat?

All suggestions not related to this conflict will be ignored. This is because this round is dragging on longer than I would like.

Links

Table of contents

Discord Link

There is a theme with the suggestions this time around. Can you see it?

Due to Daisy momentarily connecting with the Hivemind, she could momentarily see Betty and Vixen. If she survives this encounter, she will spread this info to the Vampires. (u/NextBerserker)

Since Daisy has basically experienced Empty Void, she had horrible headaches. She experienced everything from the color spectrum all the insects of the Swarm can see, the taste of every food with millions of different taste receptors, the best way to eat fruit, the way every bug is born, etc. There are consequences to getting all the knowledge of something as smart as the Hivemind. Sanity being one such casualty. (u/Weird_Landscape_1297)

Daisy’s Overdrive releases an effluvia that causes others to experience their worst memories. In her state she spreads it indiscriminately, some of which landed on Aspen. Not being happy with this turn of events, Aspen recalls a conversation with other Vampires about the nature of Witch Overdrives and how it makes them lose control over themselves. One detail of this is that there were experiments to develop a drug for Daisy. The current version of this drug grants a few minutes of clarity and focus while in Overdrive. Acting quickly, Aspen synthesizes and administers the drug directly to Daisy disrupting the Hivemind’s connection to her. She then uses the teleportation crystal to leave the battlefield. (u/BoredH14)

Daisy is then sent to Mint’s castle, where she last slept. As such, she is effectively out of this Round.

Suggestions

Do we have any non-Daisy related suggestions this time?

Links

Table of contents

Discord Link

Corday the Corpse Witch is given the Vampire name, Daisy. (u/reapergod777666) She is the Vampire of Sewing. This causes her hair to grow like sewing needles, which she can use to stitch chimeric creatures together. It has also evolved her magic, so now when she infects targets they get hair-like growths which eventually tears them apart. They can be then stitched back together and puppeted remotely. Furthermore, she was given a crash course on the basics of being a Vampire, including a more scientific understanding of her magic powers. When she was just a Witch she could only infect corpses, now her spores can infect the living. This also grants her a mental link with anyone infected by her spores. (u/BoredH14)

All of this is important, because Aspen kidnaps her, disobeying the rest of the Council, and taking her with him on the raid. (u/Weird/Landscape_1297)

The Swarm has begun to use some of the many Glitches that plague the world to its advantage. Many of the insects have also devoured Luck Fruits, granting some bugs special powers. (u/Additional_Ad372) These powers are horrible. I rolled to see if they were good or bad.

The fight starts off like a routine Swarm raid on a Blood Farm, when Aspen and their group suddenly arrive. They bring with them something the Swarm wants, bait for it to stay longer. The storm is not letting up, so the Swarm has nothing preventing it from staying. With Betty’s help, the Swarm converts the Blood Farm into an insect fortress. It is filled with traps to deal with and twisting chokepoints to deal with faster opponents just like how it fought the Arprons in the Fall of Stratos. (u/Weird/Landscape_1297)

Despite this, Bathory is incredibly effective against the Swarm, as any insect that even gets close to her undergoes the chemical process of digestion, breaking them down to their base components. She is also erratic, and hard for the Swarm to predict. Aspen watches the battle while twirling his ‘mooooostaaaaache’, using hit and run tactics on members of the Swarm that have separated from the main body. (u/DrakarNoire)

The Vampires do some serious damage to the Swarm, so the Hivemind calls upon Betty for more help. Betty sees Corday – now Daisy – and Bathory, and decides to finally stand up to the Hive Mind. Unfortunately for her, the Swarm has learned enough about diplomacy to know that threatening loved ones is an effective strategy. The Hivemind tortures Vixen until Betty complies, with threats of more torture if there she rebels again. (u/reapergod777666)

The Swarm deploys the All Beetle. Which does cool stuff. (u/Weird/Landscape_1297)

Suggestion

What happens next? Are Bathory, Aspen, and Daisy okay? Can the Swarm overcome such impossible odds?

Links

Table of contents

Discord Link

Aka. the part where we finally learn what the Empire of Nosferatu is like.

It is the Vampires vs the Swarm (u/Additional_Ad372)

Elm, the Vampire of Red Blood Cells, invited the remaining Ancients to a blood ball. During which they discuss recent issues plaguing the Empire. This includes the Hydrangea’s mutating cancer, the recent environmental disasters, the death/coma of Aloe, and the disappearance of Phlox, etc. One of the issues they discuss is a recent series of attacks on their Blood Farms propagated by the Swarm. They began after the category 5 storms began ravaging the globe – caused by the Maestro. The storms temporarily lifted the ash and poison clouds higher into the atmosphere, allowing brief windows for the Swarm to attack. Since the Blood Farms are some of the few remaining food sources left, the Empire is dependent on this. It is so important, that they decide to send Aspen the Vampire of Veins, while the others are sent to deal with other issues. (u/Additional_Ad372)

Also, some other Vampires show up, seeking to show off for the Ancients as well as share their accomplishments.

Edelweiss, Vampire of Talons, shows up. He brings with him, Bathory Erzsebet, the amalgamate creation from the Vampire Intermission a couple seasons ago. (u/Weird_Landscape_1297)

On top of that, Mint, the Vampire of Scalpels, brings with her Corday the Witch of Corpses. After being ‘saved’ by Mint in the Blob vs Happies fight, Corday had been experimented on for experiments to counter the Happies. But after learning that Alice had gone missing in the Grimmdark Incident, she immediately offered to betray the Witches and join the Empire of Nosferatu. To prove her loyalty, she lured in other Witches to be used as test subjects in her place. In truth, she never really agreed with Alice’s plans for genocide – something that Alice would never approve of – because she felt that death was too kind for them. She wanted to make them suffer forever, and was captivated by how Vampires have turned humans suffering into an artform. After proving her loyalty, she was bestowed a Blood Mark – a process with much trial and error due to her Witch biology– and became the first Witch/Vampire hybrid. (u/BoredH14)

Also, Nemesia, the Vampire of Bones, shows up. The Gambler NPC makes an appearance as well, (u/Weird_Landscape_1297) despite not being a Vampire anymore.

And the trees and fruit grown by the Ever Shifting Luck is important this round. This does not mean that the Ever Shifting Luck is involved this round. (u/Thecodermau)

Betty and Vixen will be present this round. (u/Weird_Landscape_1297)

Suggestion

Corday the WItch of Corpses needs a new name to fit in with the Vampire’s plant based naming scheme. Also, she needs to be a Vampire of something. What is her new name? What is she the Vampire of?

How exactly does Aspen face the Swarm? And how does it start?

Links

Table of contents

Discord Link

Art by sebmckinnon

Winner: Jackal (u/Weird_Landscape_1297)

How did we get here?

First, BigBoneDaddy is pressured by the Admins to log back in, despite his PTSD. He goes along with it because this is literally his job and he needs to pay his bills. Even logging in puts him in a state of panic, causing him to launch an all or nothing attack. In his current state, he is not able to win, but the assault is distracting enough that it allows people in the basement of the Library to evacuate undetected. (u/1isalonelynumber)

Meanwhile, Red Star and everyone under the bunker were relatively okay as Hazel fortified the underground area just in time to tank most of the damage, but the Library is all but destroyed at this point. Though Hazel was weakened and exhausted thanks to that Nurari, and the Lore Guild Members who were tough enough to endure the Fear Storm, albeit as shambling messes. Could only weakly try to recollect any books and items that somehow remained intact. They seem quite depressed and scared, wondering what they'll do when Zora offers them a data chip on her katana. The tears on her eyes show that she saw what was already inside. (u/NextBerserker)

Amidst the library ruins, Libby Rian, Strix and Dr. Blossom found a smashed safe box, inside which was a book titled "Guilds 1st and 2nd, Together We Are Strong." On their way back to the Bunker, they tell Duke about their find. He finds it too suspicious and decides to investigate further. Duke had previously found no information on current guilds outside the top 10, and he found it strange that he found nothing about the top 1 and 2. (u/Electrical-Mix-1447)

Jackal, whether from Dorothy or someone else, learns something: Marlin is alive. Not just that they know who he is, but that he's alive, out there, somewhere, and seemingly operating under the name of "Silverware". This causes her to falter in her movements, not able to think about the current battle because she has something more important to focus on right now. She's been strong for a while, she's allowed to falter due to information like that. (u/rotokt)

Oh, Nicki is freed and Dandina is traumatized by the Lightning Tea Bag

Suggestions

This round is over, who fights next round? Why are they fighting? Where?

Are humans involved?

Links

Table of contents

Discord Link

Dorothy is just about prepared to unleash a massive attack: the Lightning Tea Bag. She learned the phrase from the Gamers and found it amusing. It is a massive pair of round thunderclouds that slowly descends like a bomb. Jackal arrives but is immediately blocked by Fiyo, Cirrus, and other Witches. The ensuing battle causes Dorothy to notice that Jackal is somehow using Sirena’s magic, which causes her to lose her cool for but a moment. This does not go unnoticed as Nurari realizes Dorothy’s weakness. Time is limited though as the Lightning Tea Bag is descending. (u/NextBerserker)

Meanwhile, the water of the Heart of the Great Witch Sirena proves very effective against the Witches. Sirena’s magic can affect weather, so changing a storm to add water is definitely possible. And Jackal knows it. (u/Weird_Landscape_1297)

This allows Jackal to power through.

Dorothy obviously does not like this.

In response, Dorothy modifies her magic with the aid of Fiyo. She knows that most things don’t permanently affect Gamers, but emotions do. She and Fiyo create a fear storm that hits people with their own fears taken to an extreme. This scares the Gamers so much that some faint IRL while the rest log out in terror. It also gives them PTSD, inducing a panic attack each time they try to log back in. (u/1Isalonelynumber)

The Jackal gets to Dorothy. But instead of a fight like Dorothy expected, Jackal instead engages in a dialogue with Dorothy about how she became a Magical Girl. Dorothy is interested in how this obviously artificial Magical Girl was created. She hopes that this can fix their recruitment problem. (u/reapergodd777666)

Suggestion

With the Gamers all out of commission and afflicted with PTSD, how does this end? I am assuming that the Witches win unless something really egregious happens.

What did Nurari do in the brief time he had?

What happens to the Witches? To the Library? To Hazel? To the NPCs in the Library? To The Red Star? To Jackal?

Links

Table of contents

Discord Link

A tale of how Hazel and Jackal became friends.

Surely nothing else of note happens here.

Nothing at all.

Suggestions

What happens next?

What is Dorothy planning?

What do the Gamers do?

Links

Table of contents

Discord Link

Sorry

All the weapons that Dorothy is conjuring causes tiny bits of lag. This does not significantly impact the Gamer’s performance, but it causes the number of glitches to spike in the region. The glitch is rolled randomly. And it is: portions of the sky are changed into solids and portions of the ground are turned to air. (u/Additional_Ad372)

Dorothy instructs Nicki and Dandina to attack the Library. Dandina takes with her a plethora of beasts, some of which are Fantasia bosses. Nicki’s ability synergizes with this as her ability to rust objects protects them from the raining weapons. They are met by Big Bone Daddy’s large Army of the Death Knights, causing a brawl to start. (u/NextBerserker)

As for Dorothy, she remains in the air with Cirrius, Fiyo, and some other Witches – who presumably are just showing up now — as they continue to bombard the Lore Guild. Over time, CIrrius’s clouds get more saturated with magic, making it easier for Dorothy to use more weather phenomenon even as Dorothy prepares a special surprise for the Gamers. (u/NextBerserker)

Nurari has not been idle since the start of the ‘expansion’. He reveals that he has defeated and tamed a number of NE and now summons them to defend against the Witches. He shows his rank is not just for show by easily capturing – not killing– one of the Witches causing the most problems to the library’s defenders. He intends to hold her hostage as part of the deescalation plotline. (u/BoredH14) as this Witch was not specified, it is going to be Nicki.

Jackal uses an item to take the Red Star to the lower levels of the Lore Guild’s base, where the guild’s NPCs and books are being taken for safe keeping. They encounter Hazel, the smithing Witch in the middle of finishing whatever preparations she is making for the guild defenses, something which includes Sirena’s copied heart as well as some other gear/tech she ahd been working on for someone in her forge. (u/BoredH14)

That someone is Jackal.

Suggestions

NOPE

None today. I was unable to get to a part I wanted to get to. Instead, next post will be a special one.

Something informative.

Links

Table of contents

Discord Link

We turn back the clock to see what the Red Star were doing while Agent X and co were in space. Still trying to descalate things, they are working with renewed fervor due to the recent celestial events. (u/Aditional_Ad372) They have made their way to the Lore Guild where Nurari is. On the way they contact the Speakeasy and that Scarabea has a message for them, specifically Zora. While there at the Lore Guild HQ, weapons start falling from the sky along with lightning, all of which starts to wreck the place. Hiding in the clouds is the Great Witch Dorothy and her coven. They have come to make good on their promise to annihilate the Lore Guild after the Truth War. (u/NextBerserker)

Among them is one of Dorothy’s minions: Cirrus the Cloud Witch. (u/KazeDani7)

One of the top 10 Gamers is there, the one tasked with dealing with the Witches. (u/Weird_Landscape_1297). They were called there by the Lore Guild as backup. (u/NextBerserker) The Top 10 Gamer in question is Rank 9: BigBoneDaddy

Meanwhile, the Lore Guild, thinking that Jackal was an important NPC, spent a LOT of resources on her. They break through the Arpron genetic manipulation she was born with and they give her four spells. These spells are rolled randomly by me. Jackal is not bound by the NPC leveling system and are far stronger than anything she could cast normally. (u/Thunderstriker-77)

Now, there is the issue of how Jackal bypasses the NPC leveling system considering that same system is what allows most people to get spells. Likewise there are some issues with how you can break through genetic manipulation as genes are what define a person. BUT I believe I have answered that succinctly.

She also gets the spell [Goad] (u/rotokt)

Jackal isn’t necessarily stronger – she is – but she did do something special. She learned the Goad spell, which is a type of analysis spell that works by coaxing vital information out of someone… magically. Over the course of several castings of the spell, she has learned vital information about much of the Lore Guild. She writes it on scraps of paper to prove that she cast it right. Then she hands these papers over to Duke because she knows he can use it better than she can. Her handwriting isn’t great – her hands shook with fear – but it was legible enough to read. It gives him a contingency to work towards as he now knows what each member is ‘weak’ to. Just in case something happens of course. (u/rotokt)

### Suggestions

How does this fight start? What do the Gamers and WItches do? 
Also, what do the Red Star do?

I am not accepting any suggestions about Jackal’s spells nor what happened to her. I have already decided that. You will have to wait until the next post to see what that is about. 

### Links
[Table of contents](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZJhRJV-f2SIb5l73EwvL45GqiWoh1XYsPgFV5gn2DG4/edit?usp=sharing)    

[Discord Link](https://discord.gg/JQE695hHxC)