Fantasy Steamhaven: Land of the Lost

[Cartoonicat]

Missy Maya startled, yanked from her thoughtfulness by noise other than her own musings. She blinked rapidly, confused at first. "Oh! Oh, I see," she nodded. "Feel free to visit any time! I love discussing demons, it lends to such insightful discussion." With a smile, she bid Lianna farewell.

---

Lianna arrived home to a dark, empty house. Patrick was either still working or had opted to spend the night on the floor of the workshop, likely due to a heavy load of invoices. Whether he would return to Lianna's abode later that night was unknown but, until then, Lianna had the house all to herself. Without the company, the building felt...

- Peaceful
- Lonely
- Ominous
- Neutral
- Other

 

[ArcticFox]

Peaceful. It's been a while since she was alone at her home and she only now realised how much she needed it.

It would be nice to see Patrick before she left, but for now she was going to use the time to take a bath and prepare a meal, opting not to think about anything in particular.

 

[Cartoonicat]

With a nice, warm bath to chase away the chill and grime from that day, Lianna pulled leftovers—likely from the previous night, when it was just Patrick at her home—of chicken and dumplings. Heating up a bowl wouldn't take too long.

As she placed a pot over the stove to warm up, a rhythmic tap on the nearest window glass, curtains pulled closed, caught her ear. It was quite late already and any normal person would use the front door.

- Open the curtains
- Call out
- Ignore it
- Other
(Optional): Grab a weapon

 

[ArcticFox]

"Landon?" She called, fully expecting him to be that kind of a creep. It didn't even bother her any more. She stepped toward the window, but brought along a kitchen knife just in case.

 

[Cartoonicat]

Sure enough, the familiar voice replied through the glass and closed curtain. "Can I come in?" It had been quite a while since Lianna saw him last, and he'd been noticeably absent from the Summit last night.

- Let him in
- Keep him outside
- Other

 

[ArcticFox]

Lianna nodded and opened the window. "I have doors, you know." She said, giving him a curious look. "You weren't there yesterday."

 

[Cartoonicat]

"The less others see us interact, the better," he said, climbing inside. Landon's hair had grown a bit since she'd last seen him, and he didn't seem to care much about keeping up with appearances.

Closing the window and drawing the curtains, he shook his head. "I was. Briefly, at least." Yet, he hadn't stepped in to help.

- Ask a question
- Yell at him
- Make a comment
- Say nothing
- Kick him out
- Other

 

[ArcticFox]

"Why didn't you stop Lucille, then?" Lianna frowned, "I thought you were influential with the coven."

 

[Cartoonicat]

Landon pursed his lips. "Parents don't always listen to their children," he said, sounding more bitter than the resigned Landon she knew, "especially when they've tried running away from home for..." He looked off to the side, eyes calculating until he waved off whatever he was about to say. "For centuries. I've lost count."

What Landon said lent itself to the idea he wasn't Lucille's grandson, but her actual son, despite him having acted as a grandchild in the public eye for who knows how long. He'd been quite secretive before, too, but the bitterness of his tone and posture—crossed arms, a scowl—indicated he was done tip-toeing.

- Get to know Landon
- Ask about the demon plane
- Console him
- Say nothing
- Other

 

[ArcticFox]

"Still, it couldn't have hurt to have you there. I would've felt better for one." She sighed, "Perhaps I would not have provoked the coven as much. But, that doesn't matter now. What's done is done, and we will probably have a war on our hands soon. Yet before that, I have something else on my mind." She gestured toward one of the kitchen chairs for him to take a seat. "I am going into a demon plane tomorrow and I wondered if you knew anything about it."

 

[Cartoonicat]

Landon lifted a brow at the mention of the demon plane. Without addressing any of her previous concerns and comments, he jumped right into the new subject. "You have access to the demon plane? How?" Then, as if remembering who he was speaking too, his eyes narrowed. "I know plenty, but why are you going?"

- Tell the truth
- Tell a lie
- Ask a question
- Other

 

[ArcticFox]

"To kill a demon, of course. I thought it was obvious." Lianna chuckled, "What do you know of Kelaelin?"

 

[Cartoonicat]

"Ha, right," the corner of his lip twitched, a small, barely-there smile. "Kelaelin is mental. A long time ago, people called their realm the Spirit World, but Kelaelin's subjugation of the other demons has changed everything." Landon shook his head. "All because of 'tradition'. I'm so sick of that excuse."

Leaning against the nearest wall, Landon continued: "The last time I was in the Spirit World was a few decades after I'd been changed. A demon took pity on me, brought me in. It allowed me to use their artifact to get through the first century living as a vampire. I didn't want to hurt anyone, so spending time in a realm where there was no blood was... torture, but helpful." He swallowed, lips drawing back into a thin line. "I wasn't the only one the demon offered sanctuary to, though, and I wasn't the only man. Back then, only women were able to be shamans.... or witches, as you call them."

"Upon finding out, Kelaelin went off the deep end. He took everyone's artifacts. I was no longer able to visit the Spirit World when I needed control," he explained. "But the demon who saved me was very popular, even without their artifact. Kelaelin hated it. That's when the human sacrifices began." Shook his head. "I don't know why Kelaelin started that trend, exactly, but I've seen through shamans and witches a drastic change in their patrons because of it. Gul is full of hatred, Tulie is mad with bloodlust, Mox is losing his mind, and so on..."

As if realizing, then, that he'd spoken quite a bit, Landon met her eyes a bit sheepishly. "Uh... sorry, trip down memory lane. Kelaelin... I guess you could say he's insecure. People who fear change often are."

- Ask another question
- Change the topic
- Get to know Landon
- Kick him out
- Other

 

[ArcticFox]

Lianna listened with interest, taking a seat on the chart she previously offered to the vampire, but it was clear that he preferred standing. Not wanting to interrupt, she mused inwardly on how exactly old Landon was. But she didn't ask him that.

"Kelaelin is insecure? Is that his only weakness? Does he have something more concrete that can harm him?"

 

[Cartoonicat]

Landon cast his gaze to the side, thoughtful. "Every demon has a weakness, Kelaelin is no different," he said, though didn't sound confident. "He's insecure and hot-headed, so you can use that against him, but he's not as agile. He's never had a reason to be." He met her eyes again, nodding more to himself than anything, "And just because he uses amber doesn't mean he's immune. He's probably already weak, considering how long he's been doing this. If you plan on killing him, he's done most of the work for you already."

- Ask about the other demons
- Ask something else
- Get to know Landon
- Other

 

[ArcticFox]

"Thank you. You are the only one I spoke to that was actually optimistic about killing a demon." His words made her feel a little better about her quest, though she wouldn't admit it. She looked at him again. "What are you going to do, though? Now that the coven is outright hostile and a lot of other supernaturals with them, where is you place in all that?"

 

[Cartoonicat]

Mention of the coven had his eyes cast toward the floor with a shrug. "The same place I was before the Summit," he said. His brows narrowed and he went to speak, but instead ended up tapping anxiously on his crossed arms. "I'm leaving," he said. "Leaving Steamhaven. Permanently. I had the opportunity the night of the Summit and asked my ticket out of here to hold off until... well..." He shook his head, arms uncrossing. "I was stupid to think the coven could create peace, that was my mistake. Lucille only held the meeting to lure me back home."

- Ask how
- Ask why
- Ask when
- Ask something else
- Convince him not to leave
- Encourage him to leave
- Other

 

[ArcticFox]

"You shouldn't. You cannot." Lianna stood up and walked to stand in front of him. "This is your mess too you know, she's your goddamn mother!"

 

[Cartoonicat]

Landon leaned away, only to be stopped by the wall behind him. Unable to retreat, he narrowed his brows. "I've lived lifetimes without ever having one of my own because I've been keeping my mother in check longer than demons have been called demons," he did a good job at keeping his voice level, almost eerily calm. "I want a life of my own."

- Argue
- Plead
- Reason
- Get upset
- Threaten
- Say nothing
- Kick him out
- Other

 

[ArcticFox]

"So do I, Landon!" Lianna snapped, "So does everyone in Steamhaven, but they are not going to be able to with the vampire coven breathing down there necks! So suck it up until they are dealt with and then go off on your own. You have a bloody eternity to be selfish!"

 

[Cartoonicat]

"I've been dealing with it for as long as I can remember and no matter what I do she doesn't listen! She will never listen," his voice shook as he tried in vain to remain calm. "What do you expect me to do, Lianna? I can't do anything," Landon went from collected to frustrated to desperate. Standing there, tired and defeated, the ex-detective looked as lost as he sounded.

In Lianna's eyes, he could...

- Kill Lucille
- Arrest Lucille
- Spark a rebellion
- Do nothing
- Leave Steamhaven
- Other

 

[ArcticFox]

"You can persuade you kind." Lianna said, "You must have friends in the coven that will listen to you. There doesn't have to be that much slaughter."

 

[Cartoonicat]

Landon laughed incredulously. "You're going to convince the oldest coven in the area to be peaceful after what happened at the Summit, when they've never once listened to me? You're..." He looked lost for the word.

- Determined
- Crazy
- Desperate
- Angry
- Other
- Say nothing

 

[ArcticFox]

"I'm determined to save as many people as I can. If the vampires back down, the people of Steamhaven will have some peace." She paused, "Don't get me wrong, I don't mind killing vampires, quite the opposite really. But if we make this town a battlefield there will be a lot of casualties on other sides."

 

[Cartoonicat]

After some hesitation, Landon rolled his eyes to the ceiling with a groan if resignation. "Fine. Fine. Gods, this is not going to work, but fine." He closed his eyes, mumbling regretfully that he shouldn't have gotten involved with her as he had.

"I'll talk to some people while you're gone," he said. "Just... don't die in the spirit world and leave me to do this alone."

- Promise
- Don't promise
- Thank him
- Change the subject
- End the conversation
- Other