The Butcher's Bill

Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia. The low-income borough of Lambeth has been largely taken over by London's mutant population and is now known as Mutant Town.

Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Miriam Bell » Tue Dec 13, 2016 12:47 am

Miriam, who followed behind a little bit, stops at the door, just watching the exchange unfold with curiosity. At least until Sam calls the man a child murderer, at which point her expression darkens considerably and she seems no longer all that amused with watching Sam stretch her proverbial (and semi-literal) wings.
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High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Samantha McManus » Tue Dec 13, 2016 1:21 am

"I never even had a chance to know him, but you didn't know there were two."
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High Concept: Waking Goddess
Aspect: Enraptured by Violence
Aspect: Made of Nightmares
Aspect: Not Crazy
Aspect: Driven by Wolves

Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Roland Sackville » Tue Dec 13, 2016 1:24 am

"And now there are none. Did you have a point to this, or were you planning on just practicing your dramatic speeches?"
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Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Samantha McManus » Tue Dec 13, 2016 1:29 am

"...if there are none, then there's no point in being civil to you."

"Would you care to rephrase?"
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Samantha McManus
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High Concept: Waking Goddess
Aspect: Enraptured by Violence
Aspect: Made of Nightmares
Aspect: Not Crazy
Aspect: Driven by Wolves

Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Roland Sackville » Tue Dec 13, 2016 1:34 am

"This was you being civil?

Kids these days, no respect for their elders.

Young lady, you'll find I mean what I say when I say it. I've grown too old to bother with little white lies."
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Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Samantha McManus » Tue Dec 13, 2016 1:36 am

"I was told to give you a chance to talk things out. Let the record stand."

She's eerily calm.

"He was my friend. This is better than you deserve."

And then Roland would find his mind assaulted on all sides by a storm of beaks and claws.
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Samantha McManus
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High Concept: Waking Goddess
Aspect: Enraptured by Violence
Aspect: Made of Nightmares
Aspect: Not Crazy
Aspect: Driven by Wolves

Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Roland Sackville » Tue Dec 13, 2016 1:40 am

If Roland had a pithy response to that, it was interrupted by a mental torrent of birds. He winced, and his knees buckled a bit...

...but he managed to regain his balance, through the help of leaning on the display case.

Roland's mind was like trying to chip through a layer of stone -- years of buildup of stubbornness and discipline were making it a hard nut to crack, as opposed to any active defenses of any sort.

"Y....you think to take up...the mantle of the Phantom Queen, do you?" he said, forcing a grin through the sheer effort. "A pretender....a pretender to the throne."
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Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Miriam Bell » Wed Dec 14, 2016 3:32 pm

Miriam's almost cheerful attitude of needling Sam has disappeared entirely at this point, replaced by an ice-cold mask that slides over her face.

"You killed my friend." she says. It's barely even a question, really. Unlike Sam, her own mind doesn't explode out as metaphorically nor does it try to latch on to any and all she can reach like she did so many years ago. Since then the pain of losing someone has crystallized and become focused. A single silvery knife flashing amongst the swirling shadows that make up her avatar. But she's torn, not certain what to do. This is what she's pushed Sam towards. And Will, as much as it pains her to admit, was closer to Sam than herself. As much as Sam annoys her sometimes, this is her fight, her punishment to mete out if she can. If.

The cloud of shadows upon which the two strange masks bob and weave snakes it's way through the swarm of birds, against Roland's defenses, to try and find that weakspot, the vulnerability that everyone has somewhere. The source of the shield he is projecting. Self-righteousness and determination, the conviction he's doing the right thing. Bits and pieces of the shield that are chipped away float through Miriam's head. He has a Cause, one with capital letters and everything. Little by little she uses the mental resistance to gauge what's underneath, like feeling for the shape of something underneath a taut blanket. The fact that it's made of stone only matters if you let that fact convince you that it does. Even the smallest give reveals something and it's only a matter of figuring out the shape of the thoughts underneath to mimic them and glide right through as if she'd been part of his mind all along.

"Sam!" a thought pierces through the birds to get her attention. She has no time to teach this trick to Sam in the middle of all this. Two steps and one punch from Roland can end this at any time and only Sam's onslaught is keeping that from happening, it seems. "I can get you through but you'll have to trust me."
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Miriam Bell
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High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Samantha McManus » Wed Dec 14, 2016 7:34 pm

"Just tell me how," Sam sends, gritting her teeth as, in the Astral her avatar is raising a spear over its head.

"This isn't something I've just tried on," she says to Roland. "This isn't something I can put down. You caught me a bit too late to convince me I'm just crazy."
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Samantha McManus
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High Concept: Waking Goddess
Aspect: Enraptured by Violence
Aspect: Made of Nightmares
Aspect: Not Crazy
Aspect: Driven by Wolves

Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Roland Sackville » Wed Dec 14, 2016 7:39 pm

"The real Morrigan would have protected her champion. You're dressing in grandmother's clothes and hoping they fit."
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Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Miriam Bell » Wed Dec 14, 2016 8:37 pm

"We don't exactly have time for an in depth lesson-plan here. Yes or no, Sam?"
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Miriam Bell
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High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Samantha McManus » Wed Dec 14, 2016 8:53 pm

"And I don't have time to talk about my feelings. Just get me an opening!"
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High Concept: Waking Goddess
Aspect: Enraptured by Violence
Aspect: Made of Nightmares
Aspect: Not Crazy
Aspect: Driven by Wolves

Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Miriam Bell » Wed Dec 14, 2016 11:13 pm

"Oh for fuck's sake..." With no time to argue, Miriam spreads through the flock and tries to whisk as many of them with her as she can. It's a strange feeling, not at all congruent with the shadowy wisps Miriam's avatar has stretched itself into. Like being enveloped by twisting buildings of mixed and muddled architecture and plummeting down alleys of twisting green bricks with no end or even a break to show anything but the endless building, towers and doors and whole halls slammed together into an incongruent mess that the flock tumbles through. It feels a little like the box she'd found in Will's head, only seemingly without end. Here and there bricks or even whole sections 'fall' only to hit more building on the other side and being absorbed into a new minaret or gothic arc.

And regardless of whether Sam trusts Miriam on the matter of getting into Roland's head specifically, the method seems more oppressive than she'd probably be comfortable with even in a normal state of mind and without Miriam antagonizing her. Bits and pieces of Miriam's thoughts flash through. Cheating some rich people out of money. Meeting Trinity again. Creating her own little corner in Will's head. Melpomene instructing her in god knows what. Really, how can she trust her on a fundamental level? Bricks start tumbling more erratically and here and there they slam into Ravens. If she was to stab Sam in the back, or even just try to slip something into her head unnoticed while she's distracted by the issue of Roland and Will, this would be the perfect opportunity, no?

The endless twisting building around her begins to break apart as the connection between Miriam and Sam grows more tenuous and suddenly it dissipates entirely, leaving the both of them in the middle of passing through Roland's defenses. Miriam's mind snaps back and crumples like a car hitting a suddenly appearing wall and somewhere in the real world she let's out a scream as she clutches her head, reeling. Sam on the other hand keeps going, only parts of her getting held back by the layers of stubbornness and determination, but fortunately Sam's mind is a little more flexible in that regard...
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Miriam Bell
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High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Samantha McManus » Thu Dec 15, 2016 12:29 am

There's one part of Sam that desperately wants to strike home on Roland, and that's the part that's holding the spear.

The part that's leading with the sphere as she's pulled forward.

The part that might as well be the spear, for all intents and purposes.
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Samantha McManus
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High Concept: Waking Goddess
Aspect: Enraptured by Violence
Aspect: Made of Nightmares
Aspect: Not Crazy
Aspect: Driven by Wolves

Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Roland Sackville » Thu Dec 15, 2016 1:03 am

Out in the real world, Roland tried to snap through Sam's mental push to attend to the fallen Miriam, but his movements were slow and sluggish, thanks to the interference from the X-Brats.

_________________________________________

That one part of Sam managed to break through, plunging into the surf at the edge of a very loud and busy beachfront. Behind her, at sea, wave after wave of landing craft approached the beach, while a maze of barbed wire, gunfire and screams were present on the beach itself. The beach led up to a cliff, on which were several guard towers, with machine gun fire strafing the beach itself.

The soldiers, coming in both directions, were a mish-mash of time periods and weaponry, not always consistent even in and of themselves. A Roundhead with a flamethrower was maybe not something you'd see every day, while a Minuteman would not normally be waving around a Scottish Claymore, but there you have it.

The sounds and shouts of fighting rolled down the beachhead; a never-ending cacophony of clashing metal and gurgled screams.
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Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Samantha McManus » Fri Dec 16, 2016 9:42 pm

In Roland's mind, Sam doesn't seem bothered by the chaos. In fact, she's inclined to increase it, aiming to turn even nominally 'friendly' forces against each other by sending the flock out over the battlefield, the shard of her that made it through dashing among the melee as she winds for the watchtowers.
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Samantha McManus
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High Concept: Waking Goddess
Aspect: Enraptured by Violence
Aspect: Made of Nightmares
Aspect: Not Crazy
Aspect: Driven by Wolves

Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Roland Sackville » Sat Dec 17, 2016 2:25 am

It wasn't too hard to set brother against brother -- if anything, it seemed that alliances were very fluid, and once people reached the beachhead, they were pretty much on their own. Sam was able to add to the chaos quite effectively, causing discord and dissension among the loose ranks as she passed through them.

It didn't take too long for the machine gun turrets to be turned in her general direction, attempting to track and disable the dashing foreigner.
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Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Samantha McManus » Mon Dec 19, 2016 9:01 pm

Sam grabs one of the soldiers in the chaos, aiming to jerk him around unceremoniously and use him as a human(?) shield as she continues to press up the hill.
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High Concept: Waking Goddess
Aspect: Enraptured by Violence
Aspect: Made of Nightmares
Aspect: Not Crazy
Aspect: Driven by Wolves

Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Narrator » Mon Dec 19, 2016 9:43 pm

'Human' was a fine word, as least as far as astral constructs went. These seemed less like...well, people than the people inside, say, Will's head did -- no inner depth to them at all, just fighting and stabbing and killing. Just facets of the mindscape, no more detailed than the beach or the sand or the weapons themselves.

The one she grabbed tried to fight back a bit, but that was quickly put to an end as bullets riddled his body, conveniently absorbing the blow for Sam as she made her way through the trenches, up a hill.

There must be someone organizing the defense, right? At the very least, this way was minds -- something a bit more meaningful than these jokers on the beach.

Something that could be dealt with. Something to which revenge would have meaning.
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Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Samantha McManus » Tue Dec 20, 2016 9:14 pm

With a sneer on her lips, Sam pushes her advantage, bulling towards the base of one of the towers.
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Samantha McManus
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High Concept: Waking Goddess
Aspect: Enraptured by Violence
Aspect: Made of Nightmares
Aspect: Not Crazy
Aspect: Driven by Wolves

Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Roland Sackville » Fri Dec 23, 2016 7:51 pm

Sam could cut her way through fairly easily, assuming she was single-focused on her target. With most of the calm, rational parts of her viewpoint currently outside the office, at it were, that was more or less a certainty. She could slam her way through quite a lot of the mooks, zeroing in on that mind she sensed.

Atop the gun tower was the butcher. Not like he was in the shop, no -- not all smiley and jolly in and apron. And not like Sam might have imagined Finn McCool to be, in celtic garb. No, this man was dressed from head to toe in shiny, highly-polished plate armor, carrying a very large, very unweildly looking sword. He had his back to Sam, as he surveyed the battlefield.


He knew she was there. She could sense it.
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Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Samantha McManus » Fri Dec 23, 2016 11:38 pm

"You had to know I'd come for you," she says, dropping the hapless soldier she'd used as a shield.

"You may not be mine but you know my ways. You live them."
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Samantha McManus
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High Concept: Waking Goddess
Aspect: Enraptured by Violence
Aspect: Made of Nightmares
Aspect: Not Crazy
Aspect: Driven by Wolves

Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Roland Sackville » Sat Dec 24, 2016 2:51 am

"I live my life, woman. I've lived many lives. And they are mine to live.

I have defended these isles from many an invasion, and shall do so again and again."

He slowly turned towards her.

"Can you say the same?"
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Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Samantha McManus » Tue Dec 27, 2016 8:39 pm

"These isles," she scoffs. "I just stopped an invasion of this world."

"And he was there with me. He bled for this world, even though he isn't of this world."

"And for that you killed him. Is that it?"
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Samantha McManus
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High Concept: Waking Goddess
Aspect: Enraptured by Violence
Aspect: Made of Nightmares
Aspect: Not Crazy
Aspect: Driven by Wolves

Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Roland Sackville » Tue Dec 27, 2016 10:05 pm

"You really do have no idea what was at stake here, do you? Content in your ignorance, you sit at home washing your socks, while the heroes keep the fabric of reality knit together.

No need to thank me."
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Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Samantha McManus » Tue Dec 27, 2016 10:39 pm

"I know the difference between a child and an invading army. You apparently don't, which is why Ireland is going to need a new king asleep under the hill."
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Samantha McManus
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High Concept: Waking Goddess
Aspect: Enraptured by Violence
Aspect: Made of Nightmares
Aspect: Not Crazy
Aspect: Driven by Wolves

Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Roland Sackville » Tue Dec 27, 2016 11:19 pm

"There have been five invasions of Ireland. The one which you've seen fit to ape and copy was the fourth; it was turned back by the Milesians, the rightful owners of the land. I have sworn an oath to prevent the return of the Tuatha Dé Danann by any means necessary; their own tool turned against them.

It is the age of men, not of the Tuath Dé. The tools shall never be united; the foundations shall never be forged.

If you continue to claim the title, go back to the mounds of the Aos Sí. You are not welcome here."
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Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Samantha McManus » Wed Dec 28, 2016 12:07 am

"I never entered the hidden hills. I have no desire to consort with cowards, shirkers, and the surrendered. I do not recognize the peace the Red Crow brokered, because I do not recognize peace."
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Samantha McManus
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High Concept: Waking Goddess
Aspect: Enraptured by Violence
Aspect: Made of Nightmares
Aspect: Not Crazy
Aspect: Driven by Wolves

Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Roland Sackville » Wed Dec 28, 2016 1:13 am

"The purpose of all war is peace. It is a tool to an end. Your predecessor never understood that. You have time to turn back from this road you're on.

Live in peace. Do not make an idol out of the Phantom Queen, for that way lies sorrow."
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Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Samantha McManus » Wed Dec 28, 2016 1:17 am

"I would have been a lot more willing to listen to you before you killed my friend."

"You don't get nice little Sam that you can seed doubt in. You get the one who made her son burn for all time."

"And I liked him."
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Samantha McManus
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High Concept: Waking Goddess
Aspect: Enraptured by Violence
Aspect: Made of Nightmares
Aspect: Not Crazy
Aspect: Driven by Wolves

Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Roland Sackville » Wed Dec 28, 2016 1:36 am

"You'll find that 'all time' is a much-overused descriptor.

Men rise, and men fall. Buildings rise, and buildings fall. Civilizations rise, and civilizations fall. And yet I persist."
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Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Samantha McManus » Wed Dec 28, 2016 1:55 am

"You'll find that he's still burning, and I'm not in anywhere near the charitable mood I was that day."
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Samantha McManus
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High Concept: Waking Goddess
Aspect: Enraptured by Violence
Aspect: Made of Nightmares
Aspect: Not Crazy
Aspect: Driven by Wolves

Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Roland Sackville » Wed Dec 28, 2016 2:02 am

"And yet, all fires must eventually die. All fuel must eventually be extinguished.

Your namesake was not eternal, nor shall you be.

Do what you must. Do what you can. I have saved the life of every human being on this planet, and I shall not show remorse to you or anyone else."
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Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Samantha McManus » Wed Dec 28, 2016 7:53 pm

"Then that makes this all the easier."

In barely an eyeblink her avatar collapsed, and a swarm of slender serpents were racing towards Finn's feet, trying to dart into the gaps in his armor.
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Samantha McManus
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High Concept: Waking Goddess
Aspect: Enraptured by Violence
Aspect: Made of Nightmares
Aspect: Not Crazy
Aspect: Driven by Wolves

Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Roland Sackville » Thu Dec 29, 2016 12:07 am

"You forget, lassie, that I dealt with snakes before St. Patrick was around."

Roland swung his impossibly large sword, slamming it to the ground with tremendous force and producing a shockwave that rumbled the foundations of the tower they were standing on.
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Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Samantha McManus » Thu Dec 29, 2016 9:35 pm

Some of the snakes went flying, but still others were nearly to his legs. One in particular rears up and tries to sink its fangs into the armor joint at the back of his knee.
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Samantha McManus
Student
 
High Concept: Waking Goddess
Aspect: Enraptured by Violence
Aspect: Made of Nightmares
Aspect: Not Crazy
Aspect: Driven by Wolves

Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Roland Sackville » Thu Dec 29, 2016 9:56 pm

Roland swung his free hand down, grasping at the snake, with the goal of strangling it in one beefy hand.

Holding his massive sword in just one hand now, he swept it less fluidly along the ground, aiming to shove as many snakes as possible off the tower.
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Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Samantha McManus » Fri Dec 30, 2016 12:31 am

Most of the snakes are shaken from the tower, taking flight as ravens as they regroup.

The one he grabbed though wasn't a snake anymore. Rather, it was a cloud of hornets buzzing upwards to sting at his eyes and face.
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Samantha McManus
Student
 
High Concept: Waking Goddess
Aspect: Enraptured by Violence
Aspect: Made of Nightmares
Aspect: Not Crazy
Aspect: Driven by Wolves

Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Roland Sackville » Fri Dec 30, 2016 12:34 am

Roland, belatedly, slammed the visor on his helm shut, but not before a few hornets managed to squirm inside.

Uttering a string of curses in no language Sam had ever heard, Roland staggered back towards the edge of the watchtower.
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Re: The Butcher's Bill

Postby Samantha McManus » Fri Dec 30, 2016 12:36 am

The ravens are diving for Roland's staggering form, but by the time they reach him they've blurred into a large bear, aiming to bowl him over the edge.
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Samantha McManus
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High Concept: Waking Goddess
Aspect: Enraptured by Violence
Aspect: Made of Nightmares
Aspect: Not Crazy
Aspect: Driven by Wolves

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