Mortals. The ever-necessary cog in the wheel that is the Spirit World. Mortals feed the Spirit World with Belief, which turns into Madness and Ectoplasm, the energy source for Spirits like you.
This is where you come in, Spectre, an agent of the Bureau of the Paranormal. Your job is to keep the mortals feeding the Spirit World, while also cleaning up the various supernatural messes that occur.
As a being of pure ectoplasm, you were never part of the Material World, and so you cannot manifest directly without using a tremendous amount of energy. Often times this would use more energy than it gained, which is bad for business.
This is why The Bureau of the Paranormal has assigned you Haunters, ghosts and entities more easily accessible to the Material Plane. Its your job to use these Haunters to gather belief while keeping certain mortals in the dark about your existence. It wouldn't do well to bring a horde of Ghost Busters or Psychic Mediums to hunt you and put you all in jars.
You currently have five Haunters at your disposal. Their dossiers can be found here:
http://pastebin.com/e44JZ3nf
And as always, what's a good haunting without proper music?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQg3FtBvokA
Welcome, Spectre, to Ghost Master Quest.
The pledges of the Fraternity were sent to the basement to spend the night, fed horror stories of the Drowned Girl, a complete fabrication to scare the pledges as they slept in the old basement. The brothers of the Fraternity enjoyed a laugh at their little joke, throwing a massive house party upstairs. However, lying about the spirit world proves to have consequences. Your kind of consequences.
The Bureau of Paranormal Activity has assigned you to make this the last such scare party Beta Tau Upsilon will be having.
You currently have two haunters bound,
Hector is bound to the basement, currently making his way up the stairs as a skeleton in full on Telekinetic Storm. The basement floods with water from the pipes that burst under Hector's psychic onslaught.
Gail is currently bound outside of the house, having previously been instructed to send whispering winds into the basement to scare the pledges.
Benched haunters include Nixie, Skitter, and Dream Eater.
The college kids are laughing at the frightened antics of the pledges, who continue to run away from the basement as fast as they can. One of the pleges manages to turn around and point at the door, "ITS A FUCKING SKELETON, RUN!"
The floor is yours, Ghost Master.
>Bind Hector to the ground floor and have him enter the party with a full plasm band.
>Bind another Haunter, cutting into Hector's band
>Write in
>>44651808
>>Bind Hector to the ground floor and have him enter the party with a full plasm band.
let's go full crazy.
>>44651808
"Hector." you say, "Let's give them a show."
Your only answer is the haunter's laughter as he exits the stairwell from the basement and wades out into the party proper. The effect is immediate, and the party scatters like vermin. The closest mortals to Hector clamor over those not quick enough in an effort to escape the vicinity of your faithful poltergeist. The screams echo all around to the point where you are grateful that you only have to listen to them from the veil of death.
Plasm floods the air until you're almost certain that some of it will have to be wasted from the sheer volume of it. Dozens of frightened mortals flee from the party faster than if the authorities had arrived. Of course, there is still more work to be done.
The mortals scattered around the rooms, seeking privacy to engage in their various affections, still must be driven from the house. Not to mention those that decided to hide rather than flee cannot be allowed to remain.
>Bind more Haunters
>Have Hector seek out the stragglers
>Write in
>>44652386
>>Bind more Haunters
Let's see if we can find some of the hiding mortals and have skitter encourage them to leave.
>>44652386
>Bind
If any of the mortals we can find are asleep or drowsy, let Dream Eater at 'em.
>>44652570
>>44652629
Writing!
>>44652386
You decide to leave Hector to roam the ground floor. Your consciousness ventures to the mortals upstairs. In various side rooms, couples and... more than couples engage in various mortal activities. You seek out several solitary life forces, but the night is young. It seems there isn't any mortals passed out from too much alcohol, otherwise you would have brought dream eater in. Oh well, looks like Skitter will be your best bet. You summon the ethereal spider to your side, and he manifiests instantly.
"Skitter, time to play."
The spider clicks its mandibles in excited anticipation.
>Bind Skitter at a full Plasm Band and allow him full roam
>Control Skitter more carefully
>Write in
>>44653121
>>Bind Skitter at a full Plasm Band and allow him full roam
We've already made an absurd amount of plasm, might as well.
>>44653215
writing!
>>44653121
You bind Skitter in the middle of the largest group of secluded off mortals, and fully open his plasm band to the energy in the air. The spider gleefully spins webs out of his extra ectoplasm, even as hundreds of little crawling arachnids swarm out of every conceivable shadow in the room.
The screams are immediate, the mortals scrambling for clothes. Those less modest tear from the room without bothering to dress themselves. The already saturated plasm band grows even heavier, the air smells delicious with the scent of fear. Its a venerable smorgasbord of ectoplasmic energy. A thought occurs.
>Declare free roam for your haunters, the plasm band could certainly support them.
>Keep managing your haunters closely, possibly milking madness if you concentrate on certain mortals
>Write in
>>44653843
>>Declare free roam for your haunters, the plasm band could certainly support them.
Open season, we have plenty to spare.
>>44654285
Writing!
>>44653843
"Come on out, everyone." you call to Nixie and Dream Eater.
The river spirit and the imp manifest beside you, and you open their plasm band to full.
"Have fun, just make sure all the mortals leave the house."
"Yes, Ghost Master." says Nixie.
"Right away, Boss." nods Dream Eater.
The imp and the spirit take to the Material Plane as you command.
The plasm in the air goes into a frenzy of ebb and flow as your haunters drain it to fuel their maximum abilities.
Nixie starts her haunting music, drawing entranced mortals back into the basement, much to the fear of any mortal that sees them. Dream Eater can't do much when people are awake, but there is plenty of plasm, empowering his induce sleep ability. The sight of people dropping to sleep only serves to fuel the fear and panic of the mortals as more and more bodies flee the house.
You even feel a bit of madness slip onto the band, and you make sure to gather it up before it has a chance to dissipate.
Looks like you'll be getting a hefty payday for this job.
The Bureau will be pleased.
>Wait until the mortals are all scared away
>Try to milk more plasm out of the band
>Write in
>>44654534
>>Wait until the mortals are all scared away
not sure what else we can do here.
>>44654534
>>44654836
Seconded. Unless there is any madness to milk, I think we are pretty much done here.
>>44654836
>>44654908
writing!
>>44654534
You wait until your haunters, free to roam on maximum plasm bands, drive every last mortal out. After the screams fade away, a calm silence settles over the empty house.
The sound of a job well done.
>Leave the haunters free to feast on the plasm, perhaps take an ethereal jaunt over to the Bureau
>Call your haunters to you
>Write in
>>44655083
>>Call your haunters to you
We generated alot of plasm, but let's not immediately use it all up.
>>44655083
>Call your haunters to you
Let's round them up and head back. They did very well.
>>44655153
>>44655232
writing!
>>44655083
"All right," you call out on the ethereal band, "Let's pack it in, guys."
Your haunters all come to you as they are bid. Not that they had much of a choice, of course, Haunters were bound to obey the command of the Ghost Master they were assigned to. Not obeying was akin to strangling themselves, considering you had full control of their plasm band.
Skitter appears in an explosion of ectoplasmic web. You manage to sidestep a few errant strands. The spider was seemingly enjoying himself.
Gale arrives second, breezing in on the winds, with Nixie following suit. The river spirit flows in as if riding the turbulent plasm in the air.
Dream Eater flies up next, not the most mobile of spirits.
Hector brings up the rear, having seen fit to scan one last time for any stragglers.
>Address them one by one
>Address them all at once
>Write in
>>44655397
>Address them all at once
Give them a pep talk all together now, and we can have heart-to-hearts back at the house.
>>44655397
>>Address them all at once
general good job for now, we can give specifics later.
>>44655558
>>44655589
Writing!
>>44655397
"Just wanted to say good job everyone." you say, looking at your haunters in turn. They beam with smiles, brimming with ectoplasmic energy. "It'll be quite a while before this place loses its plasm," you say, which was true. Plasm didn't really dissipate unless mortals stopped believing that a place was haunted. Given the already saturated legends about the Drowned Girl, and how much you doubted anyone would return to the Beta Tau Upsilon house for quite a while, you were confident that the house would remain plasm-rich for quite a long time.
"This was a big win for us, and I wanted to thank everyone for doing their part. The Bureau will be pleased."
>Dismiss them back to the Haunted Mansion
>Release them back to the plasm-rich air
>Write in
>>44655813
>>Release them back to the plasm-rich air
"go have fun, but don't use up all of what we just made" or something along those lines
>>44655813
>>44655902
This. They deserve some time to bask.
>>44655813
You release your haunters back to the plasm rich air. They earned it, they deserved it.
"I want you to enjoy yourselves, but don't use all of it up. We wouldn't want to waste the lion's share." you say, before you jaunt out of the immediate area. Your consciousness slips away from the locality of the Fraternity House, and joins the Ethereal Plane. Distance had no meaning in a realm such as this, and with a simple exertion of will, you find yourself in the endless corridor of offices that is the Bureau. Consciousnesses stream past you on their way to whatever destination they wish to head to, and you think for a moment in the quiet void.
Of course, you could go right to business and report your success. However, the Fraternity House was a specialty haunting, requested by one of the Haunted Council. You could report directly to the person who requested it, for that more personal touch. Sure, it's a minor breach in etiquette, but there is something to be said for the personal touch.
>Go by the book, report to your case handler news of your successful haunting
>Go for the personal touch and report to the case requester.
>Write in
>>44656286
>>Go for the personal touch and report to the case requester.
If it's not going to ruffle anyone's feathers, might as well.
>>44656393
writing!
>>44656286
You decide to use your more personal touch. After all, it was the more personal touches that landed Bloody Mary in your debt. Not that you had a Council member in your pocket, but you did drive a bunch of teenagers away from her once home. Bloody Mary owed you a favor in exchange for the service. You think back to the original file on the Beta Tau Upsilon house.
You make your way to the antechamber, where the Council usually sits. You approach the door and knock a few times. After a muffled "Come in." you enter.
You enter the plain antechamber, a circular affair with the members sitting all around. Entering the door placed you in the center, and you look around.
There was no center seat, only two high chair positions. There was no central ruler of the Spirit World. In the left seat sat The Headless Horseman. On the right, Count Dracula. Sitting around the circle came Bloody Mary, The White Lady, The Black Knight, La Llorna, and Hanako-San. The person you came to see was seated between La Llorna and the Black Knight, The Woman in Blue.
You walk to the center of the room and give a bow.
"Ghost Master." says The Headless Horseman. You didn't need a mouth to communicate in the Spirit World. "Is this an urgent matter?"
>Yes
>No
>Write in
>>44657171
>>No
"just here to give post-mission report"
>>44657171
"No, Horseman." you answer, "Just here to give a post-mission report."
Dracula huffs, "You are aware that this is not a debriefing office." he says bitterly.
"Of course not, Count." you say with another bow, "Only my latest assignment came at the personal request of the Council." you continue, turning to face The Woman in Blue.
The ghost of a woman, with pale blue skin and stringy hair. Her dead eyes look at you, and she seems to smile through cracked teeth. Ghostly veins trace her face. "My lady," you say, "The house has been cleared of mortals. The area should be a venerable mine of plasm for some time to come."
"Thank you, Spectre." she says in a voice that bubbles like a last breath in a murky pool. "The Council thanks you for your service. And I personally, am in your debt."
>Gained a favor from The Lady In Blue. Rank 10 Spirit, Fetters of Water, Air, and Death.
>Excuse yourself from the antechamber
>Adress the Council again
>Write in
>>44657520
>>Excuse yourself from the antechamber
We did what we came here for, we should leave before we irritate anyone else.
>>44657520
You flash a smile toward Bloody Mary, who smiles and nods in turn. It's always good to maintain appearances.
Sure, etiquette dictates that one has to have an appoimtent before going before the Council, but really. Points do have to be awarded for boldness. After all, what use do the dead have for tiptoeing on eggshells?
Of course, it never does well to incur the ill favor of the Council, which is staffed by the most powerful spirits in the Bureau. Spirits whose legends have been around for centuries, and likely will persist for eons to come. No one ever wants an enemy on the council.
You excuse yourself and retreat out of the Antechamber.
>Wait to catch one of the Council members after they adjourn.
>Report to the debreifing area
>Write in
>>44657964
>>Report to the debriefing area
no need to pester them unless we need something from them.
>>44658114
writing!
>>44657964
You find yourself once again in the hall of doors, and a quick jaunt places you in front of your debreifing office. You venture in to find Mortimer, the Desk Skeleton, typing away at his computer. Sure, the terminals were more a formality than an actual device, most Desk Skeletons were taken from the souls of accountants and bureaucrats. Spirits tended to stick to what was familiar, and having all the information accessible through a terminal was how they seemed to cope.
Mortimer sits behind his desk, typing away with bony fingers. "So, is it done?" he asks as you walk in. The Desk Skeletons are hardly ones for small talk.
"It is." you say. "The house will be a gold mine of plasm for a while yet."
Mortimer shakes his head, "Adequate." he says. Which is as close to a compliment as you can get from a Desk Skeleton.
"So you have been allotted the standard fare of 500 gold plasm for the successful haunting with no loose ends."
He slides two envelopes toward you.
"If there are no new haunters to register, choose your next assignment. One of them's high profile. A police station shutting down due to frequent hauntings. Need a GM of your caliber to give it one last run. The other one is a rush job. Ghost Master said he couldn't handle the heat in the area, too many psychics and ghost hunters running around. Need someone reliable to go clear them out, and if you can, find out what's got the mortals' underpants all twisted up in the first place."
You pick up the two envelopes.
"So which one you want?"
>Last haunting
>Investigation
>Write In
>>44658587
>>Investigation
We just did something of a high profile job, so let's go with something lower key this time.
>>44658720
You pull the investigation envelope toward you, deciding to take a bit of a break.
A haunting down south, you read. Perhaps you will consult with the Ghost Master who failed. But for now, you pocket the envelope. "I'll take this one."
Mortimer nods and keys in his console. "All right. Try not to screw this one up like the last person did."
Of course, you have no plans to.
You're the Spectre Supreme, after all.
-FIN- for tonight
Housekeeping next post
>>44658848
Thanks again everyone for participating in the second installment of the Ghost Master Quest Reboot. Glad to see you guys show up considering the holidays kind of prevented me from running it these last two weeks. Thanks once more, and I hope everyone had fun and stay tuned!
Updates and post times are kept here:
https://twitter.com/Grub0830
The whole Quest is archived here if you miss anything:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Ghostmaster%20Quest
Opening up the floor for questions, comments, concerns, and complaints. Otherwise, see you guys next week!
>>44659085
Thanks for running, I enjoy your writing style.
>>44659184
Thanks, that means a lot to me. Heheh, I try to make it as fun to read as possible.
>>44659085
Aww
I was having fun.
Anyways...The council is a pretty good touch. I wish they have that if they made the next ghost master game
>>44659709
Well, I figured that there would be some sort of leadership in the paranormal world, given how Bureaucratic the whole Ghost Master thing is.
And if there has to be leadership, then why not the biggest names in paranormal?
>>44659085
Hey, sorry I ducked out for a bit. First-time poster, so thanks and keep up the awesome writing!
