No, SV, You Are the Forest! (Riot Quest)

The Forest kept a few wary thoughts on the strange ships that had battled with the Ingaba fleet. They kept their distance, staying near the point they entered the system from. Oh, they darted this way and that, but they made sure to stay out of range of the Ingaba's weapons.

Why they had not left already, the Forest did not know.

In more pleasant news, the Predators eggs hatched. Tiny, relative to the adults, they scurried around the den, crawling up its sides and pushing off to float around until they were pushed back to the edges. The adults radiated happiness and concern, and made concerted efforts to obtain more food for their pups.

Alas, they had to wander farther away from home than they had previously, for the Prey had left the system entirely, vanishing at a point well removed from where the Ingaba and the strangers entered the system.

*-*-*-*

The worm whispers. Promises of pasts yet to come, and futures that have already happened.

The root network writhes as the Worm's tendrils snake through it. A new tree appears, ensconced in twisted space. A promise of futures yet to be, it's roots merge with the rest of the Forest's... yet it draws no nutrients.

It glows in the thoughts of the Forest, a bright spot that should not be there, but is. It should have no effect, but the Forest can already ascertain that its thoughts would flow more smoothly along certain lines than in the past. Advancing the knowledge of the Forest is easier with this Synapse Tree.

The Worm loves you, and asks that you not ignore it. This can be but the ending of a cycle or the beginning of an age, it promises, wrapped around your every fragment of being, holding you tightly.

The Forest shivers, crystalline leaves clinking against one another in an unheard unease, a malingering malaise mingling in the milieu of the Forest's thoughts, until it is distracted by other events.


*-*-*-*

Something else draws the Forest's attention. A massive being, one that looms even larger in the minds of the Predators, sails into the system on wings of stardust, sweeping sails that twitch minutely with every change in the solar winds, fanning around its core body in wide swathes.

It drifts along, radiating amusement as the strange ships leave in a panicked haze, idly ignoring the reinforced Ingaba fleet as they stand guard around the stellar cocoon. It cares naught for such a being, for it cannot sustain itself on the materials that remain.

The strange ships have only just left the system when the creature disappears. An interminable amount of time passes before the Forest notices it once more, as magnetic field disturbances make themselves known across the system.

It seemed to be tracking down the Prey, as it had skipped a great deal of intervening space to appear right by where they had disappeared through, as though sniffing for food.

This Beast ignored the Forest. It did not consider the Forest to be food, or even worthy of consideration, and mocked everything else in the system as beneath it.

Whatever it was, it left soon after, chasing the faint trails of the Prey.


The Worm remains in effect, doubling all non-automatic successes.

Communication Actions

[ ][Action] Ask the Research Base about other Stars.
-Requires 5 successes

[ ][Action] Ask the Research Base about the Prey.
-Requires 5 successes

[ ][Action] Ask the Research Base about the strange ships.
-Requires 5 successes

[ ][Action] Ask the Research Base about the Beast.
-Requires 5 successes

[ ][Action] Reach out to the Research Base.
-[ ][Action] Write-in what to speak about.
-Requires 5 successes

Defense Actions

[ ][Action] Erect the Shield! (Magnetic)
-There's nothing there. Probably. However, the Beast's uncaring movement through the system was informative – it was very possible for other beings to arrive without warning, and leave just as quickly.

[ ][Action] Prepare a Shard Volley (Crystal)
-This action primes resources to hurl a volley of razor sharp shards of crystal, splintered from the trunks and branches of the Forest itself. Successes are banked against future need, but only to a point – 10 successes per Magnitude of the Forest can be stored. 17/30 stored.

[ ][Action] Move towards where the Ingaba ships always appear from. (Gravity)
-Multiple side effects. The more successes this action has, the faster it occurs.

Growth Actions
-High-density particles remains in effect. All non-automatic successes are multiplied by 1.4.
-The Forest is at 28/40 Special Trees.

[ ][Action] Grow the Forest
-29.75/200 successes to Mag 4

[ ][Action] Grow <Treename>
-Replace <Treename> with the name of a Special Tree from the Front Page. Variable cost.

Growth progress is visible on the front page.

Offense Actions

[ ][Action] Soothe the Predators to see what happens. (Psychic)
-Opposed Action. Their defenses are not minor, and have not been broken.

[ ][Action] Soothe the Research Base to see what happens. (Psychic)
-Opposed Action.
-The Ingaba are debating whether to allow this to happen or not; doing it now will probably anger them.

Research Actions
-New: Most of these are placed on the FP. Simply copy-paste one of the options there into your vote.

Note: All Psychic Research actions gain +1 success per Forest Magnitude while the Ingaba Research Agreement is in effect, provided at least one action is taken on them.

[ ][Action] Assist the Ingaba Research Base (General)
-This action works to pay off the Forest's side of the deal with the Ingaba Directorate. In order to not default on the Treaty, at least ten dice must be paid into this action every turn for ten turns.
-Effect: For each die paid into this Action, the Forest will obtain one success to the most voted for Research Action with an asterisk.

Survival Actions

[ ][Action] Attempt to store resources against future need. (General)
-All successes stored. 63 successes banked against recovering future damage or to pay off the debt owed to the Ingaba Directorate.

Note: 5 Survival successes per turn are lost to the Ingaba Directorate as a result of paying for samples of new technologies.

[ ][Action] Sacrifice to the Worm (???)
-The Worm is always hungry. Feed the Worm that it might grow.
-Requires 100 successes before the Worm is satisfied. 5/100.

[ ][Action] Expand the reach of the Forest, allowing it to gather resources from a larger area. (Magnetic)
-The Hoop Tree extends a powerful magnetic field, capturing stray particles that are greatly distant from the Forest and channeling them to the roots. Sufficient successes empower all Growth actions.
-With 10 successes, the successes of all Growth actions are increased by 10%. Additive with other sources. 6/10.

[ ][Action] Move closer to the local star, see what happens. (Gravity)
-The more successes this has, the faster the movement occurs. The star provides much of the matter and energy used by the Forest; perhaps getting closer will increase the amount received.

[ ][Action] Erect the Empty Veil (Void)
-Cloak the Forest from opposing sensors, deliberately hiding it from all forms of detection.
-Opposed Action. Unlike with Shields, the Veil rolls against each other faction individually.

Other

[ ][Action] Write-in
-For if you believe I'm missing something. I reserve the right to disapprove of any write-ins, or appropriate them for other purposes and places.

Focus Actions
Choose any three actions from the above for the Forest to focus on. These are voted upon by the entire group, and are in addition to the individual actions taken by each member. Multiples should be indicated with a x#, so the second identical action would be x2, etc.

[ ][Focus] Action Name
These Actions will receive a number of automatic successes equal to the Magnitude of the Forest and any bonuses from other sources.

At the moment, the top three focus actions will win, each receiving the focus of the Forest.

*-*-*-*

Your Votes should look like the following:

[ ][Action] Action
[ ][Focus] Action 1
[ ][Focus] Action 2
[ ][Focus] Action 3

Newcomers should add one of the following:

[ ][Tree] Heart Tree
[ ][Tree] Mind Tree
[ ][Tree] Root Tree

This vote will always be open.

*-*-*-*

Splitting the update moved a few thousand words around, and moving Research to the FP cut another 1100 or so. This is working as intended, so far.

I hope it keeps working as intended!

Trying the new voting system out.