Smiling as it was all put together, you set it in the forge, before sealing it and lighting the fire higher. As you stoked it up, it almost felt like a punch to the gut as the pull of power flew into the furnace. Trying to wrangle the flow was like guiding a hawser with a single thread, so you tried to find a way to focus. Singing generally worked, and with this much of your good stuff on the line, now was not the time to get creative!
I see. We're multiclassing as Artificer and Bard.
Panting, you felt the flow of energy finally cease. Letting the song end, you went over, pulling on thermal-proof leather gloves as you dug the trinket out. How misguiding a name, for such an item of power. The diamond had become clean-shaped and faceted well, bends of the rebar becoming tooling patterns as the sigil-work became an underlayer only visible in the ghost of a reflection. The moonstone was the same size as before, but now cut and polished professionally and set in a bezel of silver, blending into the work of the front and polish-circles. A hidden button served to open the face, and inside the clockwork had become masterfully gilded, the internals ticking with a warm finality. Three buttons hid at the top right of the frame, right where your thumb would rest once you kicked aside the cover.
A workmen's intuition told you this was the true worth of the trinket. The first was a straight spell focus. Anything a magical girl did, up to and including breathing, would be just better. The second, a shielding ability and second sense for danger. No weapon would surprise, nor blade strike true, nor trap detect her. Finally, and most critically, the third button would stop the time of the clock- and thus, the time of the world. Oh, the magical metaphysics would be hell to explain, and the energy cost would be measured in days of nothingness as the trinket prepared to rend the natural order asunder… but once a week? Eight seconds of liberation from the strictest interpretation of reality.
We do damn good work.
FTFY
"Now, if you want." Homer yelled from the kitchen. You felt zero guilt in making him cook, since A, you were still burnt out from Monday, and B, he was actually pretty good at it. Not better than you, of course, but the girls liked it. The fact he couldn't use his Library while you used your Workshop probably didn't hurt.
"You built another room?" you asked.
"Yeah, and I also got Goodyear to pillage an Army Surplus Store on the south side of town that's been abandoned since for-fucking-ever." Homer said, laughing. "All the furniture is OD Green, but why the hell would I care?"
Homer, you're my new favorite person!
"Trissa disappeared?" you asked.
"Yeah. Hasn't shown up for four days now. I'm getting worried."
Oh no. I really hope she's ok.
It was three in the morning on Saturday that the girls got back in a shot-up old pickup. Hauling two stretchers out of the back and sliding them to a stop in your lobby, you hissed as you saw the patients. Trompdoy had gotten most of her clothes burned off the left side of her body and several hideous-looking burns, while an unknown and black-clad man was bleeding profusely. Bleeding first.
Time to hold our superglue.
Looking Trompdoy in her pain-shocked eyes, you grit your teeth. This was going to be hell to work her through, but you'd do your best. That was all you had left, these days.
We'll take care of our megucas. And at least they all made it out alive.
"To leave a card, and thanks for putting Monroe back together." He said. "My name is Antonio Diovolo, leader of the Gray Skies group. If you're ever looking for work or need to hire some extra help, give us a call. Don't worry about the masquerade, either- everyone knows who we are."
That raises a question,
@7734 , we have multiple magical girls running around just in this city, evil monsters, alchemists and witches running around and mundane mercs working probably with both sides.
How is the masquerade still up, why is it still up? Why aren't the magical girls trying to let the world know so that they could have an actual support network for their job and actual military support?
I'd vote for the stone, mainly for the chance of getting a t5 Trinket, but the 50% chance to just get more Demon Stuff is too much for me to want to risk it. The wand is guaranteed as a result and we could definitely use a T3 wand, neither the new girl or Calypso have a wand at all.
he mystery box has a 25% chance of becoming a tier 5 trinket.
More importantly. "25% chance for a T5 Trinket, 50% chance for Demonic Stuff". Which implies there's a 25% chance that something else happens.
Not quite, the Red Stone option results
EITHER in an unknown item that gives a 25% change that every item we make in the future will become something unknown,
OR a T5 trinket and 50% change of us getting 10 extra demonic stuff.
I do not plan on transitioning to this system at any point in the future.
You could still threadmark it as unofficial spreadsheet in case people find that easier to read.
Also now very curious to see what a T5 item looks like. I'm picturing Noble Phantasms as a ballpark.
Just wait till we get to T7 equipment.
[X] Strange Red Stone, 5x Mundanes (Will result in ???, which will have 25% odds per item of becoming ??? or a T5 Trinket and 50% odds of becoming 10x Demonic Stuff after spending a turn to Research)
[X] Yes (Gets Sophia the Mistletoe, a new Magical Girl. May not be able to make rent.)
[X] No, you want to improve your workshop instead.
Now is a perfect time to improve our workshop, no immediate need for equipment and we have a part timer to clean up the rooms.