But about your vision, I really suggest just focusing on a single character archetype than to pursue three at once! We just have one Style here, after all. Usually the more coherent and synergistic abilities are often the most powerful, so trying to see only one of this aims bloom into fruition will be much more effective, not only in terms of of power but also dissemination and influence.
I suppose this is a difference of perspective, since ... hmm ...
To me, when I was spitballing ideas it wasn't a matter of "What are characters I would like to create?" but rather of "if we put this hypothetical form of Grey Rat Style into the world, what sort of people will be drawn to it?"
And, I don't know, it seems to me that if this "live as if you'll die tomorrow" + "screw fighting fair" style existed, then there would eventually be people who would take it up for reasons of their own without Adare Kaname's influence; and that, because different people have different reasons for doing stuff, there would be a few different general kinds of Grey Rats.
Of the three, the Death cultist-y types would probably need the most help on the divine end - and also provide the most reciprocal help
in the Celestial Bureaucracy, since they're sort of a gigantic bribe to King Death; and thus would be where I would focus attention and synergies.
I figure the other two cases I outlined are incidental bonuses who can mostly take care of themselves - that they seem like ... likely ways in which self-motivated mortals with an interest in Grey Rat Style might take it, without actual direction. So I see no need to aim for them, really - they'll happen, or they won't, or they'll happen in some different form because Evenstar has a different idea of what people might take up Grey Rat than I do or whatever.
Or maybe we end up going in a completely different direction due to unforeseen factors and none of this is relevant at all.
That was not well-conveyed! Hopefully this is clearer.
and that those who deal with death and the dead are usually marginalized by society anyway usually due to cultural aversions.
This is true! But I think you've missed a thing:
Exactly how far can we stretch this as-above-so-below thing?
The Grey Rat Style has a trait which measures its Disreputability. As far as can currently be determined, this trait is not coupled to anything other than Adare Kaname's Disreputable trait - that is, I do not see any
particular reason to expect that, say, having ranks of Ghoulish or Ravenous
necessitates having ranks of Disreputable.
How far
can we push this cultural control? Is it possible to, say, dissolve the Disreputable trait entirely while leaving Ghoulish intact? I wouldn't necessarily want to actually do that - but could we? And what would it mean if we did?
There was an interesting point in the update, here:
You hadn't believed the ancient text when it said bone was a powerful channeling aid, particularly human bone.
In the
ancient text.
By making the bargain with King Death, by
changing Grey Rat Style such that it feeds on death atma, we
retroactively altered the records of the style.
It turns out that Grey Rat Style always had this thing about making charms from human bone to focus atma - and sure, six months ago it had never had this thing about bone charms, but times changed.
So I'll admit to being curious - if we
do just go all-in on making Grey Rat super-reputable, does that just sort of restructure the world around that? Does the world just have to
deal with the idea that Grey Rat Style is Ghoulish and Ravenous but also, somehow, a perfectly acceptable thing? Does the culture shift - either gradually in response, or retroactively - such that no, people are totally fine with there being this vaguely necromantic cult?
Or is there some sort of sanity check built into this thing, where the world goes "no, wait, Grey Rat Stylists literally make charms out of human bone, there are cultural and societal factors which prevent them from being an upstanding and reputable style which you can't just wave away"?
I don't know!
I'm ... not even like, super-invested in finding out, I'm fine with some DIsreputable; but I think that saying it's
unavoidable, that we
must have some Disreputable, is a bit premature. We really don't know just how malleable this particular reality is.
