@agcanhadas, @BookMouse, I appreciate the support but remember that the [Mana] task is pseudo riot. Shade will get to my mana tests if and when he wants to now that I've posted them, so feel free to do experiments of your own.
[X][Mana] Arcane "This curse I weave, cruel as can be/plague those that scourge this fair city/so next their eyes turn towards this Sage/their craven mouths should froth with rage/as fortune fair theirs goes to me."
That actually went really well! Sure, Taylor revealed more than we intended to, but she also did so in perhaps the best possible context. Also, that's a juicy amount of research so now we can think about sharing some of it with the numerous shards QA has likely now interacted with. Plus, Panacea got to see biotinkering being used for good and I intend on pushing to giving Shaper in particular some research. Depending on how the PRT meeting goes, I'm considering trying to set up something with them and Panacea so we can test out our biotinkering safely.
[X][Daily Activities] What sort of things will you do during the day?
-[X][Daily Activities] Spend time with dad.
[X][Cape Activities] What will you do as Sage?
-[X][Cape Activities] Go to the PRT to collect your donations (These can also be collected by establishing your Second Identity) (Can be done in addition to other actions)
-[X][Cape Activities] Try to meet up with Panacea. You did just establish yourself as a healer and she might have some advice on that front, plus it would be nice to make a friend on the parahuman side of things...
[X][Project] You'll begin a project of some kind.
-[X][Project] Your best shot at stopping someone attacking ended up being an uncontrolled blast of lightning. You should probably come up with a better self-defense tool than a knife and some glowing dust (Try using controlled zinc magic (curse), sweat (amplification of living energy), salt (division between electrical signals?) and/or quartz (increased precision) to enhance Triage Shock into a general paralyzing spell.)
[X][Mana] Mana-Test Materials (test Arcane effects on basic materials: as an apology for the long list, see the spoiler below for easy copy pasting)
-[X][Mana] Test a piece of equipment's True Attunement (Curestone, Aluminum, Iron, Copper)
-[X][Mana] Try to identify the set bonus for True > Cloth by wearing a bunch of clothes and true attuning to all of them
-[X][Mana] Study a target for Phomens (Platinum, Silicon)
-[X][Mana] Parahumans all have a specific structure in their brain; what happens if you attune mana to it? Thaum > Corona Pollentia
You know what. Total plan do over. We have donations in waiting. Saffron in baskets. Abandon fear. None of these association options appeal to us. We handle this the simple way.
[X][Daily Activities] What sort of things will you do during the day?
-[X][Daily Activities] Spend time with dad.
[X][Cape Activities] What will you do as Sage?
-[X][Cape Activities] Set up your Legal Second-Identity (We will go directly to the government, and out ourselves to the trustworthy officials in charge of this exact thing. Simply have them quietly link our Sage Identity to our Real Identity. It's not like we plan on outright breaking laws anyways. Skirting and pushing them a bit with technically legal biotinkering? Absolutely. But we shouldn't have any major crimes planned. We can set things up, run by the PRT to collect donations, and move on with our plans.)
[X][Project] You'll begin a project of some kind.
-[X][Project] Your best shot at stopping someone attacking ended up being an uncontrolled blast of lightning. You should probably come up with a better self-defense tool than a knife and some glowing dust (We will build a Staff that uses Egg mana, Gravity Control, And BioElectric Algae clouds, to let us create and control gravity and Bio Electric Algae clouds. Since our creations can't reproduce on their own, can't survive on their own, and even forcing them to divide using egg mana is a mostly active process that only works in our presence and/or the presence of the device, we technically aren't breaking any laws by doing this.
The staff will have a hidden central rod made using Vampire Plant, as it is deeply tied with our will. Around this we will grow a staff of apple tree wood as a Nature Diplomat to control and bring all the parts of the staff together, lacing it with Cell-Recycling Management Biofibers, Graviton Exchanger Mutations, and BioElectric mutations.
The staff should be as tall as we are and grow wider towards the top, with a partly exposed egg in a cage of curled wood and roots.
We will try and acquire several cultures and types of algae, and then transform the most favorable small single celled or cluster based algae species into a bioelectric algae. This algae will be stored and cultivated in divots, cavities, and pods in the staff. When we wish to use them, the staff will, in response to us, release the algae and use gravity manipulation to move them around as electrically charged blasts and clouds. Using Egg mana to cultivate them, Gravity manipulation to control them, Electricity to...Also control them? Help give them extra juice? And Recycling Fibers to absorb and recycle those that have died.
)
[X][Mana] Something Else (Stone Free uses a mass of distinct mana types carrying distinct patterns drawn by basically "Scanning" a bird. What would happen if we instead attempted to take the bird mana and mix it all into a vague swirling mass before synthesizing it. Would the result be something remarkably esoteric? Would it simply be a "Stone holding all the powers of a bird") Or would it simply be some sort of malformed junk?)
[X][Mana] Something Else (Test the Arcane Spell: "My secrets are mine to share / Intrude upon me none shall dare / I shroud myself in the thorns of night / my secrets are the new moon's light.)
[X][Mana] Something Else (Attempt to mix the bird golem transmutation mana, with plant mana, and create a living wood golem. As opposed to our usual non living wooden birds.)
[X][Mana] Mana-Test Materials (Write-In)
-[X][Mana] Attempt to string together an Attunement Chain (Gu-Harvest > Graphite) Some kind of mutation to destroy/feed on parasites and dangerous things?
-[X][Mana] Attempt to string together an Attunement Chain (Keratin > Graphite) Flight or weightless mutation?
-[X][Mana] Attempt to string together an Attunement Chain (Light of the Vampire > Graphite) Stronger in the day mutation?
-[X][Mana] Attempt to string together an Attunement Chain (Serene Glow > Graphite) Stronger at night mutation?
[X][Mana] A shield spell would be useful, shape Arcane magic with the haiku: The great tree endures/The bark envelopes my skin/I am protected.
Not only is my rhyme game strong, so is my haiku game.
[X][Daily Activities] What sort of things will you do during the day?
-[X][Daily Activities] Spend time with dad.
[X][Project] You'll begin a project of some kind.
-[X][Project] Your best shot at stopping someone attacking ended up being an uncontrolled blast of lightning. You should probably come up with a better self-defense tool than a knife and some glowing dust (We will build a Staff that uses Egg mana, Gravity Control, And BioElectric Algae clouds, to let us create and control gravity and Bio Electric Algae clouds. Since our creations can't reproduce on their own, can't survive on their own, and even forcing them to divide using egg mana is a mostly active process that only works in our presence and/or the presence of the device, we technically aren't breaking any laws by doing this.
[X][Daily Activities] What sort of things will you do during the day?
-[X][Daily Activities] Spend time with dad.
--[X] Try to clear the air about you going, emphasizing that you saved many lives including Panacea.
[X][Cape Activities] What will you do as Sage?
-[X][Cape Activities] Check in on Panacea. You have a rapport, she might be shaken by the assassination attempt, she might have advice on healing and it's pretty fucked up she's only making minimum wage.
-[X][Cape Activities] Go to the PRT to collect your donations (These can also be collected by establishing your Second Identity) (Can be done in addition to other actions)
[X][Project] You'll begin a project of some kind.
-[X][Project] Your best shot at stopping someone attacking ended up being an uncontrolled blast of lightning. You should probably come up with a better self-defense tool than a knife and some glowing dust (Study various stopping effects to try and derive more general spells. Triage Shock only paralyzes wounds and lightstop only freezes time for light. Try to figure out how to generalize those into stopping people.)
[X][Mana] Test if Ashes to Ashes and Dust to Dust have different effects on the "time resistant rock" produced by Grout of Future Past.
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure thorium. There's a thin layer of thorium oxide on lightbulb filaments.
[X][Mana] Test thorium oxide too.
[X][Mana] Salt>Quartz
[X][Mana] Quartz+Salt
[X][Mana] Quartz>Platinum>Graphite
[X][Mana] Quartz>Graphite>Platinum
[X][Mana] Study Bone mana for phonems that harden things without the death side effects.
[X][Mana] Quartz>Diamond>Platinum
[X][Mana] Quartz>Platinum>Diamond
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure boron (used in glass making)
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure beryllium (used in some copper alloys for tools).
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure Phosphorus (fertilizer)
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure cadmium (fertilizer again)
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure selenium (still fertilizer)
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure scandium (baseball bats)
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure manganese (most steel and aluminum alloys)
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure niobium (steel)
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure cobolt (batteries)
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure lithium (also batteries)
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure iodine
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure antimony (transistors)
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure indium (transistors)
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure zirconium (ceramics)
[X][Daily Activities] What sort of things will you do during the day?
-[X][Daily Activities] Spend time with dad.
--[X] Try to clear the air about you going, emphasizing that you saved many lives including Panacea.
[X][Cape Activities] What will you do as Sage?
-[X][Cape Activities] Check in on Panacea. You have a rapport, she might be shaken by the assassination attempt, she might have advice on healing and it's pretty fucked up she's only making minimum wage.
-[X][Cape Activities] Go to the PRT to collect your donations (These can also be collected by establishing your Second Identity) (Can be done in addition to other actions)
[X][Project] You'll begin a project of some kind.
-[X][Project] Your best shot at stopping someone attacking ended up being an uncontrolled blast of lightning. You should probably come up with a better self-defense tool than a knife and some glowing dust (Study various stopping effects to try and derive more general spells. Triage Shock only paralyzes wounds and lightstop only freezes time for light. Try to figure out how to generalize those into stopping people.)
[X][Mana] Test if Ashes to Ashes and Dust to Dust have different effects on the "time resistant rock" produced by Grout of Future Past.
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure thorium. There's a thin layer of thorium oxide on lightbulb filaments.
[X][Mana] Test thorium oxide too.
[X][Mana] Salt>Quartz
[X][Mana] Quartz+Salt
[X][Mana] Quartz>Platinum>Graphite
[X][Mana] Quartz>Graphite>Platinum
[X][Mana] Study Bone mana for phonems that harden things without the death side effects.
[X][Mana] Quartz>Diamond>Platinum
[X][Mana] Quartz>Platinum>Diamond
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure boron (used in glass making)
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure beryllium (used in some copper alloys for tools).
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure Phosphorus (fertilizer)
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure cadmium (fertilizer again)
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure selenium (still fertilizer)
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure scandium (baseball bats)
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure manganese (most steel and aluminum alloys)
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure niobium (steel)
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure cobolt (batteries)
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure lithium (also batteries)
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure iodine
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure antimony (transistors)
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure indium (transistors)
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure zirconium (ceramics)
I'll just copy this since I don't want to make my own plan, and I always love Panacea interactions, as she's one of my favorite characters. Even if a lot of what I know about her is based on fanon, she's an enjoyable character
[X][Daily Activities] What sort of things will you do during the day?
-[X][Daily Activities] Spend time with dad.
--[X] Try to clear the air about you going, emphasizing that you saved many lives including Panacea.
[X][Cape Activities] What will you do as Sage?
-[X][Cape Activities] Check in on Panacea. You have a rapport, she might be shaken by the assassination attempt, she might have advice on healing and it's pretty fucked up she's only making minimum wage.
-[X][Cape Activities] Go to the PRT to collect your donations (These can also be collected by establishing your Second Identity) (Can be done in addition to other actions)
[X][Project] You'll begin a project of some kind.
-[X][Project] Your best shot at stopping someone attacking ended up being an uncontrolled blast of lightning. You should probably come up with a better self-defense tool than a knife and some glowing dust (Study various stopping effects to try and derive more general spells. Triage Shock only paralyzes wounds and lightstop only freezes time for light. Try to figure out how to generalize those into stopping people.)
We should search for repair mana. Then tinkertech to test it
[X][Cape Activities] What will you do as Sage?
-[X][Cape Activities] Set up your Legal Second-Identity (Write-In Plan)
-[X][Cape Activities] Go to the PRT to collect your donations
--[X][Cape Activities] Ask what the rules are for GIVING donations, or items and weapons that can be used in the next endbringer fight even if you aren't there.
--[X][Cape Activities] Aks if there's some kind of contact that'd be suitable to explain WHY you aren't prepared to be a Hero or officially affiliating with anyone, so they can know in case there are any situations they SHOULD contact you for, in some informal non-binding arrangement. Also, just having someone you can safely talk to.
-[X][Cape Activities] Set up your Legal Second-Identity (We will go directly to the government, and out ourselves to the trustworthy officials in charge of this exact thing. Simply have them quietly link our Sage Identity to our Real Identity. It's not like we plan on outright breaking laws anyways. Skirting and pushing them a bit with technically legal biotinkering? Absolutely. But we shouldn't have any major crimes planned. We can set things up, run by the PRT to collect donations, and move on with our plans.)
(Well sort of; I do think we'll end up doing some tax evasion and FDA-violations)
[X][Daily Activities] Make contact with Lisa again: Explain why you are not prepared to become a villain or do anything illegal, even indirectly by helping her do such things, and cant be seen publicly associating with her, but if she's willing to despite those conditions you can still be friends and you do really need someone to talk to and consider her advice valuable. Also just use her as a shoulder to lean on and talk your feelings out.
-[X][Daily Activities] Think out loud-ish while near Lisa: "Hmm, how would the PRT react if we said we realized we might be able to do "something really bad" with our power, and want their help limiting ourselves so we *cant* do it if we "get captured by a villain or something". Possibly adding that if they do that, they can leave an exception in their conditioning for doing it against endbringers only. For example; what if we take an iron pot, fill it with water, mix in (in decreasing order of amount and importance) silicon dust, Zinc dust, ethanol, and bone meal. Then put a huge bunch of mana into it, then onto this mana thats 90% arcane but with a smidge of silicon, chant: "kettle kettle boil and bubble, brew me up a pot of trouble, upon those by this concoction splashed, turn their hopes all into ash, curse them with eternal pain, all attempts to cure: in vain, Their screams sweet music to my ears, let all who touch them be in tears, a melting horror to behold, 'Beware' all who see them be told, None shall dare the ire of Sage, when I release this cursed plague", and while applying it back to targeting the water and stuff in the pot and mixing it with Thaum > Zinc > Zinc > Zinc > Zinc > Zinc ("Cursed One") mana. Then before it "sets" add a drop of blood. Stir thoroughly with a bone, then pour into a throwable bottle and seal it."
[X][Daily Activities] What sort of things will you do during the day?
-[X][Daily Activities] Spend time with dad.
--[X] Try to clear the air about you going, emphasizing that you saved many lives including Panacea.
[X][Cape Activities] What will you do as Sage?
-[X][Cape Activities] Check in on Panacea. You have a rapport, she might be shaken by the assassination attempt, she might have advice on healing and it's pretty fucked up she's only making minimum wage.
-[X][Cape Activities] Try to meet up with Panacea. You did just establish yourself as a healer and she might have some advice on that front, plus it would be nice to make a friend on the parahuman side of things...
[X][Project] You'll begin a project of some kind.
-[X][Project] Your best shot at stopping someone attacking ended up being an uncontrolled blast of lightning. You should probably come up with a better self-defense tool than a knife and some glowing dust (We will build a Staff that uses Egg mana, Gravity Control, And BioElectric Algae clouds, to let us create and control gravity and Bio Electric Algae clouds. Since our creations can't reproduce on their own, can't survive on their own, and even forcing them to divide using egg mana is a mostly active process that only works in our presence and/or the presence of the device, we technically aren't breaking any laws by doing this.
--[X][Project] Shade, remember to read the further instructions in EndlesBlaze's post.
[X][Mana] Try to identify the set bonus for True > Cloth by wearing a bunch of clothes and true attuning to all of them
[X][Mana] Study a target for Phomens (Platinum, Silicon)
[X][Mana] Parahumans all have a specific structure in their brain; what happens if you attune mana to it? Thaum > Corona Pollentia
[X][Mana] Something Else (Test the Arcane Spell: "My secrets are mine to share / Intrude upon me none shall dare / I shroud myself in the thorns of night / my secrets are the new moon's light.)
[X][Mana] Arcane "This curse I weave, cruel as can be/plague those that scourge this fair city/so next their eyes turn towards this Sage/their craven mouths should froth with rage/as fortune fair theirs goes to me."
[X][Mana] A shield spell would be useful, shape Arcane magic with the haiku: The great tree endures/The bark envelopes my skin/I am protected.
[X][Mana] Ice+Water>Crystal Quartz>Ice+Water>our own brain to enhance it.
This should hopefully make us more able to think clearly about mysterious things, like magic, specifically the parts the entity is least able to help with.
[X][Mana] (Thaum > Calcium Carbonate) + (Denature) > Plant > Bread > Silicon > Plant (transmute)
This should basically pre-digest plants making them more edible, and break us into the field of magical cooking.
[X][Mana] try using Thaum > Timeshift Crystal > Brain enhancement on our brain,
-[X]and if that works well create a circlet full of timeshift crystal dust that will dump a large dose of the mana into our brain.
[X][Mana] Test a piece of equipment's True Attunement (Timeshift Crystal)
[X][Mana] Test mutating a sage plant and an aloe plant using Thaum > Kidney > Liver and Thaum > Kidney > Liver > Silicon
[X][Mana] Using an insect, test the ability of a large dose of Thaum > Graphite > Copper to revert extreme whole-body mortal wounds if applied fast enough. This could potentially be the basis of an "extra life" device if it works.
[X][Mana] test the result of using Skin Tone mana on a wound healed with blood mana.
[X][Mana] try using Graviton Exchanger Mutation on a test plate of wood armor, to see if it'd let us make a much thicker armor withtoe it becoming to heavy, or even give an advantage to jumping.
[X][Mana] Leave a small bead of sea glass on the roof and wait for it to become saturated.
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure boron (used in glass making)
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure beryllium (used in some copper alloys for tools).
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure Phosphorus (fertilizer)
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure cadmium (fertilizer again)
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure selenium (still fertilizer)
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure scandium (baseball bats)
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure manganese (most steel and aluminum alloys)
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure niobium (steel)
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure cobolt (batteries)
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure lithium (also batteries)
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure iodine
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure antimony (transistors)
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure indium (transistors)
[X][Mana] Denature and test pure zirconium (ceramics)
(( Did we actually TEST the Blade of Grass spell, and have one now? if not, we should.
Also, with all the obstacles to earning money legally, we should seriously consider looking into what things are *technically* illegal but victimless and unenforceable if we do them using a villain identity. We should also consider having an emergency plan like selling weapons to one of the gangs even if we hope we'll never use it. After seeing how much the law disrespect us, even someone like Panacea, I really feel it is justified to disrespect the law right back. Heck, maybe some of the "gangs" just reason the same way and we should contact those. Maybe this mystery girl is even one of those, she seemed nice enough. People that seem likeable and friendly can't do unethical things, right?
Another sort of related thought, selling tinker-made saffron is a lot like selling drugs only with less ethical issues, and this town has lots of people experienced with that. ))
i was thinking the law is that the service paymant as to be at the same level that a service without parahuman what if we give a service that don't exist like regrowing limbs legaly we can charge as much as we whant because there iss no base for the price
[x][Cape activities] if we do get in contact with panacea try and play up the magic Cape angle. she seemed kinda scared of us before so her thinking we're a bit goofy about magic should be fine right?
[x][Cape activities] next time we see lisa ask If shes a criminal because she wants to be or if you offer her a legal job she would stop? if she asks you really would like a research assistant.
[x][Mana Test] Curse>Arcane
[x][Mana Test] try and find a material that manipulates luck?
[X][Daily Activities] What sort of things will you do during the day?
-[X][Daily Activities] Spend time with dad.
--[X] Try to clear the air about you going, emphasizing that you saved many lives including Panacea.
[X][Cape Activities] What will you do as Sage?
-[X][Cape Activities] Check in on Panacea. You have a rapport, she might be shaken by the assassination attempt, she might have advice on healing and it's pretty fucked up she's only making minimum wage.
-[X][Cape Activities] Go to the PRT to collect your donations (These can also be collected by establishing your Second Identity) (Can be done in addition to other actions)
[X][Mana] Something Else (Your bird golems are capable of independent movement and performing simple tasks. What would happen if you used alchemy to convert them into a featureless form, such as a block of wood? Would this give you the ability to make essentially stealth golems, items capable of performing simple tasks despite lacking any visible ability to do those tasks?)
[X][Mana] Gallium appears capable of manipulating materials on a conceptual level instead of a physical one. Test out chains to see if you can find ways of adding desired conceptual properties to materials. This may let you make, for example, armor out of clothing that comes with no additional weight or restricted range of motion.
[X][Mana] Gallium > ice
[X][Mana] Gallium > water
[X][Mana] Gallium > tears. Maybe you can find a way to make something inherently mysterious. Would be useful to put on your costume.
[x][Cape activities] next time we see lisa ask If shes a criminal because she wants to be or if you offer her a legal job she would stop? if she asks you really would like a research assistant.
[X][Mana] Gallium > ice
[X][Mana] Gallium > water
[X][Mana] Gallium > tears. Maybe you can find a way to make something inherently mysterious. Would be useful to put on your costume.
[X][Daily Activities] What sort of things will you do during the day?
-[X][Daily Activities] Spend time with dad.
--[X] Try to clear the air about you going, emphasizing that you saved many lives including Panacea.
[X][Daily Activities] Make contact with Lisa again: Explain why you are not prepared to become a villain or do anything illegal, even indirectly by helping her do such things, and cant be seen publicly associating with her, but if she's willing to despite those conditions you can still be friends and you do really need someone to talk to and consider her advice valuable. Also just use her as a shoulder to lean on and talk your feelings out.
-[X][Daily Activities] Think out loud-ish while near Lisa: "Hmm, how would the PRT react if we said we realized we might be able to do "something really bad" with our power, and want their help limiting ourselves so we *cant* do it if we "get captured by a villain or something". Possibly adding that if they do that, they can leave an exception in their conditioning for doing it against endbringers only. For example; what if we take an iron pot, fill it with water, mix in (in decreasing order of amount and importance) silicon dust, Zinc dust, ethanol, and bone meal. Then put a huge bunch of mana into it, then onto this mana thats 90% arcane but with a smidge of silicon, chant: "kettle kettle boil and bubble, brew me up a pot of trouble, upon those by this concoction splashed, turn their hopes all into ash, curse them with eternal pain, all attempts to cure: in vain, Their screams sweet music to my ears, let all who touch them be in tears, a melting horror to behold, 'Beware' all who see them be told, None shall dare the ire of Sage, when I release this cursed plague", and while applying it back to targeting the water and stuff in the pot and mixing it with Thaum > Zinc > Zinc > Zinc > Zinc > Zinc ("Cursed One") mana. Then before it "sets" add a drop of blood. Stir thoroughly with a bone, then pour into a throwable bottle and seal it."
[X][Cape Activities] What will you do as Sage?
-[X][Cape Activities] Check in on Panacea. You have a rapport, she might be shaken by the assassination attempt, she might have advice on healing and it's pretty fucked up she's only making minimum wage.
-[X][Cape Activities] Go to the PRT to collect your donations (These can also be collected by establishing your Second Identity) (Can be done in addition to other actions)
[x][Cape activities] next time we see lisa ask If shes a criminal because she wants to be or if you offer her a legal job she would stop? if she asks you really would like a research assistant.
[X][Cape Activities] What will you do as Sage?
-[X][Cape Activities] Go to the PRT to collect your donations (These can also be collected by establishing your Second Identity) (Can be done in addition to other actions)
-[X][Cape Activities] Try to meet up with Panacea. You did just establish yourself as a healer and she might have some advice on that front, plus it would be nice to make a friend on the parahuman side of things...
[X][Cape Activities] What will you do as Sage?
-[X][Cape Activities] Set up your Legal Second-Identity (We will go directly to the government, and out ourselves to the trustworthy officials in charge of this exact thing. Simply have them quietly link our Sage Identity to our Real Identity. It's not like we plan on outright breaking laws anyways. Skirting and pushing them a bit with technically legal biotinkering? Absolutely. But we shouldn't have any major crimes planned. We can set things up, run by the PRT to collect donations, and move on with our plans.)
[X][Cape Activities] What will you do as Sage?
-[X][Cape Activities] Set up your Legal Second-Identity (Write-In Plan)
-[X][Cape Activities] Go to the PRT to collect your donations
--[X][Cape Activities] Ask what the rules are for GIVING donations, or items and weapons that can be used in the next endbringer fight even if you aren't there.
--[X][Cape Activities] Aks if there's some kind of contact that'd be suitable to explain WHY you aren't prepared to be a Hero or officially affiliating with anyone, so they can know in case there are any situations they SHOULD contact you for, in some informal non-binding arrangement. Also, just having someone you can safely talk to.
-[X][Cape Activities] Set up your Legal Second-Identity (We will go directly to the government, and out ourselves to the trustworthy officials in charge of this exact thing. Simply have them quietly link our Sage Identity to our Real Identity. It's not like we plan on outright breaking laws anyways. Skirting and pushing them a bit with technically legal biotinkering? Absolutely. But we shouldn't have any major crimes planned. We can set things up, run by the PRT to collect donations, and move on with our plans.)
[X][Cape Activities] What will you do as Sage?
-[X][Cape Activities] Check in on Panacea. You have a rapport, she might be shaken by the assassination attempt, she might have advice on healing and it's pretty fucked up she's only making minimum wage.
-[X][Cape Activities] Try to meet up with Panacea. You did just establish yourself as a healer and she might have some advice on that front, plus it would be nice to make a friend on the parahuman side of things...
[x][Cape activities] if we do get in contact with panacea try and play up the magic Cape angle. she seemed kinda scared of us before so her thinking we're a bit goofy about magic should be fine right?
[X][Project] You'll begin a project of some kind.
-[X][Project] Your best shot at stopping someone attacking ended up being an uncontrolled blast of lightning. You should probably come up with a better self-defense tool than a knife and some glowing dust (Study various stopping effects to try and derive more general spells. Triage Shock only paralyzes wounds and lightstop only freezes time for light. Try to figure out how to generalize those into stopping people.)
[X][Project] You'll begin a project of some kind.
-[X][Project] Your best shot at stopping someone attacking ended up being an uncontrolled blast of lightning. You should probably come up with a better self-defense tool than a knife and some glowing dust (Try using controlled zinc magic (curse), sweat (amplification of living energy), salt (division between electrical signals?) and/or quartz (increased precision) to enhance Triage Shock into a general paralyzing spell.)
[X][Project] You'll begin a project of some kind.
-[X][Project] Your best shot at stopping someone attacking ended up being an uncontrolled blast of lightning. You should probably come up with a better self-defense tool than a knife and some glowing dust (We will build a Staff that uses Egg mana, Gravity Control, And BioElectric Algae clouds, to let us create and control gravity and Bio Electric Algae clouds. Since our creations can't reproduce on their own, can't survive on their own, and even forcing them to divide using egg mana is a mostly active process that only works in our presence and/or the presence of the device, we technically aren't breaking any laws by doing this. The staff will have a hidden central rod made using Vampire Plant, as it is deeply tied with our will. Around this we will grow a staff of apple tree wood as a Nature Diplomat to control and bring all the parts of the staff together, lacing it with Cell-Recycling Management Biofibers, Graviton Exchanger Mutations, and BioElectric mutations.
[X][Project] You'll begin a project of some kind.
-[X][Project] Your best shot at stopping someone attacking ended up being an uncontrolled blast of lightning. You should probably come up with a better self-defense tool than a knife and some glowing dust (We will build a Staff that uses Egg mana, Gravity Control, And BioElectric Algae clouds, to let us create and control gravity and Bio Electric Algae clouds. Since our creations can't reproduce on their own, can't survive on their own, and even forcing them to divide using egg mana is a mostly active process that only works in our presence and/or the presence of the device, we technically aren't breaking any laws by doing this.
[X][Project] You'll begin a project of some kind.
-[X][Project] Your best shot at stopping someone attacking ended up being an uncontrolled blast of lightning. You should probably come up with a better self-defense tool than a knife and some glowing dust (We will build a Staff that uses Egg mana, Gravity Control, And BioElectric Algae clouds, to let us create and control gravity and Bio Electric Algae clouds. Since our creations can't reproduce on their own, can't survive on their own, and even forcing them to divide using egg mana is a mostly active process that only works in our presence and/or the presence of the device, we technically aren't breaking any laws by doing this.
--[X][Project] Shade, remember to read the further instructions in EndlesBlaze's post.
[X][Mana] Arcane "This curse I weave, cruel as can be/plague those that scourge this fair city/so next their eyes turn towards this Sage/their craven mouths should froth with rage/as fortune fair theirs goes to me."
[X][Mana] Something Else (Test the Arcane Spell: "My secrets are mine to share / Intrude upon me none shall dare / I shroud myself in the thorns of night / my secrets are the new moon's light.)
[X][Mana] Using an insect, test the ability of a large dose of Thaum > Graphite > Copper to revert extreme whole-body mortal wounds if applied fast enough. This could potentially be the basis of an "extra life" device if it works.
[X][Mana] Mana-Test Materials (test Arcane effects on basic materials: as an apology for the long list, see the spoiler below for easy copy pasting)
-[X][Mana] Test a piece of equipment's True Attunement (Curestone, Aluminum, Iron, Copper)
-[X][Mana] Try to identify the set bonus for True > Cloth by wearing a bunch of clothes and true attuning to all of them
-[X][Mana] Study a target for Phomens (Platinum, Silicon)
-[X][Mana] Parahumans all have a specific structure in their brain; what happens if you attune mana to it? Thaum > Corona Pollentia
[X][Mana] Something Else (Stone Free uses a mass of distinct mana types carrying distinct patterns drawn by basically "Scanning" a bird. What would happen if we instead attempted to take the bird mana and mix it all into a vague swirling mass before synthesizing it. Would the result be something remarkably esoteric? Would it simply be a "Stone holding all the powers of a bird") Or would it simply be some sort of malformed junk?)
[X][Mana] Gallium appears capable of manipulating materials on a conceptual level instead of a physical one. Test out chains to see if you can find ways of adding desired conceptual properties to materials. This may let you make, for example, armor out of clothing that comes with no additional weight or restricted range of motion.
[X][Mana] Something Else (Your bird golems are capable of independent movement and performing simple tasks. What would happen if you used alchemy to convert them into a featureless form, such as a block of wood? Would this give you the ability to make essentially stealth golems, items capable of performing simple tasks despite lacking any visible ability to do those tasks?)
[X][Mana] try using Graviton Exchanger Mutation on a test plate of wood armor, to see if it'd let us make a much thicker armor withtoe it becoming to heavy, or even give an advantage to jumping.
[X][Mana] Something Else (Attempt to mix the bird golem transmutation mana, with plant mana, and create a living wood golem. As opposed to our usual non living wooden birds.)
[X][Mana] Mana-Test Materials (Write-In)
-[X][Mana] Attempt to string together an Attunement Chain (Gu-Harvest > Graphite) Some kind of mutation to destroy/feed on parasites and dangerous things?
-[X][Mana] Attempt to string together an Attunement Chain (Keratin > Graphite) Flight or weightless mutation?
-[X][Mana] Attempt to string together an Attunement Chain (Light of the Vampire > Graphite) Stronger in the day mutation?
-[X][Mana] Attempt to string together an Attunement Chain (Serene Glow > Graphite) Stronger at night mutation?
[X][Mana] try using Thaum > Timeshift Crystal > Brain enhancement on our brain,
-[X]and if that works well create a circlet full of timeshift crystal dust that will dump a large dose of the mana into our brain.
[X][Daily Activities] What sort of things will you do during the day?
-[X][Daily Activities] Spend time with dad.
--[X] Try to clear the air about you going, emphasizing that you saved many lives including Panacea.
[X][Daily Activities] Make contact with Lisa again: Explain why you are not prepared to become a villain or do anything illegal, even indirectly by helping her do such things, and cant be seen publicly associating with her, but if she's willing to despite those conditions you can still be friends and you do really need someone to talk to and consider her advice valuable. Also just use her as a shoulder to lean on and talk your feelings out.
-[X][Daily Activities] Think out loud-ish while near Lisa: "Hmm, how would the PRT react if we said we realized we might be able to do "something really bad" with our power, and want their help limiting ourselves so we *cant* do it if we "get captured by a villain or something". Possibly adding that if they do that, they can leave an exception in their conditioning for doing it against endbringers only. For example; what if we take an iron pot, fill it with water, mix in (in decreasing order of amount and importance) silicon dust, Zinc dust, ethanol, and bone meal. Then put a huge bunch of mana into it, then onto this mana thats 90% arcane but with a smidge of silicon, chant: "kettle kettle boil and bubble, brew me up a pot of trouble, upon those by this concoction splashed, turn their hopes all into ash, curse them with eternal pain, all attempts to cure: in vain, Their screams sweet music to my ears, let all who touch them be in tears, a melting horror to behold, 'Beware' all who see them be told, None shall dare the ire of Sage, when I release this cursed plague", and while applying it back to targeting the water and stuff in the pot and mixing it with Thaum > Zinc > Zinc > Zinc > Zinc > Zinc ("Cursed One") mana. Then before it "sets" add a drop of blood. Stir thoroughly with a bone, then pour into a throwable bottle and seal it."
[X][Cape Activities] What will you do as Sage?
-[X][Cape Activities] Check in on Panacea. You have a rapport, she might be shaken by the assassination attempt, she might have advice on healing and it's pretty fucked up she's only making minimum wage.
-[X][Cape Activities] Go to the PRT to collect your donations (These can also be collected by establishing your Second Identity) (Can be done in addition to other actions)
[x][Cape activities] next time we see lisa ask If shes a criminal because she wants to be or if you offer her a legal job she would stop? if she asks you really would like a research assistant.
[X][Cape Activities] What will you do as Sage?
-[X][Cape Activities] Go to the PRT to collect your donations (These can also be collected by establishing your Second Identity) (Can be done in addition to other actions)
-[X][Cape Activities] Try to meet up with Panacea. You did just establish yourself as a healer and she might have some advice on that front, plus it would be nice to make a friend on the parahuman side of things...
[X][Cape Activities] What will you do as Sage?
-[X][Cape Activities] Set up your Legal Second-Identity (We will go directly to the government, and out ourselves to the trustworthy officials in charge of this exact thing. Simply have them quietly link our Sage Identity to our Real Identity. It's not like we plan on outright breaking laws anyways. Skirting and pushing them a bit with technically legal biotinkering? Absolutely. But we shouldn't have any major crimes planned. We can set things up, run by the PRT to collect donations, and move on with our plans.)
[X][Cape Activities] What will you do as Sage?
-[X][Cape Activities] Set up your Legal Second-Identity (Write-In Plan)
-[X][Cape Activities] Go to the PRT to collect your donations
--[X][Cape Activities] Ask what the rules are for GIVING donations, or items and weapons that can be used in the next endbringer fight even if you aren't there.
--[X][Cape Activities] Aks if there's some kind of contact that'd be suitable to explain WHY you aren't prepared to be a Hero or officially affiliating with anyone, so they can know in case there are any situations they SHOULD contact you for, in some informal non-binding arrangement. Also, just having someone you can safely talk to.
-[X][Cape Activities] Set up your Legal Second-Identity (We will go directly to the government, and out ourselves to the trustworthy officials in charge of this exact thing. Simply have them quietly link our Sage Identity to our Real Identity. It's not like we plan on outright breaking laws anyways. Skirting and pushing them a bit with technically legal biotinkering? Absolutely. But we shouldn't have any major crimes planned. We can set things up, run by the PRT to collect donations, and move on with our plans.)
[X][Cape Activities] What will you do as Sage?
-[X][Cape Activities] Check in on Panacea. You have a rapport, she might be shaken by the assassination attempt, she might have advice on healing and it's pretty fucked up she's only making minimum wage.
-[X][Cape Activities] Try to meet up with Panacea. You did just establish yourself as a healer and she might have some advice on that front, plus it would be nice to make a friend on the parahuman side of things...
[x][Cape activities] if we do get in contact with panacea try and play up the magic Cape angle. she seemed kinda scared of us before so her thinking we're a bit goofy about magic should be fine right?
[X][Project] You'll begin a project of some kind.
-[X][Project] Your best shot at stopping someone attacking ended up being an uncontrolled blast of lightning. You should probably come up with a better self-defense tool than a knife and some glowing dust (Study various stopping effects to try and derive more general spells. Triage Shock only paralyzes wounds and lightstop only freezes time for light. Try to figure out how to generalize those into stopping people.)
[X][Project] You'll begin a project of some kind.
-[X][Project] Your best shot at stopping someone attacking ended up being an uncontrolled blast of lightning. You should probably come up with a better self-defense tool than a knife and some glowing dust (Try using controlled zinc magic (curse), sweat (amplification of living energy), salt (division between electrical signals?) and/or quartz (increased precision) to enhance Triage Shock into a general paralyzing spell.)
[X][Project] You'll begin a project of some kind.
-[X][Project] Your best shot at stopping someone attacking ended up being an uncontrolled blast of lightning. You should probably come up with a better self-defense tool than a knife and some glowing dust (We will build a Staff that uses Egg mana, Gravity Control, And BioElectric Algae clouds, to let us create and control gravity and Bio Electric Algae clouds. Since our creations can't reproduce on their own, can't survive on their own, and even forcing them to divide using egg mana is a mostly active process that only works in our presence and/or the presence of the device, we technically aren't breaking any laws by doing this. The staff will have a hidden central rod made using Vampire Plant, as it is deeply tied with our will. Around this we will grow a staff of apple tree wood as a Nature Diplomat to control and bring all the parts of the staff together, lacing it with Cell-Recycling Management Biofibers, Graviton Exchanger Mutations, and BioElectric mutations.
[X][Project] You'll begin a project of some kind.
-[X][Project] Your best shot at stopping someone attacking ended up being an uncontrolled blast of lightning. You should probably come up with a better self-defense tool than a knife and some glowing dust (We will build a Staff that uses Egg mana, Gravity Control, And BioElectric Algae clouds, to let us create and control gravity and Bio Electric Algae clouds. Since our creations can't reproduce on their own, can't survive on their own, and even forcing them to divide using egg mana is a mostly active process that only works in our presence and/or the presence of the device, we technically aren't breaking any laws by doing this.
[X][Project] You'll begin a project of some kind.
-[X][Project] Your best shot at stopping someone attacking ended up being an uncontrolled blast of lightning. You should probably come up with a better self-defense tool than a knife and some glowing dust (We will build a Staff that uses Egg mana, Gravity Control, And BioElectric Algae clouds, to let us create and control gravity and Bio Electric Algae clouds. Since our creations can't reproduce on their own, can't survive on their own, and even forcing them to divide using egg mana is a mostly active process that only works in our presence and/or the presence of the device, we technically aren't breaking any laws by doing this.
--[X][Project] Shade, remember to read the further instructions in EndlesBlaze's post.
[X][Mana] Arcane "This curse I weave, cruel as can be/plague those that scourge this fair city/so next their eyes turn towards this Sage/their craven mouths should froth with rage/as fortune fair theirs goes to me."
[X][Mana] Something Else (Test the Arcane Spell: "My secrets are mine to share / Intrude upon me none shall dare / I shroud myself in the thorns of night / my secrets are the new moon's light.)
[X][Mana] Using an insect, test the ability of a large dose of Thaum > Graphite > Copper to revert extreme whole-body mortal wounds if applied fast enough. This could potentially be the basis of an "extra life" device if it works.
[X][Mana] Mana-Test Materials (test Arcane effects on basic materials: as an apology for the long list, see the spoiler below for easy copy pasting)
-[X][Mana] Test a piece of equipment's True Attunement (Curestone, Aluminum, Iron, Copper)
-[X][Mana] Try to identify the set bonus for True > Cloth by wearing a bunch of clothes and true attuning to all of them
-[X][Mana] Study a target for Phomens (Platinum, Silicon)
-[X][Mana] Parahumans all have a specific structure in their brain; what happens if you attune mana to it? Thaum > Corona Pollentia
[X][Mana] Something Else (Stone Free uses a mass of distinct mana types carrying distinct patterns drawn by basically "Scanning" a bird. What would happen if we instead attempted to take the bird mana and mix it all into a vague swirling mass before synthesizing it. Would the result be something remarkably esoteric? Would it simply be a "Stone holding all the powers of a bird") Or would it simply be some sort of malformed junk?)
[X][Mana] Gallium appears capable of manipulating materials on a conceptual level instead of a physical one. Test out chains to see if you can find ways of adding desired conceptual properties to materials. This may let you make, for example, armor out of clothing that comes with no additional weight or restricted range of motion.
[X][Mana] Something Else (Your bird golems are capable of independent movement and performing simple tasks. What would happen if you used alchemy to convert them into a featureless form, such as a block of wood? Would this give you the ability to make essentially stealth golems, items capable of performing simple tasks despite lacking any visible ability to do those tasks?)
[X][Mana] try using Graviton Exchanger Mutation on a test plate of wood armor, to see if it'd let us make a much thicker armor withtoe it becoming to heavy, or even give an advantage to jumping.
[X][Mana] Something Else (Attempt to mix the bird golem transmutation mana, with plant mana, and create a living wood golem. As opposed to our usual non living wooden birds.)
[X][Mana] Mana-Test Materials (Write-In)
-[X][Mana] Attempt to string together an Attunement Chain (Gu-Harvest > Graphite) Some kind of mutation to destroy/feed on parasites and dangerous things?
-[X][Mana] Attempt to string together an Attunement Chain (Keratin > Graphite) Flight or weightless mutation?
-[X][Mana] Attempt to string together an Attunement Chain (Light of the Vampire > Graphite) Stronger in the day mutation?
-[X][Mana] Attempt to string together an Attunement Chain (Serene Glow > Graphite) Stronger at night mutation?
[X][Mana] try using Thaum > Timeshift Crystal > Brain enhancement on our brain,
-[X]and if that works well create a circlet full of timeshift crystal dust that will dump a large dose of the mana into our brain.
Explaining everything that happened while I was in Panama took a while. By the end of my explanation, and talking about how I electrocuted a guy that tried to attack Panacea, dad seemed, if not happy, at least mollified.
"I still think it was reckless. You did good, but don't try to convince me that it wasn't, Taylor," he begins.
"I can be proud of you just as much as I can be scared for you. It could have been you in that situation. It could have been worse. Even if it was as simple as missing the trip back, or catching the wrong person's attention."
"Promise me you'll be careful, at least until things settle down. You're the one who decided to be a rogue, and that means you're in more danger, and with less help when that danger comes," he says.
I nod. "I'll be careful. Keep my head down for a while. I know there are probably a lot of people who want to get their hands on me, now that I've shown some of what I can do. But, in return, you should understand, dad, I'm not exactly alone," I point out, thinking about Lisa and Panacea. Both of them I had only just met, but both seemingly willing to offer at least some small amount of help.
"I'll make sure to have some people in my corner," I finish.
"That's all I can ask," he responds, taking a large drink from his coffee.
"On that same subject," I start ponderously.
"I think I'd like to try making contact with Panacea again. We talked a bit before, and she probably knows a lot more than I do about healing," I ask.
Dad hums at this. "I don't have a problem with that. Will you need a ride?"
I shake my head. "No, I need to stop by the PRT anyway, something about donations to Sage, apparently. It'll be good exersize."
I pack up my costume and jog out of the house, slipping behind a building and changing into my armor before continuing on to the PRT building. If anyone knew a good way to contact them, maybe it would be them?
When I arrived, the building was a lot less quiet than it was the first time I was there.
"Hello Sage. What brings you here today?" the secretary asks as I jog up to the front counter.
I pause for a second, remembering why I came here. "Oh, uhh, Miss Militia said something about donations to healers? She wanted me to come back and talk about those."
The lady takes my words in stride, picking up her phone and dialing in a number to call someone while I take a seat in a back room that I'm directed to. Plopping down into the plastic chair with a rattle from my wooden armor, I set my duffel bag of civilian clothes off to the side.
"It will take some time to have everything brought over, ma'am. Some of the wards have expressed interest in meeting you, if that is alright?" the secretary calls out a few minutes later.
I shrug. "I guess I don't have a problem with it?" I say, thinking about how odd it is that they apparently want to talk to me.
When a bunch of costumed teens file into the room, a few of them I recognize from before, I'm reminded of a bunch of dogs sniffing around a newcomer. A bit too excited and curious for their own good.
Vista is the first to approach, thrusting out a hand eagerly while the other three stay a more respectful distance away. "Hi again, Sage. I heard about some of the stuff you did at the Endbringer battle. You did really well for your first outing," she compliments.
I shake her hand, confused at her wording. "My first outing?" I ask.
"Well, yeah, I haven't heard about you before, and we're usually kept pretty up to date on new capes, one way or another. Was that not your first time going out in costume?" she asks politely.
Technically, it wasn't, but it was pretty much my first time going out in public. When I said as much, Aegis whistles good-naturedly.
"It's hard to beat a first-impression as good as yours, in that case. Not many heroes make their first public appearance be medical work at an Endbringer battle. That'll probably win you a lot of points with some people," he says.
"I'm Aegis, this is Gallant and Clockblocker," he introduces the others who came in as well.
"Sage," I say, a bit embarrassed by all the positive attention they're flinging in my face.
"Oh, I met you earlier, you were in that interview I had!" I point out, Gallant waving awkwardly.
"Hey, you already met her, why didn't you tell any of us that?" Vista says, crossing her arms a bit petulantly.
He winces. "Well, it wasn't really that important, I didn't think," he says awkwardly.
"So, Sage, I saw some of what you were doing back there at the fight. Your powers are kinda crazy, what even are they?" Clockblocker interjects, a bit less amusement in his voice than I would have expected from one of the most "comedic" wards I had heard about.
"Oh, uhh," I start, only for Vista to slap Clockblocker on the arm.
"You don't just ask someone that flat out, jeeze," she responds.
I hold up my hands disarmingly, "No, it's fine, I'm pretty sure the cat is out of the bag there anyway, all things considered."
If only I had a better way of explaining my powers other than 'I can do magic'...
"So, I make energy, and it changes properties. I can turn it into stuff like healing, or electricity," I say vaguely, not really having a better explanation that doesn't involve dictating a short novel of theories and information I had been jotting down about the power.
"What about you all?" I say, looking around at the four of them as I change the subject.
"I used to be really into cape stuff but uhh, it's been a while," I explain nervously.
They all share a look that seems to convey some kind of inside joke that I don't really get.
"Well, the short version is, I can warp space, Gallant can sense and shoot emotions, Aegis is your basic Alexandria Package, and Clockblocker's superpower is making corny jokes," she lists them off one by one.
"I take offense to that. My jokes are cheesy, not corny!" he retorts, pouting under his mask.
Our conversation is interrupted by a PRT officer walking into the room with a clipboard and a large suitcase.
"Are you Sage?" he asks, looking at me.
"I'll need you to sign this," he says, handing over the clipboard and the paper attached to it. Looking it over, it seems to just be an ordinary form that just says "I picked up my donation from the PRT and confirmed it there,"
After I sign it, he hands over the case. "Along with the liquid assets, there are a number of documents included with this round of donations. Several of the parahumans healed by you opted to contribute to a fund for the PRT to pay out to you, so you may need to visit a bank to cash it all out," he explains.
With confusion, I pop open the case, memorizing the lock's password before choking.
The suitcase is full of money.
"Keep in mind that, once you are liable for it, these donations aren't tax-exempt," he offers, before leaving.
The wards, as teenagers are oft to do, are drawn to the unreasonable amount of money like moths to a flame.
"Holy crap! I haven't seen that much money in one place outside of like, drug busts," Clockblocker yelps.
"That is... Quite a bit of money. Did that many people really opt to pay you?" Aegis mutters.
I slap the suitcase shut. "I don't know, I... I need to go. I'm feeling kind of overwhelmed here,"
"Uhh, would any of you happen to know where Panacea hangs out? I've been wanting to meet with her, I guess as one healer to another?" I ask.
Gallant shifts a bit. "I can make a call, if you want. She typically spends her time at the hospitals, but she varies up which ones she goes to."
I nod. "That would be helpful, please," I ask.
He pulls out a simple flip-phone, and the other wards awkwardly mill about as he calls some girl named Victoria, asking about where Panacea is.
"She's at the St. Mathews memorial hospital right now. It's a bit of a long trip. Do you have a ride? I'm sure we could get someone to drive you there if you like,"
I think about it for a bit. On the one hand, I have no clue where that hospital is, and there's really not another hand involved in that metaphor.
"Thank you, I'd appreciate that."
As I leave, I notice Clockblocker giving me a weird look, like he's got something to ask, but I neglect to call him out on it before an agent in a dinky little car is ferrying me over to the hospital.
I thought the duffel bag with my civilian clothes was metaphorically heavy, but I quickly realize on the trip over there that a suitcase with thousands of dollars in it has way more perceived heft to it, all things considered.
I carry the case even more gingerly than the duffel bag as I walk into the hospital, trying to manifest more confidence than I actually feel, everyone's eyes hanging onto me as I walk into the hospital lobby in my full parahuman regalia.
The PRT Lobby was nothing like this, considering it was usually nearly empty, even in the middle of the day. A hospital, though, in Brockton Bay of all places, was a universal hotspot of people in need. Something reflected by just how many people there were.
A little kid pointed at me, babbling something to his mom, who looked like she was nursing a headache, and I saw someone snap a photo of me with their phone.
"I'm here to talk to Panacea? I'm a healer," I say meekly to the receptionist, whose bored expression pierces my soul.
"She's in room 203. Phil?" she says, turning to one of the orderlies.
He gives me a firm look. "Right. It's about time she took a break anyway."
As I'm taken along through several halls and up an elevator, I hear him use a radio to say some stuff that I don't catch.
Finally, I end up in some kind of break-room not unlike the ones where dad works. Coffee-maker, Fridge, Microwave. The life-support machinery of the 9-5 worker.
Panacea looks annoyed, drinking some black sludge from a foam cup that looks like it's had one-too-many cups of coffee in it in its lifetime. "Oh, it's you. Hey," she says blandly, sipping at the shadowy concoction.
The thought crossed my mind that I could probably make some kind of magical coffee, before I banished it entirely.
"I wanted to talk about some stuff, and I just figured, 'Oh, Panacea, she's the right person to talk to', so here I am," I say, chuckling helplessly.
This was not a good idea.
Despite how awful of an idea this was, Panacea laughs softly at my reasoning for interrupting her. "Alright. They're locking me in here for ten minutes, so I guess I might as well. What did you want to know?"
Despite all the ideas I had for conversation topics I had before, my mind suddenly blanks.
"What do you do when you get a huge donation?" I ask, remembering the heavy suitcase at my side, the money inside psychosomatically thrashing within, trying to burn a hole out of it, as far as my imagination is concerned.
Her face scrunched up in confusion. "I don't. Get donations, that is. I've set it up so that if I did somehow get some, they're just sent to charity. I don't want people to think I'm in it for the money," she explains.
"Why, did you get one?" she retorts, eyeing me a bit suspiciously.
I freeze like she just caught me with my hand in the cookie jar. "Y-yes? I'm a rogue. I uhh, am in it for the money."
"Not the healing earlier! I just wanted to help, there, but, yes, I have been trying to use my powers for work. Got bills to pay, and all that, uhh, mouths to feed? There's not anything wrong with being in it for the money, is there?" I quickly reiterate.
Panacea tries to look stern, recognizing my pitiful attempts at justifying myself for what they are, but her lips twitch too much for her to hold back.
"No, not technically. But just keep in mind that people spend money to get something. You'll probably get a few more donations before the 'requests' start coming in. New Wave gets a lot of donations, and a lot of really nasty requests sometimes," she explains.
"Oh. Thank you for the advice," I say.
She checks her watch. "Look, my ten minutes in solitary confinement are over, so I need to get back to healing. So unless you're getting paid by the hour, I've got to get back to my 'pro-bono' healing," she says, looking at me expectantly.
I realize what she's implying, and jog after her as she makes her way out of the room. "I can help! If you want, and if I'm allowed," I ask.
I start to get the vibe that she's enjoying herself. "Alright. I guess I can show you the ropes. Come on."
I follow along as she starts explaining.
"One thing I learned the hard way is, you have to have verbal or written consent to use parahuman abilities on someone like this. I got sued once for it, and Carol never let me live it down. At an Endbringer battle, it's different. You kinda throw away your right to not be healed when you sign up to throw yourself into a meat grinder, but outside of that, most forms of healing have side effects, people get paranoid about possible Mastering, it's not a great sight.
"I know for a fact that your healing isn't that clean-cut, so it matters a hell of a lot more for you," she continues, poking me in the chest with a serious tone.
"So, if they can't say 'Yes I consent', or they slur it too badly, or they say it too quietly, you have to keep your hands off of them. It sucks really bad, but better you hear it from me than from a prosecution lawyer, alright Sage?" she says.
I nod. "Make sure they consent 100% before doing anything."
Panacea gives me a thumbs up. "Obviously, there's no telling what a power might do to someone twenty or thirty years in the future, but you're also expected to explain any immediate side effects as well. It's not mandatory, but it's another thing to keep you safe from any dissatisfied customers," she continues, making a little jab at my rogue status.
"I didn't get a good chance to see your power in action back at the fight, but I did see it all after the fact when I was clearing up the side effects. With your permission, I'd like to observe you doing what it is you do. I'm pretty trusted thanks to my power, so that's another point in your favor if you decide to start trolling around hospitals blasting people with your 'healthy' beams," she offers as we enter a room with a guy covered with bandages.
The nurse hands Panacea a piece of paper that she quickly reads off. "Car crash. Lots of organ trauma and broken bones. Got a prescription for that, Sage? He's given written consent, so you're as good to go as you can get right now," she offers.
With injuries as numerous as his, the best thing I can think of is Diamond Mana. It's strong and efficient, but...
"The best thing I've got makes things softer and more elastic. I don't think the effect is harmful, but it's definitely a side effect," I explain.
The man in the bed gives me a look.
"You hear that, sir? She would like to heal you using her ability. I will be supervising to ensure that you are fully healed. Blink twice if you consent, and blink three times if you would prefer I heal you," she explains clearly and plainly.
He blinks twice.
"There you go," she says, holding a hand on the man's shoulder and looking at me expectantly.
I summon up a mass of diamond mana, spreading it out over his body and then infusing it.
The nurse gasps a bit when his bandages turn bright blue, but Panacea's reaction is a bit more subdued.
"Interesting. Whatever you did, it didn't like his bones that much. They're healed, but not as much as the muscles and organs. His concussion is gone too, so you've already got one over on me, Sage," she explains.
"I recognize this one. You used this on a few of the people back before, didn't you?" she asks.
"Yeah. Diamond Mana- er, Diamond Attuned Energy," I say, stumbling over my words for a moment.
Panacea doesn't miss my slip, giving me a look and a smirk that promises further questioning later on. "It's one of your best ones. I'd use that for any hospital work you do. Hey, get this guy some probiotics. Sage's diamond stuff fucks with bacterial health a lot. Viral stuff too, but that's a good thing."
She turns to me. "Alright, I think that's a good first test. If you want, we can go down the halls now. I'll take the left if you take the right, and we'll take a break after an hour. I want to be close by in case something goes wrong, but I'm liking what I see so far."
"Alright. Sounds good," I respond, happy to have apparently passed her trial, whatever it was.
I plop down into one of the break room chairs, sweating up a storm as Panacea pours two cups of coffee.
"Here," she says, stuffing one of the little foam cups into my hand.
"Oh, uhh, thanks," I respond, fumbling with my helmet for a bit before realizing I won't be able to open it normally without removing it.
With a mental shrug, I run a finger along the wooden plates, mutating a hinge into the wood with some plant magic and willpower. Ever since Panama, I noticed my ability to warp biological matter had increased a bit, as I felt some kind of deeper understanding in the back of my mind. Some whisper of Carbon's deeper nature nestling into my spirit that let me just spawn hinges on my helmet.
Panacea looked away when I did this, trying to make it look like a casual motion as she bit at her thumbnail.
Popping the lower half of my helmet open, I drank some of the coffee against my better judgment, frowning at the awful, bitter taste.
It was worse than Puff Puffs, a mana which took the form of goddamn cigarette flavored cream puffs for some unholy reason.
My stomach growled at me for mentioning cream puffs in the privacy of my own mind, and I casually spawned a little yellow cracker using Lightning Wafer mana. The cracker sparked with blue lights, which I ignored as I dipped it into my coffee to try and somehow improve the experience.
The cracker ceased to exist as it grounded out in the coffee, almost shocking me in the process.
"What the hell was that?" Panacea interjected, watching me with confusion.
"Lightning Wafer. It's supposed to be edible, I think?" I say, creating another one using mana attuned to my platinum ring and a crumb of stale bread that I kept in my attunement pouch.
Her eyes narrow. "Give me that," she says, snatching the snack from my hands and staring at it.
"How many powers do you have?" she mutters in a way that makes it uncertain if I was meant to hear it.
'Three-hundred and eighteen so far, give or take a few categories,' comes unbidden into my mind.
"Just the one, technically? It's just a really versatile one?" I instead say nervously.
She hands the cracker back, smirking. "So would you say it's basically magic, then?"
I cough, electricity cracker caught in my throat mid-meal.
As soon as I swallow, my response escapes before I can determine whether or not I wanted it to.
[][Panacea] "...Yes"
[][Panacea] "No! It's definitely not magic because magic isn't real!"
Panacea starts laughing, a wheezing, half-coughing affair that demonstrates her lack of experience with the action.
"Alright. Well, at least I know why you picked the name, then," she finally says, after getting herself under control.
"You did pretty good, for an hours work. I almost wonder if your power is better at healing than mine," she finishes, her expression twisting a bit.
[X][Soul] "Maybe." [][Soul] "Would you like to find out? I think I can share my power with others" (Locked due to lack of trust)
The conversation dies down for a bit after that.
"Listen, I know you aren't in it for the money, but... I think it's kind of wrong that you aren't getting paid more for what you do. I'm just putting that out there. You're a really good healer," I say, one of my real reasons for coming here bubbling up to the top of my mind.
She gives me a wry smile. "And I feel like I aught to grab you by the shoulders and shake you till you get how badly this city needs us and join me every day here so we can make a dent in this mess," she says, gesturing at the hospital in a general sense.
"It's... Kind of hard for me to not think of rogues as being one step away from villains. Especially when you seemed pretty intent on trying to squeeze money out of your power. You didn't set that briefcase down a single time while we were working, I noticed," she points out, and I remember that I had done exactly that, keeping a white-knuckled grip on the case in the hopes that it might help with our money problems so long as I didn't manage to lose it in the next few hours.
"Look, if you want to do this again, I'll give you my number. We can hang out after I'm done doing my rounds, or you can join up and help out. Whatever works. I get if you decide you don't want to work at the same hospitals as me though. Kinda hard to get a paycheck out of someone when Panacea is sitting in the other room willing to do it for free," she says, grabbing a piece of paper out of a nearby copier and scribbling her number down on it.
I nod. "I don't have a cape number yet, but I guess I could give you my home phone if you promise to be careful," I say.
"If you decide you want a big ol' healing creature to help you out, or just little old me to do the same, you can call and I'll show up, no charge," I offer, scribbling down my own number and tearing it off for her.
She looks at it apprehensively at my mention of "healing creatures".
"I'll think about it," she says.
With nothing left to be said, I decide to call it for the day and head home. She might be willing to spend eighteen hours just going from hospital to hospital, but I've...
Well, I guess I've got more profitable things to do, for now at least.
After quietly changing out of my costume and shoving all the money and checks into my duffel bag along with my costume, I call dad to come pick me up and take us home.
When he sees the money, his eyes bulge out of his head in a way that reminds me too much of a frog.
When all the excitement settles, dad presents me with a choice.
"Since it's your money, and your earned it fair and square, I'm not going to make you do anything with it that you don't want to, but, and this is up to you, we could use it to pay the loan on the funds I got for you earlier," he explains.
"The interest isn't too bad, so even if you did, you'd still have thousands of dollars left for your work, but if you think you can leverage it right, well, ten-thousand dollars, invested properly, could give you even more money to work with, loan or no loan," he explains.
[][Funds] Combine Dadbought Funds EX and Endbringer Spoils to create "Sage's Funds (8,250$)"
[][Funds] Keep both Dadbought Funds EX and Endbringer Spoils for now, for a total of 14,275$ (Dad will continue to make payments on the loan as needed)
[][Funds] Write-in.
Don't worry about missing actions here, This update was too big for one chapter alone! Taylor's Projects and Experiments will be dealt with next chapter.
For those of you who just can't wait, your Mana Tests, New Spells, and Updated Items can be found in the Informational Post Docs! I update those before I write updates, for simplified bookkeeping, so all the tests have already been done, among those that can be done offscreen.
It's generally sensible investment advice to pay down loans first if they have a higher interest rate than you can expect to gain by investing it. I don't know exact detaila but for clean bookkeeping I vote
[x][Funds] Combine Dadbought Funds EX and Endbringer Spoils to create "Sage's Funds (8,250$)"
I love how at the beginning of the quest, mana was just a complex energy source that had normal-ish physical effects and properties. And now half of the new experiments have the conceptual effect warning and do whacky stuff like "exert contextual pressure" or "reduce the negative features" of something. And QA can't even tell what a lot of the new stuff does.
Can we turn any mana type into an arcane variant by attuning it to water? If so it might be useful for rituals? Maybe there's a cost reduction effect or something if you use an appropriate mana type for an incantation.
Can we turn any mana type into an arcane variant by attuning it to water? If so it might be useful for rituals? Maybe there's a cost reduction effect or something if you use an appropriate mana type for an incantation.
You can do exactly that. Furthermore, this was said earlier, but it's worth saying again, Technically, all "Thaum" mana types are ASSUMED to end in an Air Attunement because they are attuned in a medium of air.
This means that every Thaum Mana type can have phonems applied to it and be used in spellcraft.
[x][Panacea] "...Yeah?"
[x][Panacea] I think Panacea is getting the wrong idea about you being a healing rogue... Between making money off spices and the donations you've already gotten you could probably afford to heal at hospitals pro-bono on weekends?
[x][Funds] You need a Thinkers help with this... looks like it's time to call Lisa.
[X][Panacea] "No! It's definitely not magic because magic isn't real!"
-[X][Panacea] "...okay, yes, it's basically magic."
[X][Funds] Combine Dadbought Funds EX and Endbringer Spoils to create "Sage's Funds (8,250$)"
Im skittish of paying off the loan using these funds, since we will need to mark them on our taxes. But we can do that when we get our second Identity. Leaving the loan in place is a risk, if something goes wrong, it could come back to bite us. But we are going to have to grab our second identity next turn.
We are ready to start selling Saffron, we have no real reason at this point not to go and just...do it.
It will make everything so much smoother, and we can start looking into getting a proper base, lab or storefront (Or all of the above)
Between the leftover funds, and the production of Saffron, one of the most expensive spices, we should be able to start our profit line and get some breathing room to experiment and further our goals.
