What would readers prefer?

  • Pure narrative quest: no dice will be used, the author will have free reign to decide what happens.

    Votes: 25 59.5%
  • New dice system: the author will design a new, better dice system to add some randomness and risk.

    Votes: 17 40.5%

  • Total voters
    42
  • Poll closed .
[X] You are ready. Perform the Awakening her and now. This was your home for many years; if there is any place in the world where you can… where you should do this, it's here.
 
[X] You are ready. Perform the Awakening her and now. This was your home for many years; if there is any place in the world where you can… where you should do this, it's here.
 
I don't think we should do it just yet, but for goodness sakes, if we do, let's at least wait until we have our friends around like the book recommends. What's the point of having retrieved all this accumulated ancient wisdom if we immediately ignore it? I doubt they gave that advice for no reason at all.
 
[X] You are ready. Perform the Awakening her and now. This was your home for many years; if there is any place in the world where you can… where you should do this, it's here.
 
[X] You are ready, but you need to set the scene first. Perhaps you want Artemis and Sypha and your other friends with you. Perhaps you want to do this in Agrithe, the land where your dragon and you will spend many years. You can do it; you just need to pick the right moment.
 
[X] You are ready, but you need to set the scene first. Perhaps you want Artemis and Sypha and your other friends with you. Perhaps you want to do this in Agrithe, the land where your dragon and you will spend many years. You can do it; you just need to pick the right moment.
 
[X] You are ready, but you need to set the scene first. Perhaps you want Artemis and Sypha and your other friends with you. Perhaps you want to do this in Agrithe, the land where your dragon and you will spend many years. You can do it; you just need to pick the right moment.

Halfway between safety and the belly of the beast en route for the latter, with a meeting between Ryza and a friend with a jumpy wyvern imminent, is not the time to be engaging in a ritual of unknown length and outcome. We already have a long list of unknowns waiting for us, let's not introduce another one - especially not the one that's most likely to get us ostracized from the people we're moving to help. Awakening here and now is foolish and reckless at best.
 
[X] You are ready, but you need to set the scene first. Perhaps you want Artemis and Sypha and your other friends with you. Perhaps you want to do this in Agrithe, the land where your dragon and you will spend many years. You can do it; you just need to pick the right moment.

"I don't want to be afraid of doing it, and perhaps after this last adventure will be a good time, but it just isn't a good time right now."
 
[X] You are ready. Perform the Awakening her and now. This was your home for many years; if there is any place in the world where you can… where you should do this, it's here.
 
@Jiven @SleepMode @Random Sanity @Barondoctor

For the "Set the scene" vote, it'd be nice to have an idea of what Ryza's ideal scene would look like. I'll still take the vote if it wins (for example, if Baron has a different write-in from Jiven, I won't split the vote over it. Ryza'll just puzzle through the different ideas and come up with a mixture)

For example: here's how @Dragonmaster150 did it.

[] You are ready, but you need to set the scene first. Perhaps you want Artemis and Sypha and your other friends with you. Perhaps you want to do this in Agrithe, the land where your dragon and you will spend many years. You can do it; you just need to pick the right moment.
-[] Write-in: how do you prepare for the Awakening?
--[] Gather your friends and confidants: Artemis, Duke Letoro, Duchess Dione, Sypha, Keaton, Belle, possibly Apollo, and anyone else that Ryza wants to include.
--[] Do it at Agrithae castle. Ryza might prefer to do it at her home, but this is the best place for all of her important friends and confidants can gather.

This is a good setup. The one thing that might be added, since Ryza's not sure she'll be able to get everyone together anytime soon, who are the non-negotiable? Who're the people Ryza must have at her Awakening, and who're the people she'd like to, but if they can't make it she'll do it anyways?

I can work with it as is; Ryza'll just try to get together as many people as possible, but it'll be a smaller list.
 
[X] You are ready, but you need to set the scene first. Perhaps you want Artemis and Sypha and your other friends with you. Perhaps you want to do this in Agrithe, the land where your dragon and you will spend many years. You can do it; you just need to pick the right moment.
-[X] Write-in: how do you prepare for the Awakening?
--[X] Gather your friends and confidants: Artemis, Duke Letoro, Duchess Dione, Sypha, Keaton, Belle, possibly Apollo, and anyone else that Ryza wants to include.
--[X] Do it at Agrithae castle. Ryza might prefer to do it at her home, but this is the best place for all of her important friends and confidants can gather.

Now isn't the best time. The Dragon might not remember that Mother and Father are gone, or what happened. It might react poorly to Flamescale. It might wander off and miss the meet.

The Dragon is still there if Ryza needs to act in an emergency; a proper awakening can wait for good circumstances.
 
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[X] You are ready, but you need to set the scene first. Perhaps you want Artemis and Sypha and your other friends with you. Perhaps you want to do this in Agrithe, the land where your dragon and you will spend many years. You can do it; you just need to pick the right moment.

I'm not ready to do it now. We just found out about it. Sure, it's something we might need, but I think we should do it at a proper time.
 
[X] You are ready, but you need to set the scene first. Perhaps you want Artemis and Sypha and your other friends with you. Perhaps you want to do this in Agrithe, the land where your dragon and you will spend many years. You can do it; you just need to pick the right moment.
-[X] Write-in: how do you prepare for the Awakening?
--[X] Gather your friends and confidants: Artemis, Duke Letoro, Duchess Dione, Sypha, Keaton, Belle, possibly Apollo, and anyone else that Ryza wants to include.
--[X] Do it at your old home, if possible. Agrithe would be more convenient for everyone else, but Awakening is about you becoming an adult manakete; doing it at your home, one of the few surviving manakete homes, feels right.
 
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[X] You are ready, but you need to set the scene first. Perhaps you want Artemis and Sypha and your other friends with you. Perhaps you want to do this in Agrithe, the land where your dragon and you will spend many years. You can do it; you just need to pick the right moment.
-[X] Write-in: how do you prepare for the Awakening?
--[X] Gather your friends and confidants: Artemis, Duke Letoro, Duchess Dione, Sypha, Keaton, Belle, possibly Apollo, and anyone else that Ryza wants to include.
--[X] Do it at Agrithae castle. Ryza might prefer to do it at her home, but this is the best place for all of her important friends and confidants can gather.
 
[X] You are ready, but you need to set the scene first. Perhaps you want Artemis and Sypha and your other friends with you. Perhaps you want to do this in Agrithe, the land where your dragon and you will spend many years. You can do it; you just need to pick the right moment.
-[X] Write-in: how do you prepare for the Awakening?
--[X] Gather your friends and confidants: Artemis, Duke Letoro, Duchess Dione, Sypha, Keaton, Belle, possibly Apollo, and anyone else that Ryza wants to include.
--[X] Do it at your old home, if possible. Agrithe would be more convenient for everyone else, but Awakening is about you becoming an adult manakete; doing it at your home, one of the few surviving manakete homes, feels right.

I feel like I incorporated my arguments into the vote pretty well, but there's one critical part I left half-implied: The presence of Ryza's friends is important, but Awakening is still Ryza's coming-of-age ceremony. Like...maybe this isn't the best analogy,* but think of weddings. The presence of the bride's and groom's families are important, but it's still a ceremony for the bride and groom, not the families. And Awakening is specifically about Ryza's dragon. While the dragon isn't opposed to humanity, it still seems to be the part of Ryza least connected to Agrithe and most tied to her fellow manakete.

I think it would work at Agrithe; a wedding isn't invalid just because the bride and groom were pressured into a venue they don't like. But I feel like doing it in Ryza's parents' home would be more appropriate.

*My brother got married a few days ago, it's on my mind.
 
I'm really torn here. I feel like Ryza's home is the right place but that it should be done with at least Artemis around, and preferably Belle, Kelton, and Sypha too. The problem is that given current events I'm not sure when such an ideal situation would even come up. Are we really going to have the opportunity to get all of them together and bring them out here? Agrithe would be a much easier ask but it doesn't feel as right to me.

If I was pushed to put a vote down right now I'd say go for it but I think I want more time to think and read the discussion.
 
[X] You are ready, but you need to set the scene first. Perhaps you want Artemis and Sypha and your other friends with you. Perhaps you want to do this in Agrithe, the land where your dragon and you will spend many years. You can do it; you just need to pick the right moment.
-[X] Write-in: how do you prepare for the Awakening?
--[X] Gather your friends and confidants: Artemis, Duke Letoro, Duchess Dione, Sypha, Keaton, Belle, possibly Apollo, and anyone else that Ryza wants to include.
--[X] Do it at your old home, if possible. Agrithe would be more convenient for everyone else, but Awakening is about you becoming an adult manakete; doing it at your home, one of the few surviving manakete homes, feels right.
 
[X] You are ready, but you need to set the scene first. Perhaps you want Artemis and Sypha and your other friends with you. Perhaps you want to do this in Agrithe, the land where your dragon and you will spend many years. You can do it; you just need to pick the right moment.
-[X] Write-in: how do you prepare for the Awakening?
--[X] Gather your friends and confidants: Artemis, Duke Letoro, Duchess Dione, Sypha, Keaton, Belle, possibly Apollo, and anyone else that Ryza wants to include.
--[X] Do it at your old home, if possible. Agrithe would be more convenient for everyone else, but Awakening is about you becoming an adult manakete; doing it at your home, one of the few surviving manakete homes, feels right.
 
"Will he believe me?" you ask. "Once he finds out what I am?"

Kopoi answers immediately. "All reports on his nature paint the picture of a man who believes in the ideals of Archmage Thundercrier; who was dedicated to the independence of the Hall after the war. He is also a fair man, and not one prone to making rash decisions. He will question you, certainly, but so long as you are not an imminent threat to his mages, which I cannot see you being, he will give you time to prove yourself."
Jenna shakes her head. "Ryza, one of the pillars of human society for a thousand years has been the special relationship between mages and non-mages. Through war, peace, and countless other problems, the neutrality of the Hall has never been questioned before. If the Regent does this… he could completely shatter the Compact: if mages can't trust they'll be safe sharing their knowledge, if people can't trust that their children will be safe… At best, the advancement of arcane knowledge will be utterly crippled; at worst we could start losing progress as everyone starts hoarding and trying to sabotage each other to preserve their own knowledge and power!" She hugs herself. "I just… I just can't believe anyone would be so desperate as to burn that bridge…"
Maybe its too much speculation but....

A) We know human mages needs Dragonstones to properly use magic.
B) 1.000 its a long time

So going to the Hall might not be a very good idea, especially if the archmages realizes they have a brand new dragonstone at hand.

I figure that dragonstones are running out and, as such, mages are becoming more rare for a lack of tools.
If the Regent knows that mages use dragonstones and that the dragonstones are running out, he might figure that the Hall is no longer as important.

Hell, If the dragonstone truly are running out, as i imagine, then forcing the Archmages into sidding with the Empire, which has the more land and probably more dragon ruins to find new dragonstones, might not be as hard as one might imagine.
 
  • We know at least some mages are pro-dragon. There's a whole faction of them called the Revisionists, and none of them have tried to steal Ryza's dragonstone.
  • Ryza, having been incorporated into the Southern Kingdoms org chart, has more political protections than your average dragonstone.
  • It seems like expeditions into manakete ruins, presumably in part looking for dragonstones, are a thing that still happens, even a thousand years on. So it's not like they can't source new ones.
I could be wrong, but I don't think Ryza is in more danger at the Marble Hall than she would be on the journey there. And even at the Hall, most of the danger still comes from Imperials rather than mages.
 
[X] You are ready, but you need to set the scene first. Perhaps you want Artemis and Sypha and your other friends with you. Perhaps you want to do this in Agrithe, the land where your dragon and you will spend many years. You can do it; you just need to pick the right moment.
-[X] Write-in: how do you prepare for the Awakening?
--[X] Gather your friends and confidants: Artemis, Duke Letoro, Duchess Dione, Sypha, Keaton, Belle, possibly Apollo, and anyone else that Ryza wants to include.
--[X] Do it at your old home, if possible. Agrithe would be more convenient for everyone else, but Awakening is about you becoming an adult manakete; doing it at your home, one of the few surviving manakete homes, feels right.
 
[X] You are ready, but you need to set the scene first. Perhaps you want Artemis and Sypha and your other friends with you. Perhaps you want to do this in Agrithe, the land where your dragon and you will spend many years. You can do it; you just need to pick the right moment.
-[X] Write-in: how do you prepare for the Awakening?
--[X] Gather your friends and confidants: Artemis, Duke Letoro, Duchess Dione, Sypha, Keaton, Belle, possibly Apollo, and anyone else that Ryza wants to include.
--[X] Do it at your old home, if possible. Agrithe would be more convenient for everyone else, but Awakening is about you becoming an adult manakete; doing it at your home, one of the few surviving manakete homes, feels right.
 
She'd be fine; she's a big girl; she can take care of herself now that she knew what she was getting into.
Her brother didn't. Apollo and all the other Kingdom children at the Marble Hall had no idea what was coming.
"She's proven herself adept at dealing with rapidly-changing situations," he said,
Finally, Belle laughed, ruffling your hair.
Why did you switch to past-tense at these points?

you were putting your faith into it.
"in"

and it any of them got into their heads
"if"

You're thankfully able to calm down as by the time you hurry to the courtyard and find Archduke Letoro waiting.
That "as" is redundant.

you say. "while I was at home.
Either that period should be a comma, or "while" should be "While".

"Nobody every tells mercs the full story.
"ever"

so I'm mostly use lightning magic."
"I"

looking at you the first thought isn't 'Dragon'"
Missing the punctuation at the end of this sentence.

[X] You are ready, but you need to set the scene first. Perhaps you want Artemis and Sypha and your other friends with you. Perhaps you want to do this in Agrithe, the land where your dragon and you will spend many years. You can do it; you just need to pick the right moment.
 
[X] You are ready. Perform the Awakening her and now. This was your home for many years; if there is any place in the world where you can… where you should do this, it's here.
 
[X] You are ready, but you need to set the scene first. Perhaps you want Artemis and Sypha and your other friends with you. Perhaps you want to do this in Agrithe, the land where your dragon and you will spend many years. You can do it; you just need to pick the right moment.
-[X] Write-in: how do you prepare for the Awakening?
--[X] Gather your friends and confidants: Artemis, Duke Letoro, Duchess Dione, Sypha, Keaton, Belle, possibly Apollo, and anyone else that Ryza wants to include.
--[X] Do it at your old home, if possible. Agrithe would be more convenient for everyone else, but Awakening is about you becoming an adult manakete; doing it at your home, one of the few surviving manakete homes, feels right.
 
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