-[x]Red Athame
-[X] The Revolver
Fuck too late
The God Diversion
- Thread starter Birdsie
- Start date
- Original
-[x]Red Athame
-[X] The Revolver
Fuck too late
Report Card: Solomon Lancaster
Birdsie
Sharp Talons Cleave The Worthy
- Location
- Poland
Report Card: Solomon Lancaster (as of Pangothicon)
Name: Solomon Lancaster
Role: The Magician
Will: 25
Credit: 4.2
XP: 1,580
Generation of Will - +20/turn
+10 baseline, +5 from cushion, +5 from Comfort's Embrace
Coffee Jello Left: 3x
Other:
*Attention of the Lamb: 1% and maintaining [?]
*Educator Favor: moderate
*Arcane Induction and Connections have 75% Discount for 12 empowerment turns, starting on the next turn.
[and at least six (6) other factors concealed from your eyes]
Attributes
Physical: Feeble, if swift
Mental: Genius, if unmotivated
Social: Embryonic yet talented, if unpolished
Spiritual: Moderate
Aspect Ranking
Aspect: Sanctum: 0 - n/a
Aspect: Arcanum: 2 - Mid-level non-Enrolled wizard, can form effects that can deal with a number of modest issues, can make magic items and brew potions of minor effect. Compare D&D Level 5/6 Wizard/Sorcerer + crafting feats.
Aspect: Eldritch: 0 - n/a
- Combination (Aspectless/Arcanum) Technique: Connections 1 - Can see connective strands between an owned deck of tarot cards and Enrolled, can track by following.
Artifacts / Possessions
The Educator: ++++
Harrison: +++
Penelope: +
Damien: +
Josh: +
Francis: +
Name: Solomon Lancaster
Role: The Magician
Will: 25
Credit: 4.2
XP: 1,580
Generation of Will - +20/turn
+10 baseline, +5 from cushion, +5 from Comfort's Embrace
Coffee Jello Left: 3x
Other:
*Attention of the Lamb: 1% and maintaining [?]
*Educator Favor: moderate
*Arcane Induction and Connections have 75% Discount for 12 empowerment turns, starting on the next turn.
[and at least six (6) other factors concealed from your eyes]
Attributes
Physical: Feeble, if swift
Mental: Genius, if unmotivated
Social: Embryonic yet talented, if unpolished
Spiritual: Moderate
Aspect Ranking
Aspect: Sanctum: 0 - n/a
Aspect: Arcanum: 2 - Mid-level non-Enrolled wizard, can form effects that can deal with a number of modest issues, can make magic items and brew potions of minor effect. Compare D&D Level 5/6 Wizard/Sorcerer + crafting feats.
- Arcanum Technique: Comfort's Embrace: 2 - Array of static magics that increases comfort and quality of life. Generate an extra 5 Will each turn.
- Arcanum Technique: Idle Study: 2 - Array of static magics that cross-correlates contents of the mind revolving on the concept of the Magician on a second, subconscious track. Grants 10 XP per turn, multiplied 1x for each Decompression taken on that turn (3x Decompression = 40 XP).
Aspect: Eldritch: 0 - n/a
- Combination (Aspectless/Arcanum) Technique: Connections 1 - Can see connective strands between an owned deck of tarot cards and Enrolled, can track by following.
Artifacts / Possessions
- Survival Handbook To Educational Enrollment - Knowledge from within comes into use occasionally, helping you avoid issues.
- Comfy Pillow - Awesome comfy pillow.
- Baton - Didn't come into use. Now redundant. An instinct tells you to maybe transmute it into a staff once you've advanced a bit more...
- Solar Charger - Lets you charge your technologies. Harrison and you have made infrequent use of it.
- Phone + USB of Calibrated "Educational Videos" - Phone. USB is untouched. You've contemplated trading it to Ethan for a favor, once he's advanced a little more.
- Cigarettes - Something tells you they might come into use soon...
- Lighter - A lighter. Universally useful.
- The Deck - The Tarot Deck.
- Red Athame - A ritual dagger that deals out painful wounds.
- The Necronomicon - A container of eldritch lore, mostly safe.
- The Revolver - Anti-powerful being revolver, slays without fail. Six rounds left in the chamber.
The Educator: ++++
Harrison: +++
Penelope: +
Damien: +
Josh: +
Francis: +
20 Will generation is pretty good, can't wait for more ways to increase it. I also imagine that baseline will improve massively when Sol's despair goes away/
Okay so this is very very very concerning, I'm guess that the Lamb is the Antichrist that Sol saw in his vision. Having it at even 1% is scary and not good. The maintaining [?] makes me nervous because it could be good are bad.
Edit: Induction is the Technique under Arcanum that teaches Apprentices.
At least 6 which means there are possibly even more. This is really interesting and I can't wait to find out all the various mystery factors.
Sol's physical at feeble is to be expected, him being quick for his level makes sense given his brain. For mental we already knew he was a genius and unmotivated. Social being embryonic is terrifying because he's already monstrously good at it, so seeing him develop that will get really scary. Spiritual being moderate is interesting, I'm guessing that he's crippled by his lack of will and despair and once we fix it that will go way up.
Sol being close the the Educator makes sense because he has talked a lot with him and the Educator does seem fond of Sol. Harrison being a 3+ makes sense because roommates, Harrison being himself and believing Sol's prediction. The plus ones make sense for Penelope the field-trip will go well hopefully, Sol already was on positive terms with Damien at the beginning and they've interacted a couple time plus Sol did try to help him, Josh and Francis being at one makes sense because they think Sol is a potential asset for them and the whole bet thing at the beginning.
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OK, Carnage supporters, you won.
I want to note that Arcanum 2 placing us a 5/6 lvl D&D magic means we're already pretty dangerous by the standards of average fantasyland. We have access to 3rd level spells, and that's where we get among other things Toungs, Clairvoiance, Counterspell, Animate Dead, Blink and the all-important Fireball.
I want to note that Arcanum 2 placing us a 5/6 lvl D&D magic means we're already pretty dangerous by the standards of average fantasyland. We have access to 3rd level spells, and that's where we get among other things Toungs, Clairvoiance, Counterspell, Animate Dead, Blink and the all-important Fireball.
- Location
- 𐌂 ̢͎̩̤̲̙͓̑̀͂͒̀͆̏𐋏 ̛͏̫̚𐌀 ̛͉̥̩̤̰͈̂̅͒͊͟𐍈 ̣͛𐍃 ̡̅̈́
This one sounds oddly familiar...
Anyway, maybe someone has other ideas for Aspects to explore? Or there is some solid plan already and thinking of new stuff is a fun way to waste time?
Anyway, maybe someone has other ideas for Aspects to explore? Or there is some solid plan already and thinking of new stuff is a fun way to waste time?
Aspect: Sanctum - The ritualistic creation of a sacred space: a wizard's tower, a thaumaturge's temple. In a devoted sanctum, you possess fewer limits as a magician: energy constraints loosened, generation redoubled, efforts quintupled. Although outside you may be a mere magus, within you are the King of Magi, every wonder of the world availed and accessible. It can be moved with effort, eventually.
Aspect: Arcanum - Invocation and spellcraft, orthodox. Also the magical processes of enchantment and alchemy, albeit to a lesser degree.
Aspect: Hermes the Destroyer - A combat-oriented Aspect, all relegated to ensuring security and capabilities in combat. Focused on releases of pure destructive energy and entropic shielding. A more powerful Aspect.
Aspect: Eldritch - Inside of your meager form, an elder power has taken root: research into the forbidden finally bearing fruit as a cohabitator from beyond our stars. The Aspect manifests primarily as a symbiote within the Enrolled's body, an existence that slowly congeals into more dangerous, intelligent, and independent alignments. It feeds off of the Enrolled's mentality and brainwaves, absorbing foremost their least flattering traits. Its presence within the body confers baseline physical benefits: improved condition, accelerated healing, and even rapid restoration of blood. In return, as wounds accumulate, the Enrolled's inhuman truth is revealed, and the symbiote gains more control.
Aspect: Arcanum - Invocation and spellcraft, orthodox. Also the magical processes of enchantment and alchemy, albeit to a lesser degree.
Aspect: Hermes the Destroyer - A combat-oriented Aspect, all relegated to ensuring security and capabilities in combat. Focused on releases of pure destructive energy and entropic shielding. A more powerful Aspect.
Aspect: Eldritch - Inside of your meager form, an elder power has taken root: research into the forbidden finally bearing fruit as a cohabitator from beyond our stars. The Aspect manifests primarily as a symbiote within the Enrolled's body, an existence that slowly congeals into more dangerous, intelligent, and independent alignments. It feeds off of the Enrolled's mentality and brainwaves, absorbing foremost their least flattering traits. Its presence within the body confers baseline physical benefits: improved condition, accelerated healing, and even rapid restoration of blood. In return, as wounds accumulate, the Enrolled's inhuman truth is revealed, and the symbiote gains more control.
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- Location
- Argentina
Your circuit's dead, there's something wrong
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Oh well, nothing we can do now. Let's do our best to get along with our baby eldritch monstrosity alright?
- Location
- 𐌂 ̢͎̩̤̲̙͓̑̀͂͒̀͆̏𐋏 ̛͏̫̚𐌀 ̛͉̥̩̤̰͈̂̅͒͊͟𐍈 ̣͛𐍃 ̡̅̈́
Why people hate Eldritch abominations so much, I wonder. 🤔
Well, this choice was good enough, you can even say that having received a symbiont, we have already paid off our trip to Pangothicon.
We received an aspect that could not be obtained by developing our role and this aspect strengthened our strength and vitality, in addition to everything, this aspect also strengthens our magic.
In general, everything we need with a few nice bonuses.
We received an aspect that could not be obtained by developing our role and this aspect strengthened our strength and vitality, in addition to everything, this aspect also strengthens our magic.
In general, everything we need with a few nice bonuses.
- Location
- not doing my homework
- Pronouns
- He/They
We've got a character sheet, we've got time - why don't we discuss possible Write-In techniques for the aspects we can currently level? Top of my head:
- Twin Minds (Eldritch), focused around using Symon the Eldritch Entity to help multitasking.
- Entropic Recycling (Hermes the Destroyer), centered around reusing the stuff shredded by Hermes' Fields as something else (such as energy or healing)
- Scry (Sanctum), creating some sort of reflective surface within the Sanctum that allows for expanded sight when using certain spellcraft
- Arcane Recovery (Arcanum), to increase the rate that the tank refills
- Twin Minds (Eldritch), focused around using Symon the Eldritch Entity to help multitasking.
- Entropic Recycling (Hermes the Destroyer), centered around reusing the stuff shredded by Hermes' Fields as something else (such as energy or healing)
- Scry (Sanctum), creating some sort of reflective surface within the Sanctum that allows for expanded sight when using certain spellcraft
- Arcane Recovery (Arcanum), to increase the rate that the tank refills
Birdsie:
By the way, in case anyone's curious, Penelope also got Essayism.
At 100% odds.
Hunter - Enhanced physicality, preparation of anti-type equipment, subject knowledge on foes.
Seraph - Angelic abilities, weak and subtle at first.
Revenant - Invulnerability, coming back from the grave, unstoppability. Slow scaling.
Birdsie —
She's also thinking Seraph.
None of her native abilities come with flight, and she wants to fly like dad and mom.
_bw -
What kind of angelic abilities? Minor miracles?
Birdsie —
To start with, yes.
Turning water into wine, combusting bushes, and so on.
Eventually, she'll become a flying nuclear reactor of pure divine flame.
(brief debate if there is thematic overlap with Bible)
_bw -
I don't think Penelope might be a biblically accurate angel
Penelope's angel is the angel you see preceding over the mausoleum. Stony faced, frozen in time.
There aren't biblically accurate angels in gothic horror in general. Even in Dante's Inferno here are the descriptions:
Olivia T Pines:
Gimme the Cheetos Kaballah connection stat Sgt Brightwing!
_brightwing:
Flour is associated with sustenance and nourishment. It can be seen as the representation of the material aspect of existence, the physical world, or simply the body. The potential for transformation and elevation, as flour is the raw ingredient of cheetos.
Cheese is from milk, which in turn is associated with nurturing and purity. Chochmah, Wisdom is one of the sefirot representing intuitive insight and divine inspiration. Cheese thus can be seen as a transformation or refinement of wisdom. The assimilation of spiritual teachings, turning knowledge into a tangible nourishing experience.
Coffee - the bitter waters. A potion consumed in the Sotah ritual. If one is righteuous, no harm will come to pass. Otherwise they suffer the physical and spiritual consequences. A living death, the worst of fates. It represents the purification of the soul, the rectification of spiritual imbalances.
It is the lower sefirot, associated with the realm of Below. Gevurah (Severity) and Hod (Splendor) associated with constriction, judgment and challenge. The aspects of life that is difficult, harsh, or bitter to experience. Through coffee one engages with the challenges and difficulties of the material world. Achieve growth, transformation, and spiritual elevation. Higher truths lay stark and naked before the cup.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uz9SBzhnK8
SMBlade:
Arcanum is probably about control of the summoned familiars whereas Eldritch would walk with the horrors Sol is cranking out from the symmy
Also can we call it Symon
If we get it
_brightwing —
Shimon (שמעון)
He who has heard
He who hears and obeys
He who listens and follows
He whom the Above has heard
_brightwing —
Looks like it's kabalistically valid
By the way, in case anyone's curious, Penelope also got Essayism.
At 100% odds.
Hunter - Enhanced physicality, preparation of anti-type equipment, subject knowledge on foes.
Seraph - Angelic abilities, weak and subtle at first.
Revenant - Invulnerability, coming back from the grave, unstoppability. Slow scaling.
Birdsie —
She's also thinking Seraph.
None of her native abilities come with flight, and she wants to fly like dad and mom.
_bw -
What kind of angelic abilities? Minor miracles?
Birdsie —
To start with, yes.
Turning water into wine, combusting bushes, and so on.
Eventually, she'll become a flying nuclear reactor of pure divine flame.
(brief debate if there is thematic overlap with Bible)
_bw -
I don't think Penelope might be a biblically accurate angel
Penelope's angel is the angel you see preceding over the mausoleum. Stony faced, frozen in time.
There aren't biblically accurate angels in gothic horror in general. Even in Dante's Inferno here are the descriptions:
Within the great fire that was lighting them up, I saw four figures appear to me, each seeming made of living flame; and each had two wings stretched wide, the feathers of gold, and their motion so swift that their wings would never tire. Their faces were so human, down to the middle of their breasts; but the rest of them flaming all over, and their wings were such that none has ever been seen, either of feather or membrane. No clear image presents itself to my mind of what the last living things might have been like, or of what form they took; but I'm certain they had faces human and divine.Olivia T Pines:
Gimme the Cheetos Kaballah connection stat Sgt Brightwing!
_brightwing:
Flour is associated with sustenance and nourishment. It can be seen as the representation of the material aspect of existence, the physical world, or simply the body. The potential for transformation and elevation, as flour is the raw ingredient of cheetos.
Cheese is from milk, which in turn is associated with nurturing and purity. Chochmah, Wisdom is one of the sefirot representing intuitive insight and divine inspiration. Cheese thus can be seen as a transformation or refinement of wisdom. The assimilation of spiritual teachings, turning knowledge into a tangible nourishing experience.
Coffee - the bitter waters. A potion consumed in the Sotah ritual. If one is righteuous, no harm will come to pass. Otherwise they suffer the physical and spiritual consequences. A living death, the worst of fates. It represents the purification of the soul, the rectification of spiritual imbalances.
It is the lower sefirot, associated with the realm of Below. Gevurah (Severity) and Hod (Splendor) associated with constriction, judgment and challenge. The aspects of life that is difficult, harsh, or bitter to experience. Through coffee one engages with the challenges and difficulties of the material world. Achieve growth, transformation, and spiritual elevation. Higher truths lay stark and naked before the cup.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uz9SBzhnK8
SMBlade:
Arcanum is probably about control of the summoned familiars whereas Eldritch would walk with the horrors Sol is cranking out from the symmy
Also can we call it Symon
If we get it
_brightwing —
Shimon (שמעון)
He who has heard
He who hears and obeys
He who listens and follows
He whom the Above has heard
_brightwing —
Looks like it's kabalistically valid
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>just write a thing
>accidentally cause an inconsistency
>fans come up with explaination that makes sense
>nod and pretend that was your plan all along
The best method ever.
Good to know, Penny really is keeping up pace with Sol. Sure she's behind him by a bit but close enough that I'd call her a peer especially when you factor in her being in charge of explorer's club.
These are all very cool Aspects but I can see why she's leaning towards Seraph. Hunter and Revenant are pretty useful with Revenant coming with a bigger immediate boost but lower potential and Hunter being more of an enhancement of her existing capabilities and knowledgeable gathering tool. Seraph though while initially weak has a lot of long term potential and gives her ranged options, plus the whole emotional reason of wanting to fly.
Calling the Eldritch thing Symon is a good idea and I'm cool with it. Educator would appreciate the reference.
Pangothicon (pt. 2)
Birdsie
Sharp Talons Cleave The Worthy
- Location
- Poland
Pangothicon (pt. 2)
After a short lecture on the Gothic environment and its threats, as well as the nature of the Theme, the Educator and Class stood in the middle of a broad avenue on the edge of Huron, the eerie settlement. Smiling, the Educator discharged the Class to explore and meet back in front of the Academy in six hours. He then strode away, cane clacking cheerfully on the cobblestones, leaving the hapless youths with no guidance save the desperate voice of Ms. Parker, who failed to elicit obedience.
It took a little convincing and even a bit of self-rationalization, but Solomon managed to sway Penelope to assist him in a deed usually perceived as most foul.
Robbery.
A saunter across the sanctums and dens of the provincial occultists ensued - crude ramshackle wards disassembled like a ribbon undone on unexpecting gift wrapping - and soon resulted in a trove of barely-magical garbage, as well as an armful of artifacts with true power. A book of forbidden secrets thieved from a collector of eldritch relics, an athame from a reckless cultist's atelier, and a revolver from the attic of a family whose progenitor was a hunter of supernatural beasts.
After that, research. Apathetic to effort even on a good day, nonetheless Solomon felt compelled to pen a competent essay. That couldn't be done without at least some attention and examination. He spoke with Penelope as they walked through the forests, curiosity drawn out with the benefits of exploration shown.
"Any similarities to Fortuna?"
"Not a lot," she said. "Fortuna's basically Europe, right down to the shape of the continent."
He took a second to imagine that. "Only Europe? What about the rest of the world?"
"Dissolves into pale mist, the further you go away from the center. Any who wander into it are lost," she said, sounding as if reciting a second-hand account. "Aside from that, we haven't explored much of it yet. It's mostly politics and medieval fiefdoms bickering with each other, so you'd probably hate it."
"Hrm."
"I've been contemplating writing that essay," she said as a change of topic.
"About what?"
"Don't know yet."
"Hmm." Solomon already had a couple of ideas, although only a few of them were grounded in anything truly substantial. It seemed that analyzing the correspondences between Themes was simultaneously a low-hanging and relatively flavorful fruit. "Well, I'll let you know if I come up with something solid. I've got a couple of ideas, but none that I really like. I'm not against letting people borrow my ideas, assuming they're at least willing to listen to me when I speak."
She cocked her head to the side. "You don't feel listened to?"
"Not really."
"Why? I believe you, that you can see the future."
He raised an eyebrow. "That belief's really spread around, huh?"
"Well, you've been going to 'remedial lessons.' Whatever that is. I assure you no one else has that, so, yeah, a lot of people are wondering what's up with you," she said, letting out a slight snort. "If you need someone to hear you out, I've got an open ear."
"Thanks," he said, strangely gratified. It wasn't only Harrison, then? Had the Educator's seminars paid off more substantial dividents than initially believed?
Then, a shudder radiated through the world; manifestly dark and alluring, a call like a siren's song in the benthic depths, dragging you deeper. A convulsion of its every facet, from the somber blades of grass to fluttering leaves on bifurcating branches. A wind came soon after, cold and full of mystery.
It'd been there ever since Solomon entered Pangothica, now intensified.
"Did you feel that?" asked Solomon.
"Yeah. A creepy feeling on my spine."
"It's at the center of this place. This... region," he said. And then, adventurously, with a slight smile, "Wanna check it out?"
"Seems dangerous," she commented, casually, with a veneer of unconcern. An indifference that masked worry, not necessarily about herself, but about Solomon, as if making sure that he was certain about doing something dumb.
"So's Enrollment."
She hummed in agreement. "Let's check it out, then."
It wasn't off by even half an hour on foot, or so, according to a simple divination that Solomon cast with a muttered invocation. It was, however, a laborious and unwelcome trek: an uphill climb and then a procession down a valley and then up yet another hill. Through a couple of flatlands and meadows, even a farm with creepy scarecrows in the stretching fields of navel-tall moon-cast wheat. It looked abandoned, the side of the red-white barn scratched by some massive beast, the house's windows shattered. They decided not to linger. Those scarecrows had almost too intense of a stare to them.
They encountered a forest, one that emanated malice: blood-soaked roots, crimson and knurled like dry veins sapping vitality from the earth, leaves shimmering ethereally azure in the air like a dark reflection of some fairytale. In the darkness cast by obscuring shoots and boughs, the trunks of the trees seemed to have baleful faces with jagged teeth and terrible, soul-draining eyes. And yet, none of this darkness bothered them, malevolence parting like a sea before a prophet, as if welcoming them deeper in. Solomon's stomach churned. He couldn't predict whether this was an auspicious occurrence or not. The amulet about his neck shook and trembled worryingly.
They emerged in a grove at a mountainside, its distant peak covered with mysterious, fuzzy evergreens and a cap of snow and frost, surrounded on every side by serrated crags and steep inclines of rock, moonlit and stark. Here, within the depths of the mountain, somewhere in the underbelly, he sensed an ancient wellspring.
It was a location where the eerie chaos of the outer cosmos descended and formed into an abnormal leyline that collected itself underneath the geographical feature of the mountain, drawn ever further upwards through vile murders and dark deeds performed at its base over the centuries. He could discern these grim truths easily, as each came in visions and states of mind without prompting: the elder power offering its secrets without duplicity or reticence. It formed a reservoir down there, a nightly pond that now threatened to spill out during moments of celestial convergence and birth madness into the world.
It'd form the embryonic nucleus of an entity - in several weeks or months. It'd need time to metamorphose even after that and create an elementary identity from its amorphous bulk. However, in due time, the entity would become a potentially colossal, world-ending threat: something the Gothic Class may well have to deal with in time.
And yet, almost rivetingly, Solomon could feel the clarifying lens of his inner genius turning outward with a scrutinizing eye, a filament coming alight within the mind to illuminate every thought - as the Magician devised a new idea from the purifying flames of entirely formless Thematics.
The Magician was about applying human resourcefulness, and Solomon had every tool needed at his disposal to make the most of this precious opportunity: chalk and the ability to procure more, the memorized contents of a bookshelf's worth of occult tomes, and the lucid acumen that foresaw any errors. More than anything, he possessed the Necronomicon, the contents of which had a ritual sketched out specifically for an occurrence such as this. This wasn't a threat to the world, or at least it didn't have to be. Instead, it could be turned into a tremendous opportunity. Here, there was only hubris for someone who didn't understand their own capabilities.
And Solomon did, casting a gaze into the skein of possibility, and untangling a single thread from its confusing tangle.
---
Will: 25
Credit: 5.7
XP: 1,855
It'll take time, it'll take effort, and it'll take ingenuity - but you earnestly believe with your Education, you can accomplish the draining of this small ley. You're lucky that its contents are relatively undeveloped, and the volume itself relatively small, as otherwise you could've had trouble with it!
It wouldn't take you significant effort to convince Penelope to aid you with this insane proposal, as you're able to strike all the right chords of pursuing strength with her in a short exchange of dialogue - it was accounted for in the Will expenditure.
Choose your Advanced Empowerment:
[ ] Absorption - A common saying among the world's Enrolled villains forewarns of the hubris in absorbing an energy field bigger than one's own head. How can you then act so confident, when you're about to do that to an energy field bigger than your own house? It's simple: you're built different.
*Absorb the wellspring. Gain 2,000-3,000 XP (variable, random.) This XP counts as doubled if spent on Eldritch.
*75% chance to unlock Eldritch (Level 1) for an hour, after which your symbiote will enter hibernation until you actually purchase the Aspect.
[ ] Distribution - However, you aren't the only individual here, and needn't be the sole beneficiary! After explaining the mechanisms of the ritual and permitting her a look into your charts, convince Penelope this is a safe procedure and she ought to partake.
*Absorb the wellspring into yourself and Penelope. Both of you gain 1,500-2,250 XP (variable, random.) This XP counts as double if spent on Eldritch / Seraph.
*75% chance to unlock Eldritch / Seraph (Level 1) for an hour, after which your symbiote and Penelope's grace enter hibernation until you actually purchase the Aspects. Your chances are separate, therefore the odds that at least one of you gets an immediate benefit is doubled relative to Absorption.
[ ] Storage - Instead, ritualistically store the contents of the wellspring in a purified container. As a result, you'll be able to use it later to terrifying effect, either to empower yourself as above, to create an artifact, or for a myriad of other purposes.
*Acquire: Eldritch Flask.
[ ] Eldritch Immersion [30 Will, 12 Credit] - Why absorb mere potential? Force the power out into the candid light. The Rite of Absorption, mighty as it may be, is only a gross and lesser reflection of the ritual that offers real power. Complete the Rite of Eldritch Immersion, as described on page one hundred and six of the Necronomicon.
A complicated and inherently unstable ritual, entwining the essence of the wellspring more completely with your spirit. Combined with your expenditure on Advanced Empowerment, it'll require altogether twenty-four Credit to produce the ingenuity of thought to come up with a reliable stabilizing schema.
*Gain 10,000 XP. This XP counts as doubled if spent on Eldritch or Arcanum.
*Gain Aspect: Eldritch (Level 4) immediately.
*Discount Eldritch (Level 5) by 50%.
*Develop an Eldritch Technique of your choice at Level 2 immediately, and another at Level 1.
*Become the strongest first-year.
[ ] Angelic Immersion [25 Will, 10 Credit] - And yet... inherent to your nature is the mentorship of another, not the assumption of a central role. Much as the Hermit shines with a lantern to guide the way, the Magician shows the secrets of the Arcana to its clients.
Better yet, you'll have many excuses to slack off as a result and demand favors from the one empowered instead of yourself...
*Penelope gains 15,000 XP. This XP counts as doubled if spent on Seraph, Truthseeker, or Lawbringer.
*Penelope gains Aspect: Seraph (Level 4) immediately.
*Penelope discounts Seraph (Level 5) by 75%.
*Penelope develops two Seraph Techniques of her choice at Level 2 immediately.
*Penelope isn't dumb enough to turn down cosmic power. It may be at least partially desperation that drives her to accept, but she wouldn't do this without some trust.
*Penelope will become the strongest first-year.
*She'll be profusely thankful for your aid in smacking down the Engine. +++Penelope.
*This is blatant simping.
*Furthermore, because this is in tune with your Role, you gain 250 XP.
After a short lecture on the Gothic environment and its threats, as well as the nature of the Theme, the Educator and Class stood in the middle of a broad avenue on the edge of Huron, the eerie settlement. Smiling, the Educator discharged the Class to explore and meet back in front of the Academy in six hours. He then strode away, cane clacking cheerfully on the cobblestones, leaving the hapless youths with no guidance save the desperate voice of Ms. Parker, who failed to elicit obedience.
It took a little convincing and even a bit of self-rationalization, but Solomon managed to sway Penelope to assist him in a deed usually perceived as most foul.
Robbery.
A saunter across the sanctums and dens of the provincial occultists ensued - crude ramshackle wards disassembled like a ribbon undone on unexpecting gift wrapping - and soon resulted in a trove of barely-magical garbage, as well as an armful of artifacts with true power. A book of forbidden secrets thieved from a collector of eldritch relics, an athame from a reckless cultist's atelier, and a revolver from the attic of a family whose progenitor was a hunter of supernatural beasts.
After that, research. Apathetic to effort even on a good day, nonetheless Solomon felt compelled to pen a competent essay. That couldn't be done without at least some attention and examination. He spoke with Penelope as they walked through the forests, curiosity drawn out with the benefits of exploration shown.
"Any similarities to Fortuna?"
"Not a lot," she said. "Fortuna's basically Europe, right down to the shape of the continent."
He took a second to imagine that. "Only Europe? What about the rest of the world?"
"Dissolves into pale mist, the further you go away from the center. Any who wander into it are lost," she said, sounding as if reciting a second-hand account. "Aside from that, we haven't explored much of it yet. It's mostly politics and medieval fiefdoms bickering with each other, so you'd probably hate it."
"Hrm."
"I've been contemplating writing that essay," she said as a change of topic.
"About what?"
"Don't know yet."
"Hmm." Solomon already had a couple of ideas, although only a few of them were grounded in anything truly substantial. It seemed that analyzing the correspondences between Themes was simultaneously a low-hanging and relatively flavorful fruit. "Well, I'll let you know if I come up with something solid. I've got a couple of ideas, but none that I really like. I'm not against letting people borrow my ideas, assuming they're at least willing to listen to me when I speak."
She cocked her head to the side. "You don't feel listened to?"
"Not really."
"Why? I believe you, that you can see the future."
He raised an eyebrow. "That belief's really spread around, huh?"
"Well, you've been going to 'remedial lessons.' Whatever that is. I assure you no one else has that, so, yeah, a lot of people are wondering what's up with you," she said, letting out a slight snort. "If you need someone to hear you out, I've got an open ear."
"Thanks," he said, strangely gratified. It wasn't only Harrison, then? Had the Educator's seminars paid off more substantial dividents than initially believed?
Then, a shudder radiated through the world; manifestly dark and alluring, a call like a siren's song in the benthic depths, dragging you deeper. A convulsion of its every facet, from the somber blades of grass to fluttering leaves on bifurcating branches. A wind came soon after, cold and full of mystery.
It'd been there ever since Solomon entered Pangothica, now intensified.
"Did you feel that?" asked Solomon.
"Yeah. A creepy feeling on my spine."
"It's at the center of this place. This... region," he said. And then, adventurously, with a slight smile, "Wanna check it out?"
"Seems dangerous," she commented, casually, with a veneer of unconcern. An indifference that masked worry, not necessarily about herself, but about Solomon, as if making sure that he was certain about doing something dumb.
"So's Enrollment."
She hummed in agreement. "Let's check it out, then."
It wasn't off by even half an hour on foot, or so, according to a simple divination that Solomon cast with a muttered invocation. It was, however, a laborious and unwelcome trek: an uphill climb and then a procession down a valley and then up yet another hill. Through a couple of flatlands and meadows, even a farm with creepy scarecrows in the stretching fields of navel-tall moon-cast wheat. It looked abandoned, the side of the red-white barn scratched by some massive beast, the house's windows shattered. They decided not to linger. Those scarecrows had almost too intense of a stare to them.
They encountered a forest, one that emanated malice: blood-soaked roots, crimson and knurled like dry veins sapping vitality from the earth, leaves shimmering ethereally azure in the air like a dark reflection of some fairytale. In the darkness cast by obscuring shoots and boughs, the trunks of the trees seemed to have baleful faces with jagged teeth and terrible, soul-draining eyes. And yet, none of this darkness bothered them, malevolence parting like a sea before a prophet, as if welcoming them deeper in. Solomon's stomach churned. He couldn't predict whether this was an auspicious occurrence or not. The amulet about his neck shook and trembled worryingly.
They emerged in a grove at a mountainside, its distant peak covered with mysterious, fuzzy evergreens and a cap of snow and frost, surrounded on every side by serrated crags and steep inclines of rock, moonlit and stark. Here, within the depths of the mountain, somewhere in the underbelly, he sensed an ancient wellspring.
It was a location where the eerie chaos of the outer cosmos descended and formed into an abnormal leyline that collected itself underneath the geographical feature of the mountain, drawn ever further upwards through vile murders and dark deeds performed at its base over the centuries. He could discern these grim truths easily, as each came in visions and states of mind without prompting: the elder power offering its secrets without duplicity or reticence. It formed a reservoir down there, a nightly pond that now threatened to spill out during moments of celestial convergence and birth madness into the world.
It'd form the embryonic nucleus of an entity - in several weeks or months. It'd need time to metamorphose even after that and create an elementary identity from its amorphous bulk. However, in due time, the entity would become a potentially colossal, world-ending threat: something the Gothic Class may well have to deal with in time.
And yet, almost rivetingly, Solomon could feel the clarifying lens of his inner genius turning outward with a scrutinizing eye, a filament coming alight within the mind to illuminate every thought - as the Magician devised a new idea from the purifying flames of entirely formless Thematics.
The Magician was about applying human resourcefulness, and Solomon had every tool needed at his disposal to make the most of this precious opportunity: chalk and the ability to procure more, the memorized contents of a bookshelf's worth of occult tomes, and the lucid acumen that foresaw any errors. More than anything, he possessed the Necronomicon, the contents of which had a ritual sketched out specifically for an occurrence such as this. This wasn't a threat to the world, or at least it didn't have to be. Instead, it could be turned into a tremendous opportunity. Here, there was only hubris for someone who didn't understand their own capabilities.
And Solomon did, casting a gaze into the skein of possibility, and untangling a single thread from its confusing tangle.
---
Will: 25
Credit: 5.7
XP: 1,855
It'll take time, it'll take effort, and it'll take ingenuity - but you earnestly believe with your Education, you can accomplish the draining of this small ley. You're lucky that its contents are relatively undeveloped, and the volume itself relatively small, as otherwise you could've had trouble with it!
It wouldn't take you significant effort to convince Penelope to aid you with this insane proposal, as you're able to strike all the right chords of pursuing strength with her in a short exchange of dialogue - it was accounted for in the Will expenditure.
Choose your Advanced Empowerment:
[ ] Absorption - A common saying among the world's Enrolled villains forewarns of the hubris in absorbing an energy field bigger than one's own head. How can you then act so confident, when you're about to do that to an energy field bigger than your own house? It's simple: you're built different.
*Absorb the wellspring. Gain 2,000-3,000 XP (variable, random.) This XP counts as doubled if spent on Eldritch.
*75% chance to unlock Eldritch (Level 1) for an hour, after which your symbiote will enter hibernation until you actually purchase the Aspect.
[ ] Distribution - However, you aren't the only individual here, and needn't be the sole beneficiary! After explaining the mechanisms of the ritual and permitting her a look into your charts, convince Penelope this is a safe procedure and she ought to partake.
*Absorb the wellspring into yourself and Penelope. Both of you gain 1,500-2,250 XP (variable, random.) This XP counts as double if spent on Eldritch / Seraph.
*75% chance to unlock Eldritch / Seraph (Level 1) for an hour, after which your symbiote and Penelope's grace enter hibernation until you actually purchase the Aspects. Your chances are separate, therefore the odds that at least one of you gets an immediate benefit is doubled relative to Absorption.
[ ] Storage - Instead, ritualistically store the contents of the wellspring in a purified container. As a result, you'll be able to use it later to terrifying effect, either to empower yourself as above, to create an artifact, or for a myriad of other purposes.
*Acquire: Eldritch Flask.
[ ] Eldritch Immersion [30 Will, 12 Credit] - Why absorb mere potential? Force the power out into the candid light. The Rite of Absorption, mighty as it may be, is only a gross and lesser reflection of the ritual that offers real power. Complete the Rite of Eldritch Immersion, as described on page one hundred and six of the Necronomicon.
A complicated and inherently unstable ritual, entwining the essence of the wellspring more completely with your spirit. Combined with your expenditure on Advanced Empowerment, it'll require altogether twenty-four Credit to produce the ingenuity of thought to come up with a reliable stabilizing schema.
*Gain 10,000 XP. This XP counts as doubled if spent on Eldritch or Arcanum.
*Gain Aspect: Eldritch (Level 4) immediately.
*Discount Eldritch (Level 5) by 50%.
*Develop an Eldritch Technique of your choice at Level 2 immediately, and another at Level 1.
*Become the strongest first-year.
[ ] Angelic Immersion [25 Will, 10 Credit] - And yet... inherent to your nature is the mentorship of another, not the assumption of a central role. Much as the Hermit shines with a lantern to guide the way, the Magician shows the secrets of the Arcana to its clients.
Better yet, you'll have many excuses to slack off as a result and demand favors from the one empowered instead of yourself...
*Penelope gains 15,000 XP. This XP counts as doubled if spent on Seraph, Truthseeker, or Lawbringer.
*Penelope gains Aspect: Seraph (Level 4) immediately.
*Penelope discounts Seraph (Level 5) by 75%.
*Penelope develops two Seraph Techniques of her choice at Level 2 immediately.
*Penelope isn't dumb enough to turn down cosmic power. It may be at least partially desperation that drives her to accept, but she wouldn't do this without some trust.
*Penelope will become the strongest first-year.
*She'll be profusely thankful for your aid in smacking down the Engine. +++Penelope.
*This is blatant simping.
*Furthermore, because this is in tune with your Role, you gain 250 XP.
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Birdsie
Sharp Talons Cleave The Worthy
- Location
- Poland
You're right. But... Between you and me? We both know the real reason why some people will vote for this...
We definitely need this. We can spend one-third on Arcane Induction or Connections to take advantage of a 75% discount, and in the remaining split between Eldritch and Arcanum. In this way, we use the potential to the maximum.
Lealope
Not yet invincible
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] Plan Friendship
-[X] Distribution
-[X] If we have enough SC, take Angelic Immersion instead
-[X] If we have enough SC, purchase Eldritch Immersion instead
Our Willpower is going to be in the toilet for the foreseeable future, and developing a strong connection to one of the other protagonists of the game is a really, really useful investment that will both secure out immediate safety and continue paying dividends in the future. This amount of XP is not defining for the quest: third years make this amount on the regular, and Birdsie has explicitly stated that Penelope could and would assist in powering us up afterwards.
Given Sol's problems with executive function, being able to extract empowerment out of an ally is just too useful to pass up. The fact that this gives us a strong connection to two of the most powerful Graduates in the future is just icing on the cake.
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