Remove ads

Chasing the Sun (CMGQ Spin Off)

Reader mode
I'm not here to vote, I'm just here to judge you for not using the right Bella picture.

​
 
Oh boy here we go again.

Hmm... I am honestly fine with either of these options winning... that said on one hand I am interested in what Boss has in store for the angel. On the other hand BELLA.

[X] A Wish twisted by Evil.
 
Voting is closed. Angel Wins.

Adhoc vote count started by Crystalwatcher on Apr 16, 2023 at 9:33 PM, finished with 63 posts and 44 votes.
Click to expand...
 
Remove ads
Born of Light 1
  • Threadmarks
    • Angels.

    When one thinks of the most iconic force of the Light, they will always immediately drift to Angels. Champions of Order and "Good", these winged people have held fast to their beliefs for longer than memory can recall.

    But many are the details that are not well known.

    For example, though it is open knowledge it is not widespread that Angels remember the prayers that gave them life. Even more than that, they remember the prayers from the view of those that prayed.

    "Please, someone save us!"

    "I hope mommy gets better soon."

    "Please let my strength be enough."

    The Angel of Healing remembers what it felt like for the child to watch her mother wither away. The Angel of War remembers the last moments of the soldier as he desperately fought alone. The Angel of Salvation remembers the last moments of those who died before the calamity.

    "I wish for someone to love me."
    "Someone, please save her!"

    As the Angel of love, you remember the crushing feeling of isolation and the desperate wish for someone to love like you do, even as you die.

    Prayers are not 'good', nor are they 'evil'. One can pray for better health just as much as someone else can pray for suffering. A murderer can pray for someone to live, as a saint can pray for someone to be damned… so long as a prayer is made, the energy created by that prayer will exist. And with it, carry bits and pieces of those that made it.

    When an Angel is finally born, those bits and pieces come together to form the mind of the Angel; cursed to carry the karma of those who prayed for their existence. And through those bits and pieces, you know things that no other angel would know. That every Angel knows.

    And like every Angel, you know who prayed for you. You know their hopes and dreams. You know their despair.

    "Adriel, are you paying attention?" Mist, the Valkyrie in charge of your… shockingly limited combat training suddenly asks. Your train of thought derails, and you find yourself snapping back to the physical world.

    "Ah, sorry Sister Mist. I was lost in thought." The Valkyrie sighs and shakes her head, even as you run your fingers through your hair, pushing your bangs out of your face. "It's just… I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do."

    "And that is fine, Adriel." Mist's hand comes up to rest on your bare shoulder, the spiritual steel of her gauntlet not quite cold against your skin. "It is never easy for newborn angels. Just take as long as you need to, and sort your thoughts. Everything else will come afterwards."

    But that's the problem, you feel. It is easy for you; there's a girl out there that desires for someone to love her despite knowing those she's killed both willingly and not. There's no question about what you're supposed to do about that; find her and tell her she is loved. That you love her.

    The issue is, how are you supposed to do that?

    Selene wouldn't appreciate you just up and abandoning the war effort just to go on a wild goose chase to find her. She doesn't feel important enough for something like that, and you refuse to disappoint her, even if you disagree with her self image. So before you do begin looking for her, you have to figure out a way to help the War Effort.

    A War Effort you can't actually contribute to right now because you have neither healing magics, or any kind of immediate combat capability. You can't create gateways, or have any kind of Host Call to allow Angels to move dimensions. You're no good with most of the common magics, brandcraft being beyond you, and your one attempt at Necromancy ending in abject humiliation.

    What you could do is… no. If an Angel used something like that, then at best you could expect to be ostracized if not outright lynched by those that'd recognize it immediately. And you need Heaven's support if you're going to answer Your Prayer.

    "Go, Adriel, take the rest of the day off and have a breather." Mist suddenly commands you. "You haven't stopped since you were born, and that's not healthy for anyone."

    She's not wrong…

    According to your teachers, it's a common issue among newborn Angels. The overriding need to run out and do something for those that prayed for them. Supposedly it wasn't as much of an issue millenia ago, before The War. It was several decades after Heaven joined in response to Hell joining, that the Higher Ups realized that the Dark Stars had started ambushing newborn Angels that rushed out of Heaven to answer Prayers that policy changed.

    Shelter the Newborn first, teach them up to a minimum level that survival while not guaranteed is far easier, then let them fly away.

    That it also had the unintended side effect of those Newborn answering their Prayers easier just ended up cementing it as the new normal, even if the new Angels regularly felt stifled and needlessly contained.

    "Alright, Sister Mist. I'll take some time to visit the Goddess' Shrine. See if that helps me get my head on straight."

    "You do that." Mist steps closer to you and wraps you in a soft hug. "Everything will be fine Adriel, you'll see. Just keep your head on straight."

    If only it were so easy.

    You and your combat instructor separate; Mist going off to train other Angels that didn't have any kind of combat ability of their own, and you to keep your promise to visit the Shrine. The same shrine that practically no one visits these days except for tourists and the 'old guard' when they get melancholy.

    Or Angels like you, who find their situation more complicated than they should be.

    "Adriel?" A young human male meets you at the entrance of the Shrine, dressed in what you know is a parody of priest vestments. Something he explained to you once he wore because the idea of being the only human actually living in Heaven entitled him to be a smartass for everyone else that were only visitors.

    "Hello William." You greet the custodian of the shrine with a smile, which he returns with a chuckle.

    "Didn't I already tell you before? Call me Will." He waves a hand to the steps he was sweeping before you approached him and takes a seat. "So, what can I help you with today?"

    You take a seat next to him, carefully brushing your toga up against the backs of your legs so it doesn't get in the way. "The same thing as always I guess. Failure to form my will into a weapon, and an inability to properly utilize my Light element."

    "I see, have you given any thought about what I suggested?"

    "Yes." His suggestion was actually extremely helpful if not for the fact it ran headlong into your own hangups.

    'Form it with your prayer'.

    On paper it was more or less what all Angels did; using their Prayer to define their magic, much like it defined their existence. In practice though, the ones who prayed for the Angel also influenced the result as well. It was how Valkyries like Sister Mist formed. Or how some Angels were better with support Magic than frontline combat. Or the rare Angel that wasn't any good with obvious magic at all, but were amazing at using it for administrative purposes. (William explained that last bit as thousands of wage slaves praying for better bosses, but you never had the courage to actually ask.)

    "I feel that if I follow your advice fully then… the Light that gave birth to me is not a kind one."

    "And as an Angel of Love, that's a problem." You glance at William, but nod your head without a verbal response. "Have you actually tried regardless though?" You glance back up to him in confusion, and he raises an eyebrow at you. "Here in Heaven, if your Light is dangerous, there is no safer place to find out. It's why I believe Heaven is the way it is."

    You wrap your forearms up under your legs and frown down at your lap, "But what if…"

    "But nothing." William lightly baps you on the head; no physical force is transferred, but the intent translates across easily by the nature of this place. "I've met a lot of Angels over the last few months; I can promise you that there is nothing to worry about, regardless of how it manifests."

    … You're still unsure, but the conviction in his voice does help.

    Is it wrong that you're more comfortable confiding in a human than you are in your fellow angels? Even if you're still not confiding everything? Selene doesn't give you much help here, being human, and Veere is…

    You really don't want to think bad of those who Prayed for you, but 'malicious' is as positive as you can get.

    Are you too hung up on those who've Prayed for you? Mist says no, that it's natural for Newborn to obsess over them, but you find yourself asking constantly.

    "Hell, if it's too much to practice in one of the usual areas, why not try it out first somewhere out of sight?" William's sudden comment pulls you out of your newest mental spiral.

    "What do you mean out of sight?"

    The human shrugs a shoulder and waves an idle hand through the air, "I know a couple of places that are out of the way that someone can use to play around with their Magic that no one ever checks."

    You can't help but find the thought incredibly intriguing. "How do you… know of these places?"

    "I prefer practicing my magic away from the quivering masses. Especially up here in heaven where a Demon-affinity magic user gets funny looks." He replies so casually that it takes you a moment to realize your brain just stuttered.

    "I'm sorry, what?"

    "My affinity is literally 'Demon'." William confirms with a grin. "It's super ironic, but a couple of the local big wings have actually swung by to give me advice and pointers from their own interactions with demonic magics."

    You stare at him for a moment before a stray bit of information from Selene suddenly filters through. "You're the mage that reversed the Demon Gate in Rome."

    William's grin somehow grows even more smug. "Nope, that was my pa! I was still in highschool when Rome got invaded. Though it was with a bit of my own notes he pulled it off. So in a roundabout way it was thanks to me!"

    You keep staring at him for several seconds as you try and fail to process the fact you're sitting next to one of the most well known unknown humans to ever live. That just a few days ago he had asked your help in stealing unmentionables! As a joke!

    The fuck is wrong with humans, that either they were one of the faceless masses or significant individuals just randomly popped up in the weirdest fucking places?! Is this how Elves felt whenever a Magical Girl just randomly rolled up and decided to start helping out? What the fuck?!

    "Anyway, back to the important part of the conversation-" How is this not important William?! "-I'll tell you where to find some of these hidey-holes, and you actually practice your power, even if you don't use them. Deal?"

    You want to throttle him. The urge is almost overwhelming, but you can't help but acknowledge that his bomb drop has pulled you out of your funk. Doesn't change the fact you want to throttle him though. "... Alright, fine." You heave a deep breath and gather yourself as much as you can. "If you tell me where to find a good place to practice away from prying eyes, I'll actually shape my Prayer."

    You feel a surge of energy, so slight as to be insignificant. Your whole being latches onto it, and you know what you've just done; you've made a deal, and thus created a promise. You know instinctively that if you don't keep it, then bad things will happen to you. What those bad things are, you're not sure, but the knowing is enough. The mere thought of breaking it is repulsive on a fundamental level already, you don't bother trying to think of how bad the blowback would be if you broke it.

    "Awesome! Now, you know where they like holding those cooking competitions?"

    [] Shape yourself in hiding.
    [] Shape yourself in the open.​

    +5 EXP Newborn Training

    __________________________________________________

    Welcome, Readers, to Chasing the Sun.​

    As anyone who is familiar with my setting knows, the local power curve hits hard and it hits fast. And nothing exemplifies this as Mankind's ultimate champions; the Magical Girls.

    Unfortunately, you are not a Magical Girl.

    As an Angel, you are a creature of Spirit and Magic. You have will, but it is not enough to force the world around you to submit. Unlike a Magical Girl whose growth is reliant upon the will and desire for power, your ability to grow stronger is hamstrung by the effort you put into growing stronger, while suffering the limitations of mortality. What this means is that instead of arbitrarily gaining random amounts of EXP from emotionally significant events, you instead have to put work into training and practice in order to force yourself to grow.

    So do not lose sight of your goal; the impossible existence that even now is flying through the sky into the distance.

    (For those who this isn't obvious too, this means that you'll only get EXP either after a fight where you actually fight, voting to go train, or story events where others teach you or train you themselves.)

    Shop Differences:​
    Unlike Mainline and other quests featuring Magical Girls, the 'shop' is not a place where you can spend EXP for goodies. It is instead, more of a map for the future, hinting at major events to come that will have significant impact on Adriel. So any option that is mutually exclusive to another means there will be a choice to make.

    Good news though, is when you meet the requirements to unlock a shop item, it'll be automatically added to Adriel's sheet, no extra cost required.​

    EXP Tracking:​
    Due to the differences caused by how you will grow as an Angel in comparison as a Magical Girl, instead of just a single EXP Pool, each item on the character sheet will have it's own EXP counter next to it's level to tell you how much more effort is needed before the item grows stronger.

    Take Adriel's Flight for example:​
    Flight
    Level 5 (43/50 EXP)
    -Adriel is capable of flying at 40mph.​

    She has 43 out of the 50 needed for Flight Level 6. The more she flies around, the more Flight EXP she'll get over the course of the quest. All leveled abilities on Adriel's sheet will work the same.

    What you need to keep in mind though, is not all EXP is gained the same, or from the same things. Some items will not be 'trainable' in the normal way. An ability such as Presence of Light won't be trainable, and thus will require you to find a different way to gain experience for it.​

    How to read a character sheet:

    (Organizations/Affiliations) Name Slide


    Character Name​

    An image might be here. Highway to Hell will not have images for many of its cast.



    The first slide, the name slide, is primarily flavor text. Character epithets, images, and blurbs will be here.


    Stats

    Health: 500
    Base Damage: 100
    Base Resilience: 100
    Magic Modifier: 75

    Affinities: Affinity 1 | Affinity 2 | Growth Affinity



    The second slide is the stats slide.

    Base Health is self explanatory.

    Base Damage is the damage the character does with a normal attack from their weapon. 'Variable' for the base damage may be seen when the character has multiple weapons with differing base damages.

    Base Resilience is the defense stat. Any damage the character would take will generally be reduced by their base resilience as part of the defensive string.

    Magic Modifier is the 'bonus' stat. It gets added to every basic attack offensive string and every defensive string the character makes. Spells often have their own magic modifier stat, which are only applied when the spell is cast.

    Affinities are akin to types in something like Pokemon. Characters with similar affinities will tend to do similar things, have similar weaknesses, and/or have similar aesthetics.

    Generally, the more affinities a character has, the stronger they are. Gods, for example, start at 7 affinities for the weakest among them.

    On Magical Girls, the last affinity they have is known as a Growth Affinity. These have 8 levels, from lowest to highest: Story Maker, Myth Maker, Legend Maker, Story, Myth, Legend, Epic, and Divinity. This affinity tracks the Existential Weight of the magical girl, or in other words, how much them simply existing distorts the world.


    Weapon


    Weapon Name
    Level: 1
    Actions Per Turn: 1
    Affinities: Affinity 1 | Affinity 2 | Growth Affinity
    Abilities: Ability 1


    The weapon slide tracks every weapon the character has.

    Weapons usually have levels, and can be leveled like every other levelable item on a character sheet. Adoration is an exception.

    The actions per turn stat measures how many attacks a character can make in a turn. It also correlates to how fast a character is: faster characters will tend to have more ApT, and things which increase ApT tend to make characters faster.

    Not every action in a turn will be spent by every character, as characters may not be in range to attack, may not want to attack for some reason, or countless other factors.

    Weapons can also have affinities. They will generally be affinities that their holder has.

    Weapons may also have keyword abilities. These can vary in far too many ways to explain concisely. Generally, a character sheet in Highway to Hell will come with a keyword ability index that explains what each keyword on the sheet means.

    Spells


    Placeholder Spell
    Flavor Text. Very complicated spells may use this as a description instead
    Level: 1
    Base Damage: 100
    Magic Modifier: 100
    Affinities: Affinity 1 | Affinity 2 | Growth Affinity
    Abilities: Ability 1 | Ability 2


    The next slide is the spell slide. Generally, characters can only cast one spell per turn (Adoration specifically has an ability that lets her bypass this restriction). In exchange for this limitation, every spell has more Metaphysical 'Weight', than an attack would. As a result, spells cannot be intercepted by non-spells, nor can they be parried.

    That being said, not all spells are cast by wizards. A spell can simply be something a character could normally do, with more 'oomph' behind it, literally and metaphysically. For example, Adoration doesn't actually need to conjure and throw all of her spears by hand: Absolute Territory is Adoration creating spears everywhere within her range instantly, no spell incantation necessary.


    Spells generally have a level, base damage, and magic modifier, as they cause offensive strings just like attacks do. If a spell does not cause damage for some reason, it will be denoted with a N/A for base damage and Magic Modifier.

    Spells have affinities, just like attacks and characters.

    Spells have abilities as well. These will also be found in the character's keyword ability index. Spells often have more abilities than weapons do, as they are more complex.

    Abilities

    Ability Name
    Flavor Text. Tends to be present on more powerful abilities
    Level: 1 (Not all abilities have levels)
    -Ability description. This tells you what the ability does, when it may trigger, etc.


    Personal abilities go on the ability slide. These are generally more complex and more unique than keyword abilities. Personal abilities may or may not have hard mechanical effects: Adoration's 'Inhuman Agility' has no effect on her strings or on her stats, but it does allow her to do things like forgo a parachute when skydiving.
     
    Last edited:
  • Threadmarks
    • Quick notes on the quest's EXP system:

    Angels are a kind of mid-point between purely mortal species like Elves, Humans, and Fairies. So 90% of your power growth will be based on how they grow. Which is the individual EXP pools for each item.

    There will be a small universal Pool that can be drawn from and put into the lesser pools, but don't expect much out of it.

    You will be able to also gain power by finding and/or making custom equipment or selling bits of yourself to higher powers for boosts.
     
    Reader mode
    You must login or register to reply here.
    Remove ads
    Back
    Top