The fact that it even have cords instead of a syrinx is, in and of itself, a clear sign of extensive biotinker tampering.
Combinatorial Explosion (Worm/Original)
- Thread starter Shadestyle
- Start date
The fact that it even have cords instead of a syrinx is, in and of itself, a clear sign of extensive biotinker tampering.
Hugs wanted
(Lurker of threads) (wannabe writer)
[X][Research] Queen Administrator may expend some of the data they have in reserve to gain an advantage.
-[X][Research] One point of Research may be expended to grant additional power for the host (Taylor will receive Magical Power Rank B for one month.)
-[X][Research] Twenty Points of Research may be expended to permanently eke out a buffer of energy for the host. (Taylor may temporarily obtain Magical Power Rank A for one scene, once per month.
We shouldn't allow anyone else to have access to magic, especially Armsmaster who works for the PRT and not us
-[X][Research] One point of Research may be expended to grant additional power for the host (Taylor will receive Magical Power Rank B for one month.)
-[X][Research] Twenty Points of Research may be expended to permanently eke out a buffer of energy for the host. (Taylor may temporarily obtain Magical Power Rank A for one scene, once per month.
We shouldn't allow anyone else to have access to magic, especially Armsmaster who works for the PRT and not us
- Pronouns
- he/him
[X][Research] Queen Administrator may expend some of the data they have in reserve to gain an advantage.
-[X][Research] One point of Research may be expended to grant additional power for the host (Taylor will receive Magical Power Rank B for one month.)
-[X][Research] Twenty Points of Research may be expended to permanently eke out a buffer of energy for the host. (Taylor may temporarily obtain Magical Power Rank A for one scene, once per month.
don't allow efficient to gain mana we don't need armaster to fuck is sleep schedul even more
loved the way the transfert of worth append it seem that it also tranfert part of the concept of the original item
also maybe we should try to create a secured lab in the basement maybe expending it with something like a concept catcher to could "collect" the free floating concept to not only have more security but also maybe be used later
[x][alchemy] maybe see what append when we up the worth of something after having modified it's form with galium mana
-[X][Research] One point of Research may be expended to grant additional power for the host (Taylor will receive Magical Power Rank B for one month.)
-[X][Research] Twenty Points of Research may be expended to permanently eke out a buffer of energy for the host. (Taylor may temporarily obtain Magical Power Rank A for one scene, once per month.
don't allow efficient to gain mana we don't need armaster to fuck is sleep schedul even more
loved the way the transfert of worth append it seem that it also tranfert part of the concept of the original item
also maybe we should try to create a secured lab in the basement maybe expending it with something like a concept catcher to could "collect" the free floating concept to not only have more security but also maybe be used later
[x][alchemy] maybe see what append when we up the worth of something after having modified it's form with galium mana
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- Pronouns
- She/Her
How much Research would we need to convince [Queen Shaper] to batter their way into our dimension? It only takes 5 research to do an override action, so if we send [Queen Shaper] 5 research could she make Amy perform an action? If so it should only take 10-15 research to get Amy and Taylor in brain surgery (depending on if we include [Negotiator] or not).
- Pronouns
- he/him
i want shaper and AD to have bud i ship them
also i realise the piece of sharpened reabar was rusty after the worth as been take so if we use the Stainless steel >thungsten mana to get the rust back into steel we could have infinite worth just at the cost of mana
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[X][Research] Queen Administrator may expend some of the data they have in reserve to gain an advantage.
-[X][Research] One point of Research may be expended to grant additional power for the host (Taylor will receive Magical Power Rank B for one month.)
-[X][Research] Twenty Points of Research may be expended to permanently eke out a buffer of energy for the host. (Taylor may temporarily obtain Magical Power Rank A for one scene, once per month.
-[X][Research] Gift a shard of your choosing Research for a reason of your choosing. (Gift [Queen Shaper] 5 research)
QS might be able to suggest things QA could do to improve herself with mana, or might give Panacea ideas with mana. Also I appreciate the scene with the Indium test, it definitely didn't go how I expected/wanted. How should we indicate applying Indium magic to a spell in future mana tests since adding it to the attunement chain doesn't seem to work?
Beryllium mana seems potentially deadly, but it's at least slow. Cadmium, however, I really want to see what happens with tinkertech. Will it reduce highly advanced devices into something less complex (and thus be able to be copied)? Might be worthwhile showing off a bit of what we can do to the PRT in exchange for access to materials and elements that would otherwise be prohibitively expensive. Plus Gallium magic is basically any tinkers wet dream, Armsmaster in particular...
-[X][Research] One point of Research may be expended to grant additional power for the host (Taylor will receive Magical Power Rank B for one month.)
-[X][Research] Twenty Points of Research may be expended to permanently eke out a buffer of energy for the host. (Taylor may temporarily obtain Magical Power Rank A for one scene, once per month.
-[X][Research] Gift a shard of your choosing Research for a reason of your choosing. (Gift [Queen Shaper] 5 research)
QS might be able to suggest things QA could do to improve herself with mana, or might give Panacea ideas with mana. Also I appreciate the scene with the Indium test, it definitely didn't go how I expected/wanted. How should we indicate applying Indium magic to a spell in future mana tests since adding it to the attunement chain doesn't seem to work?
Beryllium mana seems potentially deadly, but it's at least slow. Cadmium, however, I really want to see what happens with tinkertech. Will it reduce highly advanced devices into something less complex (and thus be able to be copied)? Might be worthwhile showing off a bit of what we can do to the PRT in exchange for access to materials and elements that would otherwise be prohibitively expensive. Plus Gallium magic is basically any tinkers wet dream, Armsmaster in particular...
- Pronouns
- They/Them
I'm not opposed to giving Efficiency mana, but I think I'd want to interact more with Armsmaster before making any decisions on that front. Narratively speaking, having Taylor as uniquely magical is interesting and I'm not sure how powering up Armsmaster would fit in right now, given how little we've interacted with him. On the other hand, I doubt Efficiency would straight up give him magical powers; it seems more likely that it'll be an upgrade to his tinker power, similar to how he used data from Sage to upgrade his sensors.
[X][Research] Queen Administrator may expend some of the data they have in reserve to gain an advantage.
-[X][Research] One point of Research may be expended to grant additional power for the host (Taylor will receive Magical Power Rank B for one month.)
-[X][Research] Twenty Points of Research may be expended to permanently eke out a buffer of energy for the host. (Taylor may temporarily obtain Magical Power Rank A for one scene, once per month.
[X][Research] Queen Administrator may expend some of the data they have in reserve to gain an advantage.
-[X][Research] One point of Research may be expended to grant additional power for the host (Taylor will receive Magical Power Rank B for one month.)
-[X][Research] Twenty Points of Research may be expended to permanently eke out a buffer of energy for the host. (Taylor may temporarily obtain Magical Power Rank A for one scene, once per month.
- Location
- OK
[][Mana] Apply Indium Mana to X > Y > Z mana.
Though, applying mana to other mana isn't strictly unique to Indium. There might be a few others worth trying that with,
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- Pronouns
- He
[X][Research] Queen Administrator may expend some of the data they have in reserve to gain an advantage.
-[X][Research] One point of Research may be expended to grant additional power for the host (Taylor will receive Magical Power Rank B for one month.)
-[X][Research] Twenty Points of Research may be expended to permanently eke out a buffer of energy for the host. (Taylor may temporarily obtain Magical Power Rank A for one scene, once per month.
-[X][Research] Gift a shard of your choosing Research for a reason of your choosing. (Gift [Queen Shaper] 5 research)
-[X][Research] One point of Research may be expended to grant additional power for the host (Taylor will receive Magical Power Rank B for one month.)
-[X][Research] Twenty Points of Research may be expended to permanently eke out a buffer of energy for the host. (Taylor may temporarily obtain Magical Power Rank A for one scene, once per month.
-[X][Research] Gift a shard of your choosing Research for a reason of your choosing. (Gift [Queen Shaper] 5 research)
[X][Research] Queen Administrator may expend some of the data they have in reserve to gain an advantage.
-[X][Research] Research may be gifted to accessible shards. This Mana, while dangerous, is supremely versatile.
--[X][Research] Gift [Negotiator] 15? Research for to allow Tattletale to specifically recognize and deduce information about mana types and be pushed to acquire such information, letting [Negotiator] collect their own research, especially as they might be more suited to understand Arcane mana. To enable this it'd be preferable Lisa didn't do anything to make Taylor reject further cooperation or association out of fear or ethics disagreements.
-[X][Research] Research may be gifted to accessible shards. This Mana, while dangerous, is supremely versatile.
--[X][Research] Gift [Negotiator] 15? Research for to allow Tattletale to specifically recognize and deduce information about mana types and be pushed to acquire such information, letting [Negotiator] collect their own research, especially as they might be more suited to understand Arcane mana. To enable this it'd be preferable Lisa didn't do anything to make Taylor reject further cooperation or association out of fear or ethics disagreements.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X][Research] Queen Administrator may expend some of the data they have in reserve to gain an advantage.
-[X][Research] One point of Research may be expended to grant additional power for the host (Taylor will receive Magical Power Rank B for one month.)
-[X][Research] Twenty Points of Research may be expended to permanently eke out a buffer of energy for the host. (Taylor may temporarily obtain Magical Power Rank A for one scene, once per month.
-[X][Research] Research may be gifted to accessible shards. This Mana, while dangerous, is supremely versatile.
--[X][Research] Gift [Negotiator] 15? Research for to allow Tattletale to specifically recognize and deduce information about mana types and be pushed to acquire such information, letting [Negotiator] collect their own research, especially as they might be more suited to understand Arcane mana. To enable this it'd be preferable Lisa didn't do anything to make Taylor reject further cooperation or association out of fear or ethics disagreements.
-[X][Research] One point of Research may be expended to grant additional power for the host (Taylor will receive Magical Power Rank B for one month.)
-[X][Research] Twenty Points of Research may be expended to permanently eke out a buffer of energy for the host. (Taylor may temporarily obtain Magical Power Rank A for one scene, once per month.
-[X][Research] Research may be gifted to accessible shards. This Mana, while dangerous, is supremely versatile.
--[X][Research] Gift [Negotiator] 15? Research for to allow Tattletale to specifically recognize and deduce information about mana types and be pushed to acquire such information, letting [Negotiator] collect their own research, especially as they might be more suited to understand Arcane mana. To enable this it'd be preferable Lisa didn't do anything to make Taylor reject further cooperation or association out of fear or ethics disagreements.
[X][Research] Queen Administrator may expend some of the data they have in reserve to gain an advantage.
-[X][Research] One point of Research may be expended to grant additional power for the host (Taylor will receive Magical Power Rank B for one month.)
-[X][Research] Twenty Points of Research may be expended to permanently eke out a buffer of energy for the host. (Taylor may temporarily obtain Magical Power Rank A for one scene, once per month.
-[X][Research] One point of Research may be expended to grant additional power for the host (Taylor will receive Magical Power Rank B for one month.)
-[X][Research] Twenty Points of Research may be expended to permanently eke out a buffer of energy for the host. (Taylor may temporarily obtain Magical Power Rank A for one scene, once per month.
[x][Project] You'll begin a project of some kind.
-[X][Project] Something Else (Time to upgrade in STYLE. etc. etc.)
--[X] Use Thaum > [Plant + skin] > Water to make an arcane mana and apply large amounts of it to the whole armor while chanting:
-[X][Project] Something Else (Time to upgrade in STYLE. etc. etc.)
--[X] Use Thaum > [Plant + skin] > Water to make an arcane mana and apply large amounts of it to the whole armor while chanting:
Plate of Oak and ward of Sage
Harden to protect this mage
Cloak of moss and garbs of green
Make sure I remain unseen
Weft of mana, weave of rhyme
Keep me safe for all of time
Veins of light and porcelain grin
Aid thy wearer life to spin
Harden to protect this mage
Cloak of moss and garbs of green
Make sure I remain unseen
Weft of mana, weave of rhyme
Keep me safe for all of time
Veins of light and porcelain grin
Aid thy wearer life to spin
[X][Research] Queen Administrator may expend some of the data they have in reserve to gain an advantage.
-[X][Research] One point of Research may be expended to grant additional power for the host (Taylor will receive Magical Power Rank B for one month.)
-[X][Research] Twenty Points of Research may be expended to permanently eke out a buffer of energy for the host. (Taylor may temporarily obtain Magical Power Rank A for one scene, once per month.
-[X][Research] One point of Research may be expended to grant additional power for the host (Taylor will receive Magical Power Rank B for one month.)
-[X][Research] Twenty Points of Research may be expended to permanently eke out a buffer of energy for the host. (Taylor may temporarily obtain Magical Power Rank A for one scene, once per month.
- Pronouns
- He
So. Thought.
Thoth is stated to have double the brain activity of a normal bird. Probbly because it now has a Magical Body power like we do. What if, instead of modifying our brains, we gift Research to [Queen Shaper] so that Panacea can get magic without us having to unlock it for her.
Then we could possibly skip the brain altering step, in favor of charging them up with magic.
Of course, we could also wait until we can unlock Panacea's magic
Thoth is stated to have double the brain activity of a normal bird. Probbly because it now has a Magical Body power like we do. What if, instead of modifying our brains, we gift Research to [Queen Shaper] so that Panacea can get magic without us having to unlock it for her.
Then we could possibly skip the brain altering step, in favor of charging them up with magic.
Of course, we could also wait until we can unlock Panacea's magic
[X][Research] Queen Administrator may expend some of the data they have in reserve to gain an advantage.
-[X][Research] Research may be gifted to accessible shards. This Mana, while dangerous, is supremely versatile.
--[X][Research] Gift [Queen Shaper] two or three points for the purpose of adding bodily manas and souls to the long list of energy types Amy can thinker-detect.
-[X][Research] Research may be gifted to accessible shards. This Mana, while dangerous, is supremely versatile.
--[X][Research] Gift [Queen Shaper] two or three points for the purpose of adding bodily manas and souls to the long list of energy types Amy can thinker-detect.
- Location
- OK
Voting is now closed! Beginning update.
I've been having headaches the past few days, so pardon if there are delays now or later.
Chapter 16
- Location
- OK
When I wake up the next morning, I feel the urge once again to jot down my thoughts, snatching up my journal and scribbling data into them.
Concepts, Essence, Vitality, and Willpower. These four things have cropped up again and again.
Nearly every Alchemical Mana I have discovered deals in concepts, which seem to involve something to do with an object's shape or function.
A large number of Elemental Mana types I have discovered manipulate Elemental Essence, and all of them seem to focus on things like matter and energy.
Carbon and Calcium. Carbonates and Calcates, all of those seem to exude vitality. Either the vitality of the living, of plants and animals, or of the undead, and diseases.
And finally, Willpower. The most inconsistent of the four, it seems to bleed in and out of different mana types at complete random, but despite this, Will, my will, is able to take complete control over mana.
I set down my pencil, summoning up a little glob of magic.
It isn't just commands. Mana doesn't just obey my orders.
'Go over here,' I think, and it flies to one corner of the room.
'Come back to me,' I think, and it returns to my hand.
I gesture, and no thought is needed, only a strong focus and time. The mana bursts into flames, emulating the Ruby mana attunement.
Is that even needed? Do I even need to know what I want, in order for mana to do it?
'Obey Thoth', I think to myself, and the mana shifts, slipping free of my control. No, not quite. It pretends to slip free of my control. It does everything Thoth wants it to do, except for the things that I don't.
Maybe the bird notices as the mana flows into the cage and is absorbed into her, or maybe she doesn't. It doesn't matter, because for all intents and purposes, I was able to simply share my magic. No, again, it isn't quite sharing.
I've merely left it laying in front of Thoth, in the magical sense. If it were a gun, or maybe a phone, it would still be registered under my name. Still functional, and able to be operated by them, but never theirs.
I can tell because I already know that I don't want to lose control over even a bit of my magic. Some intuition, or perhaps a compulsion from my power, seems to constantly hold back from sharing it. I haven't awakened the mana of any other animals, either, despite their potential use as a power source. Dad hasn't read my magic journal, even though it's written in plain English.
Maybe it's something like what a tinker experiences, and it would be pointless for him to look at it, and yet, it seems so obvious to me, so simple.
Mana reacts to form. It reacts to elements. It exudes vitality, and bends to willpower.
But on some level, I think I haven't wanted him to participate in it. I've done all my testing by myself. Everything meticulously recorded, everything meticulously tested.
To give me some semblance of control over it. Predictability.
My power wants it, but do I need it?
I feel like I'm close to something. Something that would bust this whole Mana Attunement System wide open for me.
But for now, I've got little else.
[][Learn] Is there anything else I've learned?
-[][Learn] (Write-in)
-[][Learn] No
I close my book, feeling my power's own supply of magic surge in response. A pool of magic I could draw from whenever I want, far stronger than the magic my own soul produces.
I wonder what the mana my power produces wants. What things are permitted when using this 'gifted' mana.
I decided to spend a day hammering out the last bits of the "Final Fantasy" game that Greg let me borrow.
It was pure fantasy. All magic and spells and monsters, most of which only superficially resembled mine.
But that wasn't what kept my attention.
The plot spoke of technology, of civilization and the 'hope' it embodied, targeted by monsters whose only goal was to eradicate it. It played out people who fought to shape their stories.
The game played out scenes of spells, spells that cast thousands of needles at a foe, individually doing little damage, but together being unstoppable, swords made of solid water, dolls that could aid in channeling magic, staves that could do the same.
Tinkertech machines powered by magic, and sports impossible to play without the use of both.
But most importantly, it revolved around Summons. Giant beasts, easily a nightmare straight from biotinker horror stories, but made of pure magic, and controlled from afar, controlled by their patrons, sealed in crystals far away.
Out of everything I saw, that idea stuck with me the most. Could I, through force of will, simply command my magic to behave as a certain creature would? To obey the orders of a particular person, without anything more than their intentions to drive it?
What were the limits? How far away could I "lend" magic to someone else from? Could Thoth in their cage control magic that I was wielding from across the city, if I simply thought, 'Mana, do what Thoth would want you to do'?
As the game's final theme played, closing the end of that particular story, I couldn't help but consider the sad message its ending had.
In the game, they killed their 'Endbringer', but not without cost.
It made me a bit sad, but I supposed that was the point.
When you see your story through to the end... It ends.
And if you want to fight your sorrows, you have to be prepared to face them.
I had the game console in a box, and the little disk in its fancy case that Greg apparently bought for all his 'favorite' games. (I was pretty sure that he had maybe two games that weren't on that list)
"Here, I've got your stuff, Greg," I say, holding out the box.
"Oh! You beat it? That was quick! Did you like the part where-" he starts, walking over to me. Before he can finish, however, a hand swipes towards me, smacking the box out of my hands.
A quiet pulse of magic insulated the stuff inside from the worst of it, as it crashed to the ground.
Greg looks aghast down at what he thinks is his potentially busted PlayStation, while I just turn to look at Emma.
"Do you have any idea what you've done, Hebert?" she hisses, stalking up to me with her fists clenched.
"Of course not. While you've been busy sucking up to the second-biggest loser in this damn school, I've had to deal with cleaning up the mess you made," she says, looking as if she's holding herself back from trying to shove me like Sophia might have.
I glare imperiously down at her, before the sternness fades into apathy. Powerless. Weak. Psychotic. Helpless.
Even the research I've done so far tells me at least the broad strokes of why Emma is acting the way she is. Something happened when her family was attacked that started this.
It would be so easy, with my abilities. Maybe something like a combination of Simulated Beryllium and Brain Mana. Just pull the unstable concepts right out of her mind. It might take an hour to attune everything, but it could be done.
Or I could do it right now. Just plant my hand on her forehead for a second. Maybe two. Even if she awoke to magic, she wouldn't have enough time before I was able to find the correct memories. Copy them with magic, and then view them at my leisure. Learn the truth right now, and save myself the trouble.
Take the easy way out.
Instead, I lowered my hand from where it had been twitching upwards, and sigh.
"I'm going to figure out what happened to break you, Emma. Save it for the day I do. Then we can see this through to the end, whatever that may be," I say, pushing her slowly, but firmly away from me.
I had to restrain myself even more, as I could feel my hair blowing a bit in an invisible wind. The Keratin Magic had been affecting gravity, making it look like my hair was blowing around indoors ever so slightly.
Emma, to her credit, doesn't even sputter, too in shock at my words to respond as I turn to Greg, who looks like someone trying not to cry even though they've never really had a reason to practice at it.
I lean down to him. "Look, it'll be fine. The memory card is ok, and I didn't delete your save on it. If anything's broken, I'll see about fixing it, or maybe getting you a new one, alright?" I say, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"You did me a favor, and then I got your stuff dumped on the floor. So I owe you twice as much," I say, grabbing the box and pulling him up out of his pity party.
He just nods a bit. "Yeah, right. You don't have to do that, I-"
I hold up a hand. "Take it home, see if it still works. If it doesn't, I'll figure out a solution. Got it?" I insist.
His pout turns into a dumb grin all too quickly. "Yeah! Alright. Thanks Taylor! Be sure to tell me later what you thought of the game!" he says, running away from the still shellshocked Emma before she can decide to ensure his game really is broken.
My eyes meet with hers, and the moment passes. Madison grabs her by the wrist, nervously implying that she should get the hell away from me.
I don't care. I feel more in control now than I've ever felt before.
When I get home, it's back to more testing. I decide to test a few of the more interesting things that had popped into my mind.
One of the obvious tests was, my mana could attune to brains. What did mana attuned to the part of a parahuman's brain responsible for their powers do?
Extracting a bit of mana from my own brain was child's play, and the result was... A Mana Type that my power decided to label as "Eldritch Relay".
Wow, and I thought "Soulshaking Dirge" was a creepy name.
This mana, despite its strange name, was fairly simple. Unless it was held perfectly still, allowed to act without any influence, and totally ceeded to the parahuman it came from and their will, the mana did jack diddly. It contained "thoughts of their power", and, if allowed totally free reign, would act as a relay for their power, whatever that meant.
Whatever it meant, I was now apparently a dangerous trump on top of all the other classifications I'm sure I've had slapped on me in recent months.
I turned to my next text. Combining Construct, Barrier, and Shell magic, and then attuning that to something, had thus far resulted invariably in armor.
Lightsmith Armor came from attuning it to glass, and Woodsmith Armor, by attuning it to wood. The new mana would attempt to forge armor plates from something, and until starved of magic, they would be enchanted with higher durability.
It was worth testing it on other things as well, I felt. With some attunement and hybridization, I gathered a large mass of the magic, and got to work attuning it to whatever caught my fancy.
Attuning it to blood resulted in Bloodsmith Armor, which turned, you guessed it, blood and blood energy into solid armor plates. These armor plates, being made of blood or blood magic, had powerful revitalizing properties. If you were willing to absorb the vitality from blood, anyway...
I didn't fancy the idea of having red skin or eyes or anything, so I moved on to the next.
Attuning it to gold resulted in Sunsmith Armor, which turned sunlight into armor, an armor which both absorbed and radiated the sun's energy.
It wasn't quite like Lightsmith Armor. In the same way, magically, Light and Sunlight were different.
I suspected, given enough power and light, Sunsmith Armor Plates would eventually take on other properties of the sun. I happened to go to fifth-grade science as much as anyone, so I knew that the sun was a bit more impressive than a huge hot dot in the sky. I wonder if its armor could eventually turn into something like plasma...
Next test, and the final one for now, I infused the last of the mana into diamonds, interested in finding out just what sort of horrible biological monstrosity my mana would reward me with using Lifesmith Armor.
Once again, magic defied my expectations, in that respect. This mana made armor, sure, but not a physical one. Instead, it turned Life into Armor. The more vitality the mana absorbed, the more durable its host would become, so long as the magic lasted.
In short, my senses implied that it would allow someone to turn wounding blows into merely weakening ones, no matter how brutal.
The downside was obvious. If you pour all of your life into defense, then there's no life left in you.
A dangerous use of life energy.
I dispersed the magic, jotting down a few ideas for later before moving on.
One quick test I was able to get out of the way, was figuring out what was the minimum that I could wear, to count towards a True Attunement's Set Bonus. Using some cotton and scissors, I was able to quickly find out that... It was arbitrary. Joy.
I needed seven pieces, at minimum. Boots, Gloves, Shirt, Pants, and a hat. I could ditch any of them, but only if I wore something else. The something else could also be a weapon. It didn't matter how little I wore, only that it was my "outermost layer". I discovered that, interestingly enough, my magic didn't care what I was wearing underneath my "set", so long as it didn't somehow breach certain quirky limitations.
Wearing clothing over other clothing? The True Attunement flowed correctly.
Wearing armor over clothing? The armor's set bonus was applied.
Wearing clothing over armor? A new set bonus or none at all, depending on if the two were "integrated" into the same basic "set" of equipment. I wasn't in danger of being deprived of a set bonus for using armored inserts in clothing, but it would give a different one.
Wearing almost nothing? The full set bonus applied, so long as the appropriate places were covered.
Wearing almost nothing with something underneath? The result was an entirely new set bonus or none at all, again, depending on how much they were integrated. Merely wearing some Curestone bracers over a cotton suit didn't push me towards the Curestone's Set Bonus, and it pushed me away from cotton's bonus.
However, wearing curestone plates over my arms and legs, with the stone sewn into the cotton? A new Set Bonus that slightly changed the properties of my Cloth Cantrips, giving them a more healing bend to them.
In short, True Mana fed into what I could only go so far as to call my outward appearance. Lacking imbalance in my outward equipment, True Attuned Mana could flow freely, and unlock the set's hidden magical potential.
Considering the strange qualities of this, I had a suspicion that at higher levels of True Attunement, even the style of an outfit might lend itself towards particular abilities.
I finally decided to test my new costume's bonus as well, something I had been neglecting.
The first thing I noticed, upon donning my armor and unleashing my magic, was that my home had suddenly become strong. As strong as my armor, in fact.
That was the Sage Armor's True Attunement. The wooden object or structure nearest to me shared my armor's strength.
Then, with the strength of my soul, I pulled free the secret cantrips of this attunement and unlocked its set bonus.
Firstly, I could use it to grow plants without soil. I simply applied my magic, and the plants would grow and flourish, even if all I had was a single seed. And unlike before, if I forced a plant to grow using nothing but liquid mana, it wouldn't shrink and wither over time, as the liquid mana faded, and the limited mass of the plant was sucked in on itself.
My armor let me grow plants. And the cantrips were no different.
Mana Blossom, the ability to have my magic manifest in the form of plants I had access to, instead of a Ray, a Liquid, or a Wave. It would simply manifest as... a glowing transparent plant.
Next, Cutting of Sage. My armor's cantrip quite handily granted me the power to duplicate it. Given some time, I could make a perfect spare of my outfit, using nothing but the raw magic of my True Attunement.
Finally, one of the most potentially useful abilities. Once in a while, I could simply pluck a plant out of the ground, and... Leave a duplicate behind. I could clone any herb I could get my hands on, tapping nothing but my Cantrip and the True Mana it drew from.
All in all, a good lesson on True Attunements, I felt.
Next, I turned my attention to Arcane Magic, one of my power's pretty obvious banes.
One thing that had been irking me was my power's vague description of Songstress Secret Stone, and the resulting Vibrato Stone that it could synthesize.
So, I decided to study it. In my house, the electricity humming inside of Songstress Secret Stone was a slow pulsing meloncholy, one that I felt I was missing something important about while trying to experiment and study it.
The Vibrato Stone, however, was far more straightforward. It created a black and silver rock that seemed to only whistle like a flute. Scratching it, tapping it, and even the resonance of making noises at it. It simply turned it all into the notes of a whistle.
I toyed around with it for a while, seeing all the noises it could make, but it was clear that, as a plain old rock with no particular shape, it would be awkward to try and play it like an instrument. I would need to at least turn it into something vaguely instrument shaped, if I wanted to use it like that.
Other than that, I had no other ideas, and set the rocks aside to attend to a few other tests.
I decided to end on an even bigger mystery, bringing out the Bucket of Arcane Sorcery that I kept some water in for Arcane Tests.
Infusing mana into it, I allowed the mana to leak out of the bucket, resulting in a low, incomprehensible whispering.
It sounded like no language I had ever heard before, though, in all fairness, it sounded a bit like multiple languages, all with different cadences.
It sounded somewhat familiar.
On Arcane Mana, and when spoken with no mana, imitating the words had no effect. Thaumic mana, however...
"Glunk", I muttered, picking out one of the words.
The thaumic mana turned into a cylinder, drips of magic dropping out the bottom.
"Tank", I spoke, and the mana twisted into a leaky cup-shape.
Finally, I tried following along, matching the whispering word for word, too fast for my power to properly tell me it's effects.
The mana began to shift and change, it grew shiny, and sprouted handles, liquid magic pooled inside it as it transformed in shape to hold it.
Finally... "Kerkakerkackerckak," I say, making the solidified mana-bucket tumble to the ground.
The words I had been hearing, the conflicting, mixed-language whispers, they had been describing the bucket nearest to it.
My power renamed "Whispers of the Lake", instead, calling it "Ambient Noise".
I tilted my head. "Ambient Noise?" I thought out loud.
I didn't understand. But then, it was getting late, and I was getting tired. Maybe I would understand it better in the morning.
I had a lot of work to do.
Playing silly games with grand notions has awakened Taylor to the potential of Will!
Final week of May Plans:
[][Daily Activities] What sort of things will you do during the day?
-[][Daily Activities] Hang out with Greg, instead of merely tolerating his presence.
-[][Daily Activities] Stay at home (Enhances other actions)
-[][Daily Activities] Something Else (Write-In)
[][Cape Activities] What will you do as Sage?
-[][Cape Activities] Go out healing with Panacea even more.
-[][Cape Activities] You'll spend your time investigating.
--[][Cape Activities] Investigate the gang attack on the Barnes family last year. You now know the names of the gangsters who did it.
---[][Cape Activities] Track down the ones in prison.
---[][Cape Activities] Track down the ones that escaped.
-[][Cape Activities] Set up your Legal Second-Identity (Write-In Plan)
-[][Cape Activities] Stay at home (Enhances other actions)
-[][Cape Activities] Something Else (Write-In)
[][Project] You'll begin a project of some kind.
-[][Project] Greg Veder's Videogame gave you the inspiration to try crafting your own summoned being. You'll try to create a creature of pure mana, and see what happens if you call Thoth's Will to inhabit it in place of your own. With some restrictions, of course.
-[][Project] Something Else (Write-In)
-[][Project] Alchemy consumes your mind. You'll discard a project this week. (If this vote wins, up to ten Write-in [][Alchemy] experiments will be processed this turn instead of one major project.)
[][Alchemy] You have (Seven) Alchemy Tests Remaining.
-[][Alchemy] Write-In.
[][Mana] Mana-Test Materials (Write-In)
-[][Mana] Attempt to string together an Attunement Chain (Write-In)
-[][Mana] Test a piece of equipment's True Attunement (Write-In)
[][Mana] Test a Phonem's effect (Write-In)
-[][Mana] Study a target for Phomens (Write-In)
[][Mana] Test a Transmutation (Choose a Synthesis Mana and a Non-Silicate Target)
[][Mana] Something Else (Write-In)
21 Points of Research Spent. 10 Points of Research Gained.
Concepts, Essence, Vitality, and Willpower. These four things have cropped up again and again.
Nearly every Alchemical Mana I have discovered deals in concepts, which seem to involve something to do with an object's shape or function.
A large number of Elemental Mana types I have discovered manipulate Elemental Essence, and all of them seem to focus on things like matter and energy.
Carbon and Calcium. Carbonates and Calcates, all of those seem to exude vitality. Either the vitality of the living, of plants and animals, or of the undead, and diseases.
And finally, Willpower. The most inconsistent of the four, it seems to bleed in and out of different mana types at complete random, but despite this, Will, my will, is able to take complete control over mana.
I set down my pencil, summoning up a little glob of magic.
It isn't just commands. Mana doesn't just obey my orders.
'Go over here,' I think, and it flies to one corner of the room.
'Come back to me,' I think, and it returns to my hand.
I gesture, and no thought is needed, only a strong focus and time. The mana bursts into flames, emulating the Ruby mana attunement.
Is that even needed? Do I even need to know what I want, in order for mana to do it?
'Obey Thoth', I think to myself, and the mana shifts, slipping free of my control. No, not quite. It pretends to slip free of my control. It does everything Thoth wants it to do, except for the things that I don't.
Maybe the bird notices as the mana flows into the cage and is absorbed into her, or maybe she doesn't. It doesn't matter, because for all intents and purposes, I was able to simply share my magic. No, again, it isn't quite sharing.
I've merely left it laying in front of Thoth, in the magical sense. If it were a gun, or maybe a phone, it would still be registered under my name. Still functional, and able to be operated by them, but never theirs.
I can tell because I already know that I don't want to lose control over even a bit of my magic. Some intuition, or perhaps a compulsion from my power, seems to constantly hold back from sharing it. I haven't awakened the mana of any other animals, either, despite their potential use as a power source. Dad hasn't read my magic journal, even though it's written in plain English.
Maybe it's something like what a tinker experiences, and it would be pointless for him to look at it, and yet, it seems so obvious to me, so simple.
Mana reacts to form. It reacts to elements. It exudes vitality, and bends to willpower.
But on some level, I think I haven't wanted him to participate in it. I've done all my testing by myself. Everything meticulously recorded, everything meticulously tested.
To give me some semblance of control over it. Predictability.
My power wants it, but do I need it?
I feel like I'm close to something. Something that would bust this whole Mana Attunement System wide open for me.
But for now, I've got little else.
[][Learn] Is there anything else I've learned?
-[][Learn] (Write-in)
-[][Learn] No
I close my book, feeling my power's own supply of magic surge in response. A pool of magic I could draw from whenever I want, far stronger than the magic my own soul produces.
I wonder what the mana my power produces wants. What things are permitted when using this 'gifted' mana.
I decided to spend a day hammering out the last bits of the "Final Fantasy" game that Greg let me borrow.
It was pure fantasy. All magic and spells and monsters, most of which only superficially resembled mine.
But that wasn't what kept my attention.
The plot spoke of technology, of civilization and the 'hope' it embodied, targeted by monsters whose only goal was to eradicate it. It played out people who fought to shape their stories.
The game played out scenes of spells, spells that cast thousands of needles at a foe, individually doing little damage, but together being unstoppable, swords made of solid water, dolls that could aid in channeling magic, staves that could do the same.
Tinkertech machines powered by magic, and sports impossible to play without the use of both.
But most importantly, it revolved around Summons. Giant beasts, easily a nightmare straight from biotinker horror stories, but made of pure magic, and controlled from afar, controlled by their patrons, sealed in crystals far away.
Out of everything I saw, that idea stuck with me the most. Could I, through force of will, simply command my magic to behave as a certain creature would? To obey the orders of a particular person, without anything more than their intentions to drive it?
What were the limits? How far away could I "lend" magic to someone else from? Could Thoth in their cage control magic that I was wielding from across the city, if I simply thought, 'Mana, do what Thoth would want you to do'?
As the game's final theme played, closing the end of that particular story, I couldn't help but consider the sad message its ending had.
In the game, they killed their 'Endbringer', but not without cost.
It made me a bit sad, but I supposed that was the point.
When you see your story through to the end... It ends.
And if you want to fight your sorrows, you have to be prepared to face them.
I had the game console in a box, and the little disk in its fancy case that Greg apparently bought for all his 'favorite' games. (I was pretty sure that he had maybe two games that weren't on that list)
"Here, I've got your stuff, Greg," I say, holding out the box.
1d20 vs 1d20 = 15, 11
"Oh! You beat it? That was quick! Did you like the part where-" he starts, walking over to me. Before he can finish, however, a hand swipes towards me, smacking the box out of my hands.
A quiet pulse of magic insulated the stuff inside from the worst of it, as it crashed to the ground.
Greg looks aghast down at what he thinks is his potentially busted PlayStation, while I just turn to look at Emma.
"Do you have any idea what you've done, Hebert?" she hisses, stalking up to me with her fists clenched.
"Of course not. While you've been busy sucking up to the second-biggest loser in this damn school, I've had to deal with cleaning up the mess you made," she says, looking as if she's holding herself back from trying to shove me like Sophia might have.
I glare imperiously down at her, before the sternness fades into apathy. Powerless. Weak. Psychotic. Helpless.
Even the research I've done so far tells me at least the broad strokes of why Emma is acting the way she is. Something happened when her family was attacked that started this.
It would be so easy, with my abilities. Maybe something like a combination of Simulated Beryllium and Brain Mana. Just pull the unstable concepts right out of her mind. It might take an hour to attune everything, but it could be done.
Or I could do it right now. Just plant my hand on her forehead for a second. Maybe two. Even if she awoke to magic, she wouldn't have enough time before I was able to find the correct memories. Copy them with magic, and then view them at my leisure. Learn the truth right now, and save myself the trouble.
Take the easy way out.
Instead, I lowered my hand from where it had been twitching upwards, and sigh.
"I'm going to figure out what happened to break you, Emma. Save it for the day I do. Then we can see this through to the end, whatever that may be," I say, pushing her slowly, but firmly away from me.
I had to restrain myself even more, as I could feel my hair blowing a bit in an invisible wind. The Keratin Magic had been affecting gravity, making it look like my hair was blowing around indoors ever so slightly.
Emma, to her credit, doesn't even sputter, too in shock at my words to respond as I turn to Greg, who looks like someone trying not to cry even though they've never really had a reason to practice at it.
I lean down to him. "Look, it'll be fine. The memory card is ok, and I didn't delete your save on it. If anything's broken, I'll see about fixing it, or maybe getting you a new one, alright?" I say, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"You did me a favor, and then I got your stuff dumped on the floor. So I owe you twice as much," I say, grabbing the box and pulling him up out of his pity party.
He just nods a bit. "Yeah, right. You don't have to do that, I-"
I hold up a hand. "Take it home, see if it still works. If it doesn't, I'll figure out a solution. Got it?" I insist.
His pout turns into a dumb grin all too quickly. "Yeah! Alright. Thanks Taylor! Be sure to tell me later what you thought of the game!" he says, running away from the still shellshocked Emma before she can decide to ensure his game really is broken.
My eyes meet with hers, and the moment passes. Madison grabs her by the wrist, nervously implying that she should get the hell away from me.
I don't care. I feel more in control now than I've ever felt before.
When I get home, it's back to more testing. I decide to test a few of the more interesting things that had popped into my mind.
One of the obvious tests was, my mana could attune to brains. What did mana attuned to the part of a parahuman's brain responsible for their powers do?
1d20 vs 1d20 = 18, 9
Extracting a bit of mana from my own brain was child's play, and the result was... A Mana Type that my power decided to label as "Eldritch Relay".
Wow, and I thought "Soulshaking Dirge" was a creepy name.
This mana, despite its strange name, was fairly simple. Unless it was held perfectly still, allowed to act without any influence, and totally ceeded to the parahuman it came from and their will, the mana did jack diddly. It contained "thoughts of their power", and, if allowed totally free reign, would act as a relay for their power, whatever that meant.
Whatever it meant, I was now apparently a dangerous trump on top of all the other classifications I'm sure I've had slapped on me in recent months.
I turned to my next text. Combining Construct, Barrier, and Shell magic, and then attuning that to something, had thus far resulted invariably in armor.
Lightsmith Armor came from attuning it to glass, and Woodsmith Armor, by attuning it to wood. The new mana would attempt to forge armor plates from something, and until starved of magic, they would be enchanted with higher durability.
It was worth testing it on other things as well, I felt. With some attunement and hybridization, I gathered a large mass of the magic, and got to work attuning it to whatever caught my fancy.
Attuning it to blood resulted in Bloodsmith Armor, which turned, you guessed it, blood and blood energy into solid armor plates. These armor plates, being made of blood or blood magic, had powerful revitalizing properties. If you were willing to absorb the vitality from blood, anyway...
I didn't fancy the idea of having red skin or eyes or anything, so I moved on to the next.
Attuning it to gold resulted in Sunsmith Armor, which turned sunlight into armor, an armor which both absorbed and radiated the sun's energy.
It wasn't quite like Lightsmith Armor. In the same way, magically, Light and Sunlight were different.
I suspected, given enough power and light, Sunsmith Armor Plates would eventually take on other properties of the sun. I happened to go to fifth-grade science as much as anyone, so I knew that the sun was a bit more impressive than a huge hot dot in the sky. I wonder if its armor could eventually turn into something like plasma...
Next test, and the final one for now, I infused the last of the mana into diamonds, interested in finding out just what sort of horrible biological monstrosity my mana would reward me with using Lifesmith Armor.
Once again, magic defied my expectations, in that respect. This mana made armor, sure, but not a physical one. Instead, it turned Life into Armor. The more vitality the mana absorbed, the more durable its host would become, so long as the magic lasted.
In short, my senses implied that it would allow someone to turn wounding blows into merely weakening ones, no matter how brutal.
The downside was obvious. If you pour all of your life into defense, then there's no life left in you.
A dangerous use of life energy.
I dispersed the magic, jotting down a few ideas for later before moving on.
One quick test I was able to get out of the way, was figuring out what was the minimum that I could wear, to count towards a True Attunement's Set Bonus. Using some cotton and scissors, I was able to quickly find out that... It was arbitrary. Joy.
I needed seven pieces, at minimum. Boots, Gloves, Shirt, Pants, and a hat. I could ditch any of them, but only if I wore something else. The something else could also be a weapon. It didn't matter how little I wore, only that it was my "outermost layer". I discovered that, interestingly enough, my magic didn't care what I was wearing underneath my "set", so long as it didn't somehow breach certain quirky limitations.
Wearing clothing over other clothing? The True Attunement flowed correctly.
Wearing armor over clothing? The armor's set bonus was applied.
Wearing clothing over armor? A new set bonus or none at all, depending on if the two were "integrated" into the same basic "set" of equipment. I wasn't in danger of being deprived of a set bonus for using armored inserts in clothing, but it would give a different one.
Wearing almost nothing? The full set bonus applied, so long as the appropriate places were covered.
Wearing almost nothing with something underneath? The result was an entirely new set bonus or none at all, again, depending on how much they were integrated. Merely wearing some Curestone bracers over a cotton suit didn't push me towards the Curestone's Set Bonus, and it pushed me away from cotton's bonus.
However, wearing curestone plates over my arms and legs, with the stone sewn into the cotton? A new Set Bonus that slightly changed the properties of my Cloth Cantrips, giving them a more healing bend to them.
In short, True Mana fed into what I could only go so far as to call my outward appearance. Lacking imbalance in my outward equipment, True Attuned Mana could flow freely, and unlock the set's hidden magical potential.
Considering the strange qualities of this, I had a suspicion that at higher levels of True Attunement, even the style of an outfit might lend itself towards particular abilities.
I finally decided to test my new costume's bonus as well, something I had been neglecting.
The first thing I noticed, upon donning my armor and unleashing my magic, was that my home had suddenly become strong. As strong as my armor, in fact.
That was the Sage Armor's True Attunement. The wooden object or structure nearest to me shared my armor's strength.
Then, with the strength of my soul, I pulled free the secret cantrips of this attunement and unlocked its set bonus.
Firstly, I could use it to grow plants without soil. I simply applied my magic, and the plants would grow and flourish, even if all I had was a single seed. And unlike before, if I forced a plant to grow using nothing but liquid mana, it wouldn't shrink and wither over time, as the liquid mana faded, and the limited mass of the plant was sucked in on itself.
My armor let me grow plants. And the cantrips were no different.
Mana Blossom, the ability to have my magic manifest in the form of plants I had access to, instead of a Ray, a Liquid, or a Wave. It would simply manifest as... a glowing transparent plant.
Next, Cutting of Sage. My armor's cantrip quite handily granted me the power to duplicate it. Given some time, I could make a perfect spare of my outfit, using nothing but the raw magic of my True Attunement.
Finally, one of the most potentially useful abilities. Once in a while, I could simply pluck a plant out of the ground, and... Leave a duplicate behind. I could clone any herb I could get my hands on, tapping nothing but my Cantrip and the True Mana it drew from.
All in all, a good lesson on True Attunements, I felt.
Next, I turned my attention to Arcane Magic, one of my power's pretty obvious banes.
One thing that had been irking me was my power's vague description of Songstress Secret Stone, and the resulting Vibrato Stone that it could synthesize.
So, I decided to study it. In my house, the electricity humming inside of Songstress Secret Stone was a slow pulsing meloncholy, one that I felt I was missing something important about while trying to experiment and study it.
The Vibrato Stone, however, was far more straightforward. It created a black and silver rock that seemed to only whistle like a flute. Scratching it, tapping it, and even the resonance of making noises at it. It simply turned it all into the notes of a whistle.
I toyed around with it for a while, seeing all the noises it could make, but it was clear that, as a plain old rock with no particular shape, it would be awkward to try and play it like an instrument. I would need to at least turn it into something vaguely instrument shaped, if I wanted to use it like that.
1d20 vs 1d20 = What is "4, 9"
Other than that, I had no other ideas, and set the rocks aside to attend to a few other tests.
I decided to end on an even bigger mystery, bringing out the Bucket of Arcane Sorcery that I kept some water in for Arcane Tests.
Infusing mana into it, I allowed the mana to leak out of the bucket, resulting in a low, incomprehensible whispering.
It sounded like no language I had ever heard before, though, in all fairness, it sounded a bit like multiple languages, all with different cadences.
It sounded somewhat familiar.
On Arcane Mana, and when spoken with no mana, imitating the words had no effect. Thaumic mana, however...
"Glunk", I muttered, picking out one of the words.
The thaumic mana turned into a cylinder, drips of magic dropping out the bottom.
"Tank", I spoke, and the mana twisted into a leaky cup-shape.
Finally, I tried following along, matching the whispering word for word, too fast for my power to properly tell me it's effects.
The mana began to shift and change, it grew shiny, and sprouted handles, liquid magic pooled inside it as it transformed in shape to hold it.
Finally... "Kerkakerkackerckak," I say, making the solidified mana-bucket tumble to the ground.
The words I had been hearing, the conflicting, mixed-language whispers, they had been describing the bucket nearest to it.
My power renamed "Whispers of the Lake", instead, calling it "Ambient Noise".
I tilted my head. "Ambient Noise?" I thought out loud.
I didn't understand. But then, it was getting late, and I was getting tired. Maybe I would understand it better in the morning.
I had a lot of work to do.
Playing silly games with grand notions has awakened Taylor to the potential of Will!
Final week of May Plans:
[][Daily Activities] What sort of things will you do during the day?
-[][Daily Activities] Hang out with Greg, instead of merely tolerating his presence.
-[][Daily Activities] Stay at home (Enhances other actions)
-[][Daily Activities] Something Else (Write-In)
[][Cape Activities] What will you do as Sage?
-[][Cape Activities] Go out healing with Panacea even more.
-[][Cape Activities] You'll spend your time investigating.
--[][Cape Activities] Investigate the gang attack on the Barnes family last year. You now know the names of the gangsters who did it.
---[][Cape Activities] Track down the ones in prison.
---[][Cape Activities] Track down the ones that escaped.
-[][Cape Activities] Set up your Legal Second-Identity (Write-In Plan)
-[][Cape Activities] Stay at home (Enhances other actions)
-[][Cape Activities] Something Else (Write-In)
[][Project] You'll begin a project of some kind.
-[][Project] Greg Veder's Videogame gave you the inspiration to try crafting your own summoned being. You'll try to create a creature of pure mana, and see what happens if you call Thoth's Will to inhabit it in place of your own. With some restrictions, of course.
-[][Project] Something Else (Write-In)
-[][Project] Alchemy consumes your mind. You'll discard a project this week. (If this vote wins, up to ten Write-in [][Alchemy] experiments will be processed this turn instead of one major project.)
[][Alchemy] You have (Seven) Alchemy Tests Remaining.
-[][Alchemy] Write-In.
[][Mana] Mana-Test Materials (Write-In)
-[][Mana] Attempt to string together an Attunement Chain (Write-In)
-[][Mana] Test a piece of equipment's True Attunement (Write-In)
[][Mana] Test a Phonem's effect (Write-In)
-[][Mana] Study a target for Phomens (Write-In)
[][Mana] Test a Transmutation (Choose a Synthesis Mana and a Non-Silicate Target)
[][Mana] Something Else (Write-In)
21 Points of Research Spent. 10 Points of Research Gained.
- Stats
- Abilities
| Attunement | Shorthand | Concept | Effects | Other | |
| True > Timeshift Crystal | Tool of Time | [Create Shifted Time] | Equipment used by the user that incorperates Timeshift material will slowly undo damage dealt to it. | Set Bonus undiscovered. | |
| True > Curestone | Auto-Potion | [Create Life-Bearer] | As the user heals targets, wasted magic is converted into healing orbs that spawn from them. The more curestone is equipped, the better the conversion. | Set Bonus undiscovered. | |
| True > Aluminum | Element Dance | [Void] | The user aligns to the greatest element near them, the more aluminum is equipped. | Set Bonus undiscovered. | |
| True > Iron | Attack-Up | [Force] | The user exerts more force, the more iron is equipped. | Set Bonus undiscovered. | |
| True > Copper | Time-Aligned | (Time) | The user becomes more aligned with time, the more copper is equipped. | Set Bonus undiscovered. | |
| True > Sage's Armor | Rogue | [Further and Protect the Plants of Home] | Plants around the user grow more rapidly, and the wood object or structure nearest to the user shares in their strength and durability, among those not already benefitting from it. | Set Bonus: The user gains the ability to grow plants using their own spiritual energy. No soil is required, and the plants do not shrink down over time like they would if grown using liquid magic. Cantrips Unlocked. |
| School | Attunement Chain | Shorthand | Type | Effects | Other | |
| Skin | Thaum > Copper > Vinyl > Skin | Containment Foam | Liquid (Foam) | This mana takes the form of a rapidly expanding foam made of raw barrier magic. It attempts to stick to and slow things it touches on contact. | ||
| Vinyl | Thaum > Skin > Copper > Vinyl | Aerogel Barrier | Liquid | This mana seeks out hardened or otherwise strengthened objects around itself, foaming them up into an immovable barrier of expanded and hardened material. | ||
| Iodine | Thaum > Diamond > Iodine | Cure Boneness | Liquid | This mana softens vitrified tissues, restoring lost flexibility | ||
| Iodine | Thaum > Graphite > Iodine | Cure Stiffness | Liquid | This mana softens hardened tissues, restoring lost elasticity | ||
| Graphite | Thaum > Iodine > Graphite | Recovery | Liquid | This mana heals wounds, revitalizing tissues in order to do so. | Healed areas are softer and more elastic. | |
| Hybrid | (Thaum > Iodine) + (Thaum > Sweat > Graphite) | Healing Sphere | Liquid | This mana creates a sphere that heals and energizes nearby targets. | Targets rapidly lose stamina and energy when removed from the area of the healing sphere. | |
| Manganese | Thaum > Graphite > Manganese | Life Refinement | Ray | This mana reduces the amount of toxins in a target which would slow or prevent cell growth. | ||
| Graphite | Thaum > Manganese > Graphite | Purge Ailments | Liquid | This mana purges impurities in a living creature that would weaken them, such as toxins or diseases. | ||
| Blood | Thaum > Manganese > Blood | Purge Impure Vitae | Liquid | This mana purges a target of impure vitality | The target is weakened, but made more stable, due to lack of vital impurities reacting to create greater magical power. | |
| Iodine | Thaum > Bread > Iodine | Heal Food | Liquid | This mana heals food. | Food healed by this magic is slightly blander. | |
| Crystal Quartz | Thaum > Manganese > Crystal Quartz | Align Material | Elemental Ray | This mana corrects flaws in a substance, refining parts of it. | ||
| Aluminum | (Arcane > Aluminum) + (Thaum > Aluminum) | Summon Counterparts | Elemental Ray | This mana draws the essence of an object's counterparts into itself, transforming into a simulacrum of one of them. | ||
| Copper | Thaum > Beryllium > Copper | Timezone | Ray | This mana twists the fabric of time, smoothing over unstable patches of it into a gradient of altered time. | ||
| Eye | Thaum > Zirconium > Eye | Rose Tint | Liquid | This mana transforms images passing through it into a more beautiful form. | ||
| Zinc | Thaum > Cadmium > Zinc | Artifact | Ray | This mana reduces an object's worth by increasing the wear caused by its use. | ||
| Salt | Thaum > Cadmium > Zinc > Salt | Division of Labor | Ray | This mana splits an object's components, cutting away the parts that would recieve the most wear from the parts that would recieve the least. | ||
| Graphite | (Thaum > Indium > Diamond > Salt > Egg) + (Thaum > Indium > Sweat > Graphite) > Mild Steel > Salt > Tungsten > Crystal Quartz > Graphite > Graphite | The Adaptable Rulers of Darwin's Artisans | Liquid | This mana mutates cells and tissues into "Darwin Ruler Cells". These cells can use electrochemical signals to transform surrounding tissues or cell cultures into "Darwin Recruiter Cells", stronger, more dexterous cells who manipulate living material and harvest dead material in order to produce biological structures from keratin-like waste products, and assemble them into an Adaptive Organclone Surgeon, a biomechanical machine that, when given a living creature, will surgically transform it into a number of simpler creatures, each using only a single organ that it is specially adapted to survive the stresses of utilizing to survive. | ||
| Cobalt | Thaum > Graphite > Cobalt | Crapshoot Culture | Ray | This mana equalizes the chances of any given lifeform surviving when competing with another, weakening and strengthening them to do so. | ||
| Cobalt | Thaum > Copper > Cobalt | Speed Limit | Ray | This mana forces multiple timeframes to match, speeding up slowed time, and slowing hastened time. | ||
| Graphite | Thaum > Plant > Graphite | Lichen | Liquid | This mana adapts simple organisms to aid the plants they are nearest to, turning many forms of bacteria and fungi directly into symbiotic forms that integrate into plants. | ||
| Graphite | Thaum > Plant > Graphite > Graphite | Harvest Gel | Liquid | This mana transforms organisms into simplistic harvesters, biological agents that are capable of integrating and distinguishing different types of useful and harmful lifeforms to aid the plants around them. | ||
| Plant | Thaum > Graphite > Plant | Fruit of Life | Liquid | This mana makes a plant sprout fruits filled with life energy. | When eaten, fruits produced by this mana provide extremely inefficient healing. | |
| Plant | Thaum > Graphite > Plant > Plant | Seeds of Life | Liquid | This mana makes a plant sprout seeds capable of growing life-infused plants. | When cultivated, fruits produced by these seeds provide inefficient healing. | |
| Corona Pollentia | Thaum > Corona Pollentia | Eldritch Relay | Liquid | This mana contains thought patterns of a parahuman's abilities. Held perfectly still and given utterly to the parahuman's control, it can act as a relay for their abilities. |
| School | Phonem | Name | Effect | Notes |
| Bone Mana | Tackatacka | Tumblebones | Mana takes the shape of bones and tumble to the ground. The bones chosen are the ones that would be closest to the mana's current shape. | |
| Bone Mana | Dook | Resonant Hollow | Mana gains increased hardness, and emits a woody tone when struck. | |
| Bone Mana | Crrk | Animate Dead | Mana begins emitting Undead Vitality | |
| Platinum | Shing | Luxurious Luster | Mana takes on a luxurious sheen | |
| Platinum | Hummm | Wirepath | Mana becomes conductive to electricity | |
| Platinum | Ziz | Lightningkind | Mana transforms into electricity. | |
| Silicon | Whum | Wafer | Mana flattens into a thin wafer. | |
| Silicon | Chrchrichrik | Crystal | Mana begins to smoothen and shift into a faceted structure. | |
| Silicon | Poof | Manifestation | Mana resolves into physical matter. | |
| Lightstop Mana | Tick | Absorb Time | Mana begins to absorb time, freezing things inside it. | |
| Lightstop Mana | Tock | Release Time | Mana releases time, speeding up things around it. |
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- Location
- Maybe?
Holy shit.
The relationship between magic and reality is bijective.
Meaning, magic is not a separate layer or dimension or effect. Magic is just a different organization of reality. From words to effect, from effect to words- any effect, magical or not.
Magic is the language in which the universe is written. The map is the territory.
edit: In other words, both of these things are true at once:
- the bucket is a collection of iron and dirt molecules arranged in a crystal lattice in the vague shape of a truncated cone with some handles.
- the bucket is, fundamentally, in reality (not just in our head): "<iron> + <truncated cone> + <handles> + <error term>", an equation that can be read out and copied.
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QA is like 'reality warping, sure why not' while throttling down the virtual machine research process some more.
specifically: Banach–Tarski paradox - Wikipedia
specifically: Banach–Tarski paradox - Wikipedia
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The Froggy Ninja
The Blade Will Never Die
[X][Daily Activities] What sort of things will you do during the day?
-[X][Daily Activities] Stay at home (Enhances other actions)
--[X] Make a wheat outfit to help with harvests
[X][Cape Activities] What will you do as Sage?
-[X][Cape Activities] Go out healing with Panacea even more.
--[X] Discuss the principles of burn out and "put your own oxygen mask on before assisting others" self care. Helping more people in the short term is useless if it leads to an inability to help anyone in the long term, which applies both to the mental and physical issues of burnout as well as the practical issues of survival without income. Also discuss how the patients are still paying the hospital (as much as $100 for a saline bag) and that charging even one dollar per patient would lead to comfortable self sufficiency without harming anyone.
[X][Project] You'll begin a project of some kind.
-[X][Project] Design a healing golem to help panacea. Make a core based on you and use materials that should allow a combination of side effects that cancel out.
[X][Mana] Study skin mana and alchemical energy in hopes of figuring out a way to contain the volatile force.
[X][Mana] Test Thaum>Calcium>Iodine and Thaum>Bone>Iodine
[X][Mana] Test Thaum>Brain>Silicon and then use that to transmute some cloth.
[X][Mana] See if any other kind of pattern affects mana. Lay out a pentagram of dust and ignite it to see if the shape results in anything different than igniting a pile on its own.
-[X][Daily Activities] Stay at home (Enhances other actions)
--[X] Make a wheat outfit to help with harvests
[X][Cape Activities] What will you do as Sage?
-[X][Cape Activities] Go out healing with Panacea even more.
--[X] Discuss the principles of burn out and "put your own oxygen mask on before assisting others" self care. Helping more people in the short term is useless if it leads to an inability to help anyone in the long term, which applies both to the mental and physical issues of burnout as well as the practical issues of survival without income. Also discuss how the patients are still paying the hospital (as much as $100 for a saline bag) and that charging even one dollar per patient would lead to comfortable self sufficiency without harming anyone.
[X][Project] You'll begin a project of some kind.
-[X][Project] Design a healing golem to help panacea. Make a core based on you and use materials that should allow a combination of side effects that cancel out.
[X][Mana] Study skin mana and alchemical energy in hopes of figuring out a way to contain the volatile force.
[X][Mana] Test Thaum>Calcium>Iodine and Thaum>Bone>Iodine
[X][Mana] Test Thaum>Brain>Silicon and then use that to transmute some cloth.
[X][Mana] See if any other kind of pattern affects mana. Lay out a pentagram of dust and ignite it to see if the shape results in anything different than igniting a pile on its own.
- Pronouns
- he/him
[x][Project] in the game ritual circle are used maybe see if geometric form can affect the way mana act
[x][mana] use hellforge with the oven at different setting and the test the attunement of each resulting material
[x][project] void rock and voidmetal both mess with mana maybe see it it's also the case with free floating concept
[x][mana] use hellforge with the oven at different setting and the test the attunement of each resulting material
[x][project] void rock and voidmetal both mess with mana maybe see it it's also the case with free floating concept
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