Random question, but with The Owl House s3/finale incoming soon enough, I'm just wondering what the state of inclusion is for it in this quest? Like, is Belos likely the "King" of it, or is it waiting for the finale to occur before anything happens with that? Sorry if this has been asked before somewhere, there's just too much thread to pick through
The rule is that they wait for the show enda before adding it to the setting. Something about Steven Universe keeping throwing them curveballs or something. That's why it took so long for Amphibia to become canon and actually effect things in the quest. The same'll probably happen to Owl House.
The rule is that they wait for the show enda before adding it to the setting. Something about Steven Universe keeping throwing them curveballs or something. That's why it took so long for Amphibia to become canon and actually effect things in the quest. The same'll probably happen to Owl House.
Ahh, that makes sense! I'd kinda figured, but it never hurts to ask either haha. I guess we'll all see who'll be victorious for that show soon enough then.
The rule is that they wait for the show enda before adding it to the setting. Something about Steven Universe keeping throwing them curveballs or something. That's why it took so long for Amphibia to become canon and actually effect things in the quest. The same'll probably happen to Owl House.
It also depends on if theres a good stopping point. Roll no 21 is being added to cruel network despite being an ongoing, as is Elmore despite the movie. SU was just very hard.
I believe depending on how Belos is done they might finalize him and save the collector for the Owl House finale.
It also depends on if theres a good stopping point. Roll no 21 is being added to cruel network despite being an ongoing, as is Elmore despite the movie. SU was just very hard.
I believe depending on how Belos is done they might finalize him and save the collector for the Owl House finale.
I-See-You-inator: You heard about reflecting telescopes, so you built one. This one doesn't have the mirrors inside, though - it just bounces light off of walls and stuff. Bad news: you have no idea how to aim this thing. Good news: when you built it, it happened to be pointing into a rival's planning room. During this turn's Rival Reports, in addition to the regular report, receive a complete list of actions taken for a random major faction (besides DEI). You only see the action names, not any details, who was assigned, or if they succeeded.
ICU-inator: You built a fantastic medical inator, capable of curing the worst of wounds in two months. Then you stubbed your toe in front of it and it swaddled you in so many bandages you can barely walk. Doofenshmirtz receives no personal actions this turn as this inator aggressively treats every minor malady he suffers. On the plus side, if Doofenshmirtz happens to be injured or sick, either before or during this turn, he's guaranteed to be better by the end of it.
The Magicule-Inator - You tried to put together an inator to discover the fundamental particle of magic, and...you're not sure what you're looking at. (Good version, gain a Learning action based off of this)
The Magicule-Inator - You tried to put together an inator to discover the fundamental particle of magic, and...you're not sure what you're looking at. (Bad version, gain an Occult action to fix a Learning action malus due to magic backlash from your scientific analysis of magic resulting in interference with scientific development)
The Roll-Swap-Inator! You're latest attempts at playing with probability have born fruit! With a simple reversal of luck you can now!.... wait why did you make this anyways? All rolls will succeed if they fall below the DC, and fail if they go above it country wide. This lasts a single turn.
The Pure-Chance-Inator! Your other attempt at playing with probability! You've taken the metaphorical butterfly that flaps its wings and made it stop doing that, no more chaos theory across the world! All rolls no longer have maluses or additions to them for a turn, roll a dice and that's it, no math nnecessary. Heroes assigned to an action will have no mechanical effect and do not effect a dice roll. This lasts a single turn.
The Charity-Case-Inator! You found yourself struck by an odd sense of generosity and built a machine to donate to charity. You think you used the parts of Mezmeralla's old stuff too now that you think about it... Everyone donates to charity, everyone loses ten percent of their income as they donate to a charity of their choice.
The Roll-Swap-Inator! You're latest attempts at playing with probability have born fruit! With a simple reversal of luck you can now!.... wait why did you make this anyways? All rolls will succeed if they fall below the DC, and fail if they go above it country wide. This lasts a single turn.
The Pure-Chance-Inator! Your other attempt at playing with probability! You've taken the metaphorical butterfly that flaps its wings and made it stop doing that, no more chaos theory across the world! All rolls no longer have maluses or additions to them for a turn, roll a dice and that's it, no math nnecessary. Heroes assigned to an action will have no mechanical effect and do not effect a dice roll. This lasts a single turn.
The Charity-Case-Inator! You found yourself struck by an odd sense of generosity and built a machine to donate to charity. You think you used the parts of Mezmeralla's old stuff too now that you think about it... Everyone donates to charity, everyone loses ten percent of their income as they donate to a charity of their choice.
Also, the roll-swap-inator is like, absurdly overpowered. It would basically let us clear all of our most difficult actions while our ignorant rivals fail the simplest of tasks. On the other hand, it would probably run the risk of Bill Cipher instantly escaping and causing a game over.
Laundry-inator: Washing clothes is so tedious. First you have to separate the lights and darks, then you put the detergent, the fabric softener, set the cycle, clean the lint trap in the dryer, put the little dryer sheet in, dry them, hang them up... Really, it's just awful. You built an inator that floods the whole DEI building with detergent and water, then dries it all out safely! Everyone's clothes were washed in a flash. This wasn't especially helpful, but it made the news and attracted the attention of this weird knight who really cares about laundry. Sir Lavabo will tag along on one national action of your choice heavily involving clothing, whether it's making dinosaur leather, fighting evil hats, launching a new fashion line, weaving shirts out of unicorn hair... the possibilities aren't quite endless, but there are at least a few! He adds 12 Martial and 8 Stewardship to the action (on top of your normal hero), and he's willing to wait until you need him.
Dryer-inator: You thought you'd try using the power of radiation to make your clothes dryer better. The idea was sound - a microwave uses electromagnetic radiation to heat up water which steams off. Unfortunately you got a little carried away, tried using some radioactive isotopes instead of boring old EM radiation, and accidentally made the dryer lint into a horrible monster. Jeez, you should have cleaned that dryer vent ages ago. This turn, you must assign hero units with at least 50 combined Martial to fight the lint monster. They'll definitely win, and there won't be any collateral damage, but they will be too busy to do anything else this turn.
The land spreads out below you, covered in trees whose leaves have only just begun to pale in the autumn air. Between them stand trunks black pine, cypress and sakaki, eternally green. In the distance you can see the mountains, untouched by human activity, the lakes below fed by the mountain springs. Clouds of mist have collected around you, bringing the sensation of dampness and the unpleasant, sulfurous smell that comes with hot springs. Over the horizon, lightning spears down through the sky, pouring down a veritable deluge miles away, but there's not so much as a cloud above you. The wind curls around you- no. Wait. It circles a particular spring. A small one, jutting out of the hillside.
Within the hot springs, a woman sits languidly, facing away from you, long dark hair curling onto the rocks and water as it bubbles beneath her.
There's something wrong about the springs in which she sits. They look fairly typical for what they are, volcanic activity heating naturally occurring springs close to the surface, but… it's jarring. Immediately around the desiccated soil and softly molten rock that encircles the springs is lush, green grass and shrubs that have been growing there for several years at least. After a moment you realize the rock is still hot.
You're no geologist, but you're pretty sure this isn't how rocks are supposed to work. If there was recent volcanic activity, then it shouldn't have stayed this localized, right? Certainly not as small and neat as it currently is.
"Wait." You say, trying to pull your head out of this weird dream thing. "Is that magic?" Things that usually don't behave like you expect them to can often be explained by magic.
"Of a kind." Kitsune's voice comes from where the woman is sitting, and looking back you see her leaning on the rocks from the water, a flickering, wispy image. You can't see her face clearly through the steam. "Though you would call it magic, for one as she it is simply a matter of… wanting."
The woman frowns, and even though you can't see it, you can feel her annoyance sinking into your head like a needle. She flicks her hand delicately, and the image of your erstwhile employee dissipates into the mist.
"...Can she see me?"
"She would have been able to." Kitsune's voice issues from nowhere this time, a whisper in the wind.
You look around, not fully sure if you are doing so because you want to or because the memory demands it. You get flashes of thoughts, feelings that a part of you knows aren't yours. Momentary irritation and immediate satisfaction. Idle fancies made eternal certainty.
A palace, blinding in its opulence. Pristine, then bloodstained, then burned down as the screams of the rabble close. And then another one, and another one. And then the feeling is gone, like it ever mattered.
"Hello!" A cheerful voice you have heard before calls out. "Do you have a moment to talk?"
The woman tilts her head ever so slightly towards the voice, and you look behind you to see a figure floating in air, standing at a gentle mockery of attention. Puck, and he is unmistakable, is wearing a heavy robe, padded with excess folds designed to turn away sword blows. His long silver hair is half-shaved and tied up beneath a rice hat, and a pair of simple wooden sandals cover his feet.
"Did I get the ensemble right?" He asks, half-smile on his face. "I wouldn't want to give offense."
"How garish. You certainly look the fool." The woman's voice is a lilting, haunting thing, something that should have been beautiful if you couldn't feel the core of blood-curdling coldness ringing in your head. Most of the people you've talked to have cared about something, some sort of ideal that they strived for or the like, so it's very jarring to be struck with the certainty of the woman's apathy. It's not a matter of inference. You feel the emptiness as surely as you feel your own arm. Maybe more, right now.
"Ah, what else am I good for, m'lady?" the Puck asks with an impish bow, face turned up all the while. "Well, a messenger, I could suppose. Lord Oberon has bade me here to speak with you."
"And what does the Prince desire of me?".
"Hoo hoo hoo!" The Puck cackles, floating about in shock and joy. "Oh, someone's sailing for our Lord's disapproval. You know how touchy he can get about that. It's been, what, 500 years? I can't imagine you've forgotten already."
"Has it? I'd have thought the old Queen would have awoken by now."
Puck's twirling flight stutters for a moment as a look of shock passes across his face. It is gone fairly quickly, but it is there.
"You know, Lord Oberon had grand designs when he chose to banish us amongst the mortals. Good to know none of it's working."
You look from the woman to Puck and back again, trying to piece together what's happening from your limited understanding of arcane lore. It's pretty self-explanatory but they're mentioning a lot of things you're not certain about. "Who is she, anyway? Obviously the other guy's Puck, but…"
"She is…was…called by many names. She delighted in collecting them from the wailing mortals she left in her wake. The most well known of her titles would be that of the Tamamo no Mae."
Doof Learning Check: Who?
DC 90
26+38=64
Failure.
"Sorry, no clue."
"It has been a fair few centuries since the name held prominence." There's a hint of what you think (or maybe hope) is levity to Kitsune's response.
You keep yourself from asking why.
"What reason does Oberon," the Tamamo no Mae stresses mockingly, "have to make you interrupt my quaint little vacation?"
"Weeeeeell…" Puck trails off, his tone unchanged but his body tensing ever so slightly. "It has to do with your latest… excursion."
"Where? I've been so busy as of late, touring the island." The Tamamo no Mae asked, in the tone of one who had forgotten the time of day.
"Morioka, I believe." Puck replied, with equal idleness.
"Oh yes" The Tamamo no Mae idly twirls a drop of water between her fingers. "The fool in that peasant's house. What was his name?"
"Zashiki-warashi." Puck replies. "We had plans to meet, you see. A grand carousing through Edo with a few of our closest friends. A night parade, you know. I suppose I shall need to make it a memorial, now." While his tone is light, the fingers on his hands twitch seemingly without intention.
"Oh." The Tamamo no Mae looks stunned at his words. She places a hand over her mouth, peeling the water from the corner of her eye.
"I hadn't known, he seemed so resolute. So ready to die. So foolish of him to not speak of his regrets." The Tamamo mourns.
Puck regards her for a moment. "And… what do you intend to do with this newfound concern?"
"He deserves a grave, for those still living to mourn him."
"What will it say?" Puck asks at once.
"You were the one who knew him," the Tamamo no Mae sobs. "You should be the one to write his epithet."
"It will not say 'he', for starters." Puck says, a slight frown on his face.
"What would it say?"
Puck's face went slack, an utter lack of effort present across it, a full unwillingness to keep expression in place and eyes unlidded. "I doubt they'd ever want you to know."
The monster sighs as the mask slips away. "Could you not have played along a little longer, gathered an offering for your waylaid fool, perhaps?"
"Oberon wants an accounting for this, you know." Puck replies, irritation entering his voice. "It's not as if he just sweeps me off the streets of Stratford to bring the milk in. I had this wonderful idea involving a donkey's head and… oh, but it's not your sort of mischief, is it? You prefer more the sort of… perforating kind. Seems dreadfully repetitive."
"It was a little accident, nothing more. He got in my way, and met an unfortunate end."
"Oh, really." Puck says, appearing to give the idea consideration. He lifts a finger to his chin. "Must have been some accident. We're pretty hardy, you know."
"Indeed. Now run along, unless you have something more interesting to offer me?"
Puck looks at the woman for a moment. "You've really got nothing else to say, do you?" He asks resignedly.
The woman ignores him.
The Puck sighs with his whole body. All his limbs go limp, head hanging down and obscured by his lengthy hair. He closes his eyes for a moment, and gives a small shrug of acceptance.
"Okay." he says.
And then he stabs her.
The movement is faster than the eye can see, the weapon a thing of cold, cruel iron. A rogue's dagger; made for juggling, made for aweing, made for distracting.
And thence for ending the distracted.
What spills from the Tamamo no Mae is blood and is not. It is the ichor of a being made of magic, raw power and vitality dripping slowly down the blade and onto the volcanic rock.
"How dare you!" A rictus of fury overtakes the Tamamo no Mae's face as a shroud of crimson flame cloaks her wounded body, twisting into nine tails of flame. The hot springs explode in a nimbus of power, rushing forth wantonly, withering away at the flora around you. The Puck, however, is untouched.
"Oh, honestly. Obviously, I was sent to kill you." Puck replies, sounding almost bored. With a brief grunt of exertion he yanks the dagger free from her side, careful not to touch the baleful metal, and another spurt of starlight blood falls upon the ground. He looks at the weapon for a moment, then stabs her again for good measure. He sneers. "Couldn't you have given me something, anything, any reason to bring you back in chains instead, that wasn't so predictable? I hate killing people. It's so boring. And the look on his face would have been great."
The woman laughs in disbelief as the fissure in her side spreads across her body, collapsing into the knee-deep water as she tries to stand. Blue flames of power wick at the wound, only to be swallowed and burnt out into papery ash.
"Well, at the very least you've spared me the humiliation of kneeling to that self-effacing fool."
"And so, instead, you kneel to me." Puck sighs.
The woman straightens even as her muscles burn away beneath her skin, and, through shivering effort, runs a hand along the Puck's face. "Yes, why don't you kill him yourself? I'm sure everyone would be so much happier with that arrangement."
Puck considers this for a moment. Bit by bit, pieces began to wick away from the woman's body.
"I've always wondered why so many of us are so very happy to set themselves up as gods." He said, after a moment. "It's so much more fun doing what I do! I used to think you knew that."
A breath passed, and then the Puck shrugged. "Oh well. At least now I won't have to listen to Oberon insisting I rid him of you. What do you want me to tell him were your last words?"
A giggle tears itself from crumbling lips. "Since you so insist…"
The raging torrent of the springs calm, droplets of water suspended in air, turned red by the setting sun. The Tamamo no Mae spoke.
Nine times nine tails split
Curse borne petals scatter free
In fire, air, and blood.
"Tell him he will never be rid of me." she snarls.
The Puck smiles at last.
"Oh, and you are interesting after all!" He laughs. "I'll let him know. I bid you farewell, my lady."
Thus died the Tamamo no Mae, broken and laughing.
===
The corpse fell to the ground, but it did not stop moving. Cracks forming in the body splintered into hundreds of shards, flames licking and consuming the dessicated form. The body rippled, once, twice, and was pierced from within. A single claw rose from the flaking skin of the Tamamo no Mae's throat, slick with starlight. The neck split like a seam, and more began to pull its way out. Behind the claw was ichor-drenched skin, raw and new and nearly transparent in the cold air. A great tempest kicked up, as the storm upon the horizon abruptly changed course. Smoke spun from the conflagration and cloaked the form in russet fur like the strands of a cloud caught in the dying sun's light. A face emerged, and for a moment it was both a beautiful woman and a rabid beast.
You look at the twisting form as it gains solidity, coherence. It looks up at the one that killed her, and bares its teeth. With a snarl, it launches itself at the Puck.
You watch with barely disguised, horrified fascination.
"So, is that… you?"
"No." Kitsune said.
The Puck tilts his head curiously as the kitsune leapt. Then, he plucked it out of the air with the deft movement of a single hand, throwing it to the ground in the same movement.
"Beast of burdens newly born, exit now your mortal form. By 'Puck' is your killer known. Tis all you'll hear; now turn to stone."
The kitsune's furious snarl turned into a look of fear as it felt its body begin to change and stiffen. Second by second her form faded into nothing like a forgotten dream, and what was left behind was a clump of earth.
More kitsune sprang forth throughout this first execution. One by one at first, then dozens and dozens beyond counting, on and on til they burst from the smoldering corpse like a kinetoscope spun beyond control.
Every kitsune that made to attack the Puck was drawn into the spell. One by one, yowling and screaming like newborn babies, they were pulled together with the corpse of the progenitor and the remains of their eldest sibling. Their bodies melded together, faded away, became something they were never intended to be.
Those that did not ran, tearing away from the hill into the woods as the curse nipped at their souls. Once there, a split occurred. Some continued to flee in fear, others were cautious, waited, and watched before eventually turning away. Only the bravest tried to return, only to die, swallowed by the writhing rock even as it slowed, congealing into a black morass.
In the end, what was left was a boulder; a simple stone, identical to every other beyond the baleful magic that even now seemed to poison the air with miasma unseen to mortal eyes.
Puck gazes upon it for a moment. It was not his intention to create such a thing, but a newborn curse was always unpredictable. There had been too much poison in the speaking, it seemed, and so it remained in the remainder.
"Do try not to follow her example." Puck says sarcastically, already beginning to float away from the last of the kitsune to spring forth. He took a moment to readjust his hat before springing into the air and disappearing in a burst of starlight just as the last rays of the sun set.
Night falls, and the kitsune scatter, no two in the same direction. The memory peels apart, leaving only the woods in an empty world.
"...what happened after that?" you ask, already having a horrible feeling of where this is going. Whatever you were expecting out of her tale, you didn't think it would be so… visceral.
"What does it matter?"
Kitsune, at least you think it's her, sits at the edge of the woods, a lone fox lost in the shadows around her.
"Of course it matters!" you insist, not entirely certain where you're going with this but feeling like it's the best way to move forward anyway. "You wanted me to know what happened, right? This was just the start! There's no way I can get the whole picture."
The fox stares out into the dark. "The picture, you would find, is nothing to see. I made my way into the world, as others do. I met mortals, humans, people. I remember little of them now."
"You don't remember? That's because it was so long ago, right? Okay, fair enough, how about some more recent stuff then?"
"...No. I moved from wood to wood. I could not even tell you when I came to this continent." She laughs suddenly, a sad, harsh, barking sound. "It seems so clear now, how much time has stripped of me. How much slipped away in monotony."
"..."
"Were you expecting a secret? A grandiose tale of love and loss? You will have to be disappointed, unfortunately."
You struggle to understand someone who claims to be so… unaffected. "I mean… it was still your life, right?"
"Indeed. And what is left?"
"That… I'm asking."
The fox looks at you for the first time, and you can see the wisps of flame seeping from her face, shrouding her expression.
"Very little. Embers."
You realize suddenly that this is not an illusion. Kitsune… is…
"What are you doing to yourself?" You ask.
"Nothing of concern. Is there anything else you wish to see, at the moment?"
You feel a growing sense of unease that stops you from saying yes right away. "Janna… she said something's wrong."
"You worry too much." It's Vanessa that answers, from across the kitchen counter.
You stumble, leaning on the living room wall. Your watch scratches the paint, and you wince. Charlene always complained about what your gadgets did to the wallpaper.
You know that this is an illusion, there's no other explanation for it, but it's a little disconcerting as to how good it is. You look around the room, trying to see if there are any obvious tells, and every time you think you can find one you're left second guessing yourself. Was it a trick of the light that those books on the shelves seemed to have blurry titles until you focused on them? Did that table used to be on the other side of the house?
"This is, uh, very impressive? How are you doing that, letting me fill in all the little details when I notice them?" You try to ignore the fact that if you didn't know this was an illusion, it'd have you fooled entirely.
Vanessa (the illusion of Vanessa, you try to tell yourself) clicks away at her phone. "I'm doing fine. It's not like we don't talk. Pay attent-"
There is a faint snap at the back of your mind.
"It is convenient. Magic." Lizzy passes you the printout of the odd transmissions, the unusual phonemes expressed as man'yōgana. You remember looking at this maybe once before sending it to the rest of your decoding team, and yet here it is in front of you, plain as day. Was it… even the same words as before?
Lizzy… stands there, for a moment, once you've handed it off. She's not sure what to do next, and you're not sure what she can do.
You can feel something important passing just below the surface.
"Well, yes, obviously, but I meant how. It's really impressive!" Maybe a compliment will cheer her up, you think.
Lizzy's face is the picture of blank acceptance, her natural frown tugging downwards. "Okay."
Maybe not. None of this makes any sense to you. "...why are you doing this?"
"I have found that being cocooned in the familiar is comforting, for most." Her voice doesn't quite seem to match her lips. The lights flicker.
"Oh no, this is, like, super creepy."
"How rude." A fox, a zootopian in an eyepatch giggles, leaning on a pool cue from the shadowed wall. A vulture whose face you can't quite make out places a cue ball onto the table.
You squint. "Who is that?" You ask, trying to see through the smoke haze.
"A fool." She prods the vulture's hazy cheek, gloved fingers sending ripples through the air as the illusion bends.
"No, no." You say, waving your arms. "I mean her. …you?"
"Ah, this?" The fox rests a hand on the eyepatch on her face. "Something to wear. A role."
"I… didn't know you were an actor?"
"It comes naturally."
"Oh. Uh, right." You say. "Family… uh… resemblance."
"Yes. An inheritance, of a kind."
The silence is punctuated by the faint crackling of a fireplace filling the room.
You break it. "Listen, I- I'm trying to keep this conversation going."
"I do apologize for the poor hospitality. This was all unforeseen."
"Right yeah no, I get it, I get it."
You stop.
"I'm worried." You say.
"What is it that concerns you?"
You really don't know.
"It… Janna said something was wrong."
"She is the kind. The girl hides herself well, but her heart bleeds nonetheless."
"How can you tell?" You ask, despite not disagreeing.
The fox leans over and lines up a shot. "I've worn many faces."
You think about that, for a moment. "Are you wearing one now?"
"I am." A crack punctuates her words, and the balls scatter across the table.
"I can't do anything to help if you keep hiding, you know." You complain.
"I have not called for aid."
"I mean, yeah, sure, but Janna said-"
"Janna is best left to focus on her studies." She cuts you off harshly. "She has too far to go to dally with distractions."
"Distractions? You're her teacher!"
"For her to learn from me is as learning to swim from a fish, to fly from a bird. The staff is far better placed to instruct her on mortal magics."
"...you… you're kidding right?"
"I am not."
"I mean, I'm not going to say he's terrible at it or anything, but he's a little…" You rub the back of your neck awkwardly.
"He is nonetheless a magus who once grasped enough power he could face one of the Third Race."
"Well sure, but you wouldn't ask Glomgold for tips on budgeting." you reply, getting stuck in the weeds yet again.
The fox sighs, and there's another flicker of darkness as the edges of your vision seem to fade for a moment. "There is little else that girl has to learn from me, now."
"But you're, like… you've done way more magic than he has around here!"
"And yet, what great accomplishments can I hold to my own name?"
"You saved the world!"
"I was a piece in a greater story, one part of a puzzle a metropolis wide and centuries long."
"That's a huge exaggeration you know. And besides, is that even a bad thing? They helped, so did you!"
"It could easily have been another. In the city or beyond."
"Ok, fine, forget about literally saving the world. You've done so much! For me, in particular. Feldrake thinks your wards are better than anything he's ever done- I can tell because he refuses to talk about them. You're the entire reason I even know the Bazaar in New York even has a leader."
"It does not." She corrects you.
"I wouldn't know that either!" You insist, trying to fight past the semantics like wading through a swamp.
"Replacing what I have done would be trivial for one within your means."
"You're hundreds of years old, that can't be true! Why the heck are you so down on yourself, anyway?"
The fox looks away. You're back in the woods, and this time you see a child, gazing out at a small, grass-thatched hut-
Another shift, and now you're in the wilds somewhere, the moon full and bright. The beast before you is gigantic, towering above you, nine tails swaying proudly against the howling wind. You can smell the fear in the air. A growl-
Before you can say anything, the grass falls away beneath your feet, melting into cobbled roads. The once child, now in the guise of one old and wizened, watches an army march towards an unsuspecting village-
The world spins again, and now it's a young woman, one you recognize as Kitsune, or at least the form you know her in, dressed in simple, peasant's clothes. She waves to someone as they turn away from her stall-
You're back in the woods. Where you started.
The young girl holds a little firework in her hands, the fuse sparking and frozen in her grasp. She lets it fall, and the snow covers it quickly.
"Centuries of very little. Peace. Silence. Escape. It may seem long to you, but time is what is made of it. An immortal is no less able to while away the hours than any other."
"That uh… didn't really look like whiling to me? I mean, ok, maybe a few bits, but like, what was with the giant monster thing?"
"Being hunted is hardly an edifying experience."
"Well, in the moment, yes, but I feel like a lot of my best insights came from being wished bodily harm."
The child shakes her head, shivering slightly in the cold. "The moment is all I retain of it now regardless."
"You could try learning now?" You suggest tentatively. "Dr. Gevaarlijk always told me 'Heinz, you've screwed this all up massively. But I don't want to clean it up, so do it yourself and maybe you'll learn something'."
Whatever you're trying to do, you don't think you're doing it.
But there's no one else here.
You try again.
"I've… forgotten my point." You admit. "I just… I feel like I ought to be doing something for you here. You ever get that feeling where you start off on one thing, but then you get distracted on the details, and then that spirals into its own whole thing, and by the time you finish you're lost in the woods?"
Kitsune looks at you long and hard, and trembles ever so slightly.
"Why do you care?" The words come out a whisper.
You look back and forth. "Uh… what do you mean?"
"I…" Kitsune halts, before starting again. The words come out, but you can't quite hear them.
"About this? About you?" You ask again, straining to hear. "I mean, I know I'm evil but I'm not a monster." You pack back and forth, beginning a monologue. "I like to think of DEI as a family, you know? An evil family. One I… don't actually know that well. But I am trying! I am trying, you know?"
Your Inator whirrs loudly. They tend to do that, so you ignore it. You can tell your brilliant plan is about to fall apart, just like it always does, but you have to try. You have to. So you keep talking, even as your feet begin bringing you closer without thinking.
"I want to get to know my employees better, I want to help them. I want to avoid all those stupid mistakes. It's my… responsibility. I need to be… better, because... because…"
You look up at the person you've been speaking to, climbing up the side of your Inator to end your dastardly scheme. Your eyes take in one webbed orange flipper pressing down on a recessed button, cleverly hidden in what ended up being the perfect foothold.
"I-"
Your feet move faster than your brain can process. You are rushing racing pushing forwards, watching the start of an explosion begin at a tenth speed. You let out a wordless cry and leap, trying to jump the remaining space, reaching out, reaching-
You are holding Kitsune by the shoulders.
Her face is swathed in fire, and this close you can see the skin flaking away into the gray snow swirling around you. She's shaking, and she's dressed in that peasant's garb you saw before.
She's stained in blood.
She puts a hand on your right arm, but she can't seem to muster the strength to push you away.
"It's easier not to." Her voice quavers. "Just leave me be."
The fire crackles louder. "Leave me to my memories, and I will trouble you no more."
"What are you doing to yourself?" You ask again.
She masks her face with a hand. "I can remember the death. The withering. You would think it would be more difficult, to-."
"Stop it." you say.
Around you, the snow, no, the ash, slows. The wind draws in. The fire is quiet.
Kitsune takes a deep breath.
The darkness shatters, peeling out the back of your mind. You find yourself standing in a simple, stark bedroom. Around you, you see bedding tossed wantonly, and at your feet is a simple wooden chest, half-emptied of various knick-knacks.
Sitting on the bed, still shaking, is Kitsune, hands clasped together in her lap. She looks young. …More than young. Her eyes dart about without her head ever moving an inch. Her form almost seems to shrink inwards, lost in the sky blue folds of her sheets. Her hair hangs down loose and unstyled. Her fingers clench, and shake further.
"What is the point?" She asks, her voice empty of emotion.
"Of… what, trying?" You ask, so, so sick of not understanding and even more afraid about what you do. You sit down on the bed, next to her, hoping it isn't too much of an invasion.
"I don't know." She says.
"Well, I mean… if I didn't keep trying, I never would have gotten anywhere. It… it took a while." You admit.
"It hurts." She confesses.
"I know."
The two of you sit there as the fire dies out and the wind fades away.
Her next words are halting. Hesitant. "I know of a way to…preserve the power that a Kitsune leaves behind. A pearl of magic. I had thought to leave it to Janna once I was gone. She could have grown, using it."
You're worried about where this is going, and you don't know what to say. You let her continue.
"I have run out of things I can give her, now. There is a distance. It was my fault, in the end. She has hers to find, and I do not…belong, in that kindred. I do not know where to go, now."
"...yeah." You reply. "I…" You don't want to talk about this. "I know… the feeling."
She stares out the open window, at the smog-clouded skyline. "I have not even told you my name."
"Apparently it's not Kitsune." You comment.
"It never was." She mumbles in response.
There is another long line of silence.
"Are you going to- no, no, it's ok. You don't have to…put yourself out there, I guess?"
"Names are precious things," she says, and you can tell she's reciting this from somewhere or someone. "To be kept close, away from all but the most trusted."
"...why?"
"I do not know. There is no mystic reason, no binding of power." She pauses, thinking. "It simply feels correct, I suppose. As it should be. Perhaps an inheritance of some sort."
"...are you scared?"
"I think so. I have been so unsure, as of late."
"Well I hope you… I-I mean, that if you want you can, you know, if you feel more comfortable that, so you, when it feels less…"
"Are you making an offering?" She teases you, though a slight quaver still follows her words.
"For what?" You blink.
"To create that time and place, where I would give you my name."
"I… I can try."
"You sound uncertain.
You slouch. When did you stop slouching? "I'm not… good at this."
Kitsune hops off the bed, running a finger on the dust-stained cabinet. "In myth and legend, the role I would play would be to grant you the power to do what you seek."
"It is? I thought kitsune were, like… tricksters."
"Indeed. It seems I have much to learn." She grins impishly, but without the toothy malice it usually contains. It wavers, but just a bit.
"I have little power to offer you. Anything you accomplish with what I grant, you would need to do by your own hand first. Would you still accept this pact?"
"Just to… what? Do that?"
"Shelter for trust. An ancient bargain. Traditional. Though what I can give you would be-"
"Sure."
She stops.
"I was going to do that anyway, I think. I mean, probably. It's not like I was going to throw you out. And I think your landlord would get really mad if I did."
She looks at you quizzically, until something sparks, and that glimmer of amusement grows into a full blown laugh.
"Very well then!" She turns away, pulling something out from a lockbox. She turns back to look you in the eyes as she sits down on a mat placed upon the floor.
"Would you care for some tea?"
===
+15 Permanent Kitsune Opinion.
Objective Complete: People Die When They Are Killed
Reward: +5 Kitsune Opinion.
Total opinion increase: +20
Doof gains +1 Diplomacy.
Kitsune gains +1 to Martial.
Kitsune gains +1 Diplomacy
Kitsune gains +1 Stewardship
Kitsune gains +1 Intrigue
Kitsune gains +1 Learning
Kitsune gains +1 Occult.
Goblin Fox has been removed from Kitsune.
Kitsune Trait Reawakened. Blood of the Third Race: This character is not subject to mortal limitations when gaining Occult.
Huh, wasn't expecting to see a piece of Tamamo-no-Mae herself! Doof would manage to pick up such a thing, wouldn't he? There's a part of me that thinks we should try and get her put back together. The rest of me then remembers that this is Tamamo and questions if that's the best idea haha
Huh, wasn't expecting to see a piece of Tamamo-no-Mae herself! Doof would manage to pick up such a thing, wouldn't he? There's a part of me that thinks we should try and get her put back together. The rest of me then remembers that this is Tamamo and questions if that's the best idea haha
That is very true. Though gathering the pieces of her former self possibly wouldn't necessarily be going backwards, in a sense? Perhaps if it were phrased more as using those broken pieces to help forge something new. Doof's an inventor, and he knows better than most that a broken thing's use doesn't end when it breaks!
Wow, that got emotional there. Aah, it's nice seeing Heinz try. He's not the best speaker, can't even scrape his thoughts together all the way, but he cares, and he's there, and that can be enough to help someone get through a hard time.
Looks like we managed to do something incredibly important here.
And kitsune has been completely changed by this. Wow.
Was she trying to... I dunno... end her life and leave her magic remnants to Janna?
What would have happened if they both got bad rolls instead of good ones? This would have failed, kitsune would vanish mysteriously and Janna would have found a message telling her there is a magic thing for her and goodbye?
Was kitsune on a timer? If we just ignored it would she be gone in a few turns?
Good grief I had no idea how important these two rolls were.
