Dragon Ball: After the End

PoptartProdigy · Aug 6, 2016

From small-time fighters that were insignificant in the face of things to the pinnacle of godhood itself -- that was, in truth, but the start of Goku and Vegeta's adventures. They lived for many years beyond that, fighting and getting stronger all the while, and protecting Earth from every threat that came against it.

But all adventures must some day come to an end.

Old age is as formidable an enemy as any other -- more, in fact. Unlike others, it cannot be defeated by powering up. That was, however, all that Goku and Vegeta knew how to do.

They died.

And in an instant, those they left behind were beset. As it turns out, entrusting one's safety to but two individuals -- one, really, given Vegeta's success rate -- is a poor idea, especially when those individuals are aging swiftly. Earth was set upon by foes too scared of the Saiyans' reputation to attack, yet scared enough to do so as soon as the storied defenders of Earth were gone. Yet despite this, Son Gohan stepped up to fill the gap, standing strong in the face of the threats that came to his home, even though he was pressed to his very limits.

Until the day when the foe was simply too much.

Records from that day are confusing. No witnesses of the fight itself survived -- the only records are the testimony of survivors using ki sensing and scattered updates from the battlefield. The only living members of the original Z Fighters at that time were Tenshinhan -- sometimes known as Tien -- Piccolo, and Son Gohan himself. Krillin's daughter Maron, Goku's student Uub, Gohan's daughter Pan, and Son Goten and Prince Trunks had since taken up their predecessor's mantles.

But none of them were a match for Goku and Vegeta, and none were a match for the threat that landed on Earth that day. Maron died first.

Uub was ripped to shreds afterwards, barely surviving and being withdrawn from the fight. The others bought time, instructing him to use the dragon balls to learn the nature of this new threat.

Piccolo was vaporized buying that time.

Son Goten vanished from any ki sense shortly afterwards. It is not known how he died.

Prince Trunks's ki flared to unprecedented heights in response -- him, finally attaining the third Super Saiyan form. Immediately afterwards, his ki crashed to nearly nothing. It declined, slowly, for five minutes before vanishing entirely.

Tenshinhan's ki flared brightly and briefly, burning itself out in a futile attempt to stop his opponent. He was the only Z fighter to die by his own hand.

Uub, having been healed, summoned Shenron. He resurrected Maron, who immediately died again. He then flew back to the fight, only sharing the briefest of details with Pan's young son Mato of the answers he had received. As soon as he arrived, his ki simply...vanished.

Pan's ki burned as brightly as any had ever felt it, the Earth shaking under the force of her attempts to avenge her friends. They were not enough, and her absence was like the silence after a thunderbolt.

At this point, those away from the fight were piling into spaceships built by Bulma and saved since then, hoping to evacuate. The last family members of the Z fighters -- with Maron's death, all of them Saiyans -- prepared to escape, praying against any kind of hope that Gohan would survive.

Gohan's grandson, in tears over his mother's death, received a message from his grandfather in the form of telepathy, one which he never shared with anybody. In response, his ki began to stir.

And as the ships lifted off, the atmosphere of Earth glowed a divine blue light as Gohan finally broke through the barrier. For so long since his father's death, he had been a God, and as his loved ones fled, he finally unlocked the potential of a Super Saiyan in that form. There were none left who could sense the battle, but all could see the shockwaves echoing over the horizon. And then Gohan's ki skyrocketed again, the Earth nearly coming apart. All stood in awe. Had he finally surpassed his father once and for all?

No. He had not. He had self-destructed, taking Earth itself with him in a futile, wasted attempt to bring his opponent down. The ships rocked in the shockwaves from Son Gohan's violent death, and unnoticed in the chaos, Mato ascended to a Super Saiyan, screaming out his grief in a futile rage.

The apocalypse had come, and Earth's defenders were found wanting.

* * *

Since the Z Fighters' quest to defeat Freeza, it had been known that, somehow, humans were present in every corner of the galaxy. After his grief abated, Mato cast his senses far and wide in search of a planet filled with them -- someplace where he and his last family could hide.

It was long in the finding, but a place was found. The inhabitants were far less advanced than the rest of the galaxy -- primitives, really. It was perfect -- this backwater world that hadn't even made it into space, inhabited by humans who had even less idea about the mysteries of ki than the ones the Saiyans had left behind. Nobody would find them there. They landed their ships, hid them, and vanished into the general population.

Over time, the Z-Fighters, and the cataclysmic battle that annihilated them, passed into legend among the descendants. Especially Vegeta and Goku -- the undefeated, some called them. The Holy, others said. Among a people who needed to hide their very identities, what else would such peerless warriors be taken to be?

Vegeta and Goku were raised to almost mythic status. No almost about it, for some. Every Saiyan remaining -- heavily bred in with humans at this point -- descended from them. With that population, inbreeding was a concern. It was decided that the two families would breed exclusively with the inhabitants of their new home -- a cold decision, for an increasingly cold people.

And that worked. It worked so well that the two families eventually lifted the restriction. But by that time, the division had become somewhat...ingrained.

The descendants of Vegeta and Goku almost came to resemble clans and noble houses. Clans Vegeta and Goku, each with Houses indicating family groups. Inheritance and succession became extremely important. Eventually, it was formalized. Each generation, in the main Houses of Vegeta and Goku, one child would be chosen who most typified the characteristics of the Saiyans of old. That child would be trained to the level of Super Saiyan, and master the ability. And they would be called the Scion of either Vegeta and Goku -- taking the title from the predecessor from the last generation, who would be elevated to the Lord of their Clan, displacing the one who came before.

In and around all of this, their isolation bred strange practices. The Scions were the only Saiyans allowed to transform, for fear of discovery. In the absence of a high strength, the survivors turned to magic, the forbidden and strange arts sometimes encountered by the Z Fighters. Never a prominent art among Saiyans, progress was slow. Sorcerers were rare. But they did exist, and they aided their people. They built a chamber where the Scions and Saiyans in general could train without fear of broadcasting their strength.

That was not their only contribution. They were still Saiyans -- and they stood out. Tails, spiky hair...it wasn't conducive to hiding among such colorless humans as inhabited this new place. The Sorcerers designed Masques -- a shapeshifting technique that allowed the Saiyans to appear wholly human. Nobody had been wholly comfortable with the idea of chopping limps off -- honestly, how the original Z-Fighters were so calm about lopping off tails escaped the survivors. Thus, even though the Masques restricted power levels, the survivors dealt with it.

This is the world you were born into. Even centuries later, your people still fear the return of your old foe. Everything you do is informed by the Masquerade. You live normal human lives by day, and by night remove your Masques, letting the human sleep in order to live as a Saiyan for the dark hours. And you, you in particular, train.

You are a person of significance in your Clan. Born at the same time as your opposite number to the Scion of your clans, your father has since taken his office as Lord. You are now the Scion of your clan, expected to attain and master the Super Saiyan form against the possibility of discovery, to lead and guide your people in war and peace. You are nobility -- the last remnant of Saiyan royalty, given that everybody now draws descent from Vegeta and Goku both. You stand at the end of a long and proud line -- the most peerless warrior race ever to exist. Even in fearful exile, you are a figure of pride and prestige. As the date of your eighth birthday approaches, your father brings you to the Training Hall, the only truly Saiyan place on the planet, built by Sorcerers to contain and shield the ki of those inside. As you enter, you see the other Scion and their family standing there as well. You both know why you are here. It is time to finally make your transformations. Regardless of your family and Clan, you will transform before you leave, for you are a Scion. You are...

[ ] Prince Jaffur Vegeta, the Scion of Vegeta. Son of Lord Vegeta Vegeta, the Lord Vegeta -- yes, really -- you were trained since birth to match and surpass your father. You have taken to that training like nothing else, and can easily claim to be the most lethal Saiyan alive save for your father, the Lord Goku, and their predecessors, despite your age. You are a warrior prince, the heir to the royalty of Clan Vegeta, and you stand at the head of a Clan that takes the trappings of nobility much more seriously than those Gokun fools. When your first child is born and takes your mantle of Scion -- when your father's title passes from him, and you become the Lord Vegeta -- you will stand as the acknowledged outright ruler of your people. Yet not all is well. Something is rotten in the House of Vegeta. Your father has dark designs, and a cruel temper that all-too-often turns to you. Nothing you do is ever enough, and failure is harshly punished. Your mother is your only solace, she and your little sister -- and even they are helpless in the face of a Full-Powered Super Saiyan. You do not know what the next few years will bring, but you will become the Lord Vegeta some day, and on that day you will rise with the respect and admiration of a people who have truly recalled their roots as a warrior race, and stand in awe of your early accomplishments.

Pros: Beloved by people, born warrior, warrior prince, heir to the royal line of Vegeta, proud legacy, [HIDDEN BONUS], intense drive, AVE JAFFUR!
Cons: Truly horrendous home life, proud legacy, quick and fiery temper, severe trauma, [HIDDEN DETRIMENT], difficult to interact with non-Vegetan saiyans due to differing cultures.

[ ] Kakara Goku, the Scion of Goku. Daughter of Berra Goku, the Lord Goku, you are named for your ancestor Goku's Saiyan name, and have earned the scorn and contempt of your people since the moment you were old enough to train. Because you have never enjoyed training. You have struggled to attend to the work of fighting all your life. The thought of hurting another person makes you sick, and you find it difficult to even try to throw a punch at another person, even in sparring. But you are not incompetent. While you hesitate in fighting, nobody can call you anything less than a prodigy in the art of using your ki. You are intelligent and ambitious, and determined to find a way to live your life the way you wish it. And even with all of that aside, you are not a shirker. You will do your duty and master the Super Saiyan form. If your actions cannot win your people's respect, your strength and conviction will. And regardless of what your people think of you, you have your family, and they, you know full well, love you. You are happy, most of the time. But your life will be hard, and you will continually fight against the frustrated expectations of your people. And unlike Vegetans, Gokun do not acknowledge their Lord as true nobility. You will be a facilitator, a mediator trying to bring order to a fractious mass paying the bare minimum of respect due your position. But you will persevere, and if the world will not accept you of its own accord, you make it do so.

Pros: Acknowledged prodigy of ki manipulation, nascent pacifist, possibility of reforming saiyan culture, strong and loyal family support structure, solid mental health, [HIDDEN BONUS].
Cons: Contempt of saiyan society at large, nascent pacifist, severe difficulty developing combat abilities, social isolation, will face constant social opposition, [HIDDEN DETRIMENT].

* * *

Welcome to Dragon Ball: After the End! This is my second quest on this site, and I hope you all enjoy what's on offer. I'll leave mechanics and such for later in the story, as even when they're introduced they're not really critical to your enjoyment of this quest. There will be rules, and I'll make them freely available, but this first bit is chargen and I'd rather not distract from that. As you can see, whichever character you choose will have drastic effects on the kind of quest you end up running. Whichever you pick, however, the other one will still be running around the world. Don't worry that picking the unconventional Saiyan pacifist will make you miss out on the delicious angsty warrior action, and vice-versa. This takes takes as canon the full runs of Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball Super, any movies that contradict none of the above/are sufficiently cool for me not to care (except for the Hirudegarn movie, which is not canon in this continuity), and very carefully selected redeemable concepts from Dragon Ball GT. I am also changing "Super Saiyan God" to "Saiyan God" and "Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan" to "Super Saiyan God," for reasons that should be bloody obvious. Everybody enjoy, but before you do:

Power Levels

...are not open for debate because I've seen the kind of arguments that get started over that. DOES IT EVEN REALLY MATTER? End of the day, all the various models boil down to: "Protagonist is weaker than Antagonist #78, then transforms and trashes them. Longer-term, they train until they hit limits, then transform to surpass them." Who cares about the numbers beyond that? ...besides, um, me. I like numbers. For mine, I'm using the Bringer of Death system by npberryhill, who, while personally abrasive in the face of disagreement, has made a very easy system for me to work with. Normal Saiyans can get up to 15 million units of power level as a hard cap, and hit diminishing returns on training a good deal earlier. The Super Saiyan transformation adds 145 million onto that (yes, it is additive. Not in line with official guidebooks or Toriyama's comments, I know, but it's easier on your poor QM), and also allows base power to be trained up to 70 million, again with diminishing returns starting at roughly half that (total transformed max power: 215 million). Mastering the transformation ups base potential to 375 and the boost from Super Saiyan to 750 million (total of 1.125 billion). That's all you'll need to know for the first little while of this quest, trust me. Other transformations come later.

EDIT: Because it became relevant down the line, here's my model for Oozaru as derived from my own thoughts, the spirit of BOD's speculations on the matter, and the ideas of various posters talking it out on the thread. You all rock!

RP Companion

This quest shares continuity with an RP run by @The Fourth Monado! Their RP -- found here -- deals with a substantially broader scope, and thus contains spoilers aplenty. Exercise discretion.

I've taken a lot of the discussion of Oozaru on board in designing my final paradigm for the form. Here's how it'll work: Oozaru channels the same energy that Super Saiyan does, but in a different way. Therefore, like Super Saiyan, it has nothing to do with your base power at the time of the transformation. However, the forms are different: as Oozaru gives you a different body to work with, your base strength is not merely irrelevant to how much you boost by, but is in fact replaced by a different base power level for the duration of the transformation. For the ancient Saiyans, this was always higher than their normal base given how weak they were at the time, and thus was taken to be a universally beneficial transformation. However, that's not necessarily the case. In your case, your power level went down in training.

Oozaru's real strength is not that it boosts strength. What Oozaru does is provide a radically changed body with its own power level -- a power level which has twice the cap of the base strength cap of the Saiyan in question, and can be trained up swiftly. For a base Saiyan, they cap at 30 million. For a basic Super Saiyan, their Oozaru caps at 140 million. For a Full-Power Super Saiyan -- which at this point, you are -- the Oozaru power cap is 750 million -- the total boost that you would receive from turning into a Super Saiyan. In fact, the basic Super Saiyan's cap is only five million off from SSJ. This helps me link Oozaru with SSJ the way the BOD system I'm using tries to do while not making either Oozaru or SSJ unilaterally worthless.

Thus, the reason why the ancient Saiyans used the Oozaru as their "I win" button was because it could be trained up quickly and thus kept ahead of their base forms by a lot. I've also decided that it tends to hit a wall once it's multiplying your normal strength by ten, thereby explaining why the ancient Saiyans thought it was a tenfold boost. But that multiplier drops off under diminishing returns as it approaches the cap just like normal strength, and once the Saiyan's base strength is at max, Oozaru is "only" a twofold boost. But no ancient Saiyan ever reached that point, and Vegeta never gave a crap about Oozaru once he figured out SSJ, so the myth of x10 remained.

tl;dr: Oozaru replaces your power level with a new base, which tends to be higher than your normal base but doesn't have to be. This new base can be trained at an accelerated rate, hard-caps at twice your normal base cap, but hits a cap of ten times your normal base when you're still far enough below your normal base cap to allow that.

This diverges from BOD's (rudimentary) handling of the form, but honestly, they didn't use it and only addressed it in non-canon snippets. I will happily leave them behind here for the sake of a fun quest.

I would like to thank in particular Terrabrand and Bakkasama, whose ideas were the final inspiration for this model and who both have cookies now because of it. Thanks, you two! You were a great help! And I also thank everybody else who talked it out in the comments, helping me to find what I like to think is a more elegant solution to the rather thorny problem I was originally facing. It was immensely helpful.

Some people have not seen Dragon Ball: Super yet. With the ongoing release of Super in English, that number is about to drop precipitously. Unless I specify otherwise either here or in a threadmarked update, with later threadmarks trumping earlier ones, all Super episodes with official English dubs are to be considered open for discussion, with yet-to-be-dubbed episodes remaining spoilers. As a general courtesy rule, please continue to use spoiler boxes for anything that is a spoiler according to the above rule. Anything else bearing the brand of Dragon Ball, however, is fair game and may be discussed freely, including anything about GT that you all wish to debate. PLEASE NOTE: THIS SPOILER POLICY APPLIES SOLELY TO THREAD DISCUSSION. I RESERVE THE RIGHT TO REFERENCE WHATEVER I NEED TO IN ORDER TO WORK IN THE SETTING I'M CRAFTING.

Additionally, this quest is in part a collaborative work, in that I and @The Fourth Monado write in a collaborative canon which between us we determine. Monado runs an RP called, "Dragon Ball: Days of Future Past." Given DoFP's status as dealing with multiversal events spanning the breadth of all time and space, my quest occupies a position as a timeline within that broader canon. This does not imply seniority of rank -- merely the two works' relationship to each other.

I have committed to limiting cross-pollination from the RP to the Quest, given the pacing problems it would entail and the distaste much of my player base has for the idea. Therefore, while you are perfectly at liberty to follow and read the RP, I ask that if you wish to discuss spoilers from it that you've received, please do so in clearly-labelled spoiler boxes, for the benefit of those who prefer to refrain.

As I have mentioned in a few places before, I at the start of this quest generated a few "outside context crises" that will occur at predetermined points in the quest with absolutely no influence from player action. These would be things like (some of) Dragon Ball's arc villains, or something exciting happening in Garenhuld's human world. Something that you can't prepare for and is in no way triggered by your actions. It just happens, and you have to deal with as it comes. Additionally, I sometimes set problems that are within player context on resolution timers that eventually run out, whereupon they will turn over and go proactive unless the players discover and act upon them by investigation, happenstance, or allied action. These would be things like Dr. Gero, who was a result of Goku's actions, lived on Earth, and was always within Super Saiyan Goku's reach, but for one reason or another remained undetected or unfought until he began to present a serious threat.

Because I was bored, that's why.

The HAPCON is a measure of the pace or urgency of events as a general rule in the quest -- the extent to which the players are likely to have their hands forced in any given situation by events beyond their control. Having the HAPCON visible is mostly a fun little joke for me; this measure already existed before I chose to make it visible to you all.

Current Status: We are at HAPCON 4. A New Cold Empire invasion force is approaching the Planet of New Namek, and you are searching for it, although as of yet you have not made contact with it.

Aaaaaaaaaand GO!

PoptartProdigy · Aug 6, 2016

Rules Screen

Overview

This quest's mechanics have grown and shifted over time to suit the basic needs of the quest, and by now the implementation has become hopelessly dense. That being said, the system is built around a fairly straightforward core principle: when I impose a check, the PC rolls against either a DC, or the opposed roll of the person contesting their action, on a d100. To each roll, I add modifiers derived from skills, traits, abilities, and circumstantial effects. I then rule what effect the margin of victory or defeat had. Let's go into some detail on those term.

In general, your character has traits, abilities, and skills, with skills being the meat of the system. Skills are your aptitude at certain actions in or out of combat, traits provide constant modifiers to certain actions, and abilities are things that you do that don't fit under the other two categories (i.e., the Super Saiyan transformation, which doesn't map well to the system I have for skills and makes no sense under traits). What exact modifiers apply to each of these things are available in the spoiler tabs below. That being said, you don't strictly need them to play the quest. All you need to know to follow along and make plans is that a higher skill lends a bigger bonus, and that traits have standardized language which tells you how much of a bonus to expect.

For those who want the really specific details, however, see here:

Skills are a measure of how, well, skilled your character is at certain actions. Skills are rated on an eleven-point scale [Lethal, Calamitous, Incompetent, Poor, Unpromising, Unlearned, Competent, Talented, Exceptional, Elite, Legendary]. On this scale, Unlearned is the neutral level offering neither penalties nor bonuses (+/-0). Each level to either side of Unlearned either adds or subtracts 10 from that modifier. Thus, a Poor skill penalizes checks in that skill by -20, while an Exceptional skill improves all rolls within that skill by +30.

The last two levels at either end of the scale represent the extreme ends of the bell curve: levels of excellence or failure unattainable by mere training or grinding, accessible by only the greatest feats or moments of self-realization. In addition, delving into the far ends of the bell curve allows your character to dig into special talents above and beyond the accepted state of the art in that skill. I call these Elite+ Talents, which attach to skills. Being Exceptional in a skill is already expert-tier, in other words; pushing farther is where one enters the level of innovation and mastery. An example of an Elite+ Talent would be the ability to sense machine energy with ki sense, something ordinarily held to be impossible.

Combined roleplaying tags and mechanical attributes, these represent who your character is as a person. How you the players have your character act will affect your traits, and that in turn will open up or limit options based on the kind of person you've built. In addition, certain traits offer bonuses or impose penalties to certain actions. Some traits progress from or oppose others, and there are powerful "end-game" traits out there offering unique and potent bonuses if you have the patience to chase them. Some traits interact with each other; I'll make note of those that do.

Traits use fairly standardized language to denote what they mechanically do. Those that mention vote weighting don't have a standardized system; vote weighting is something I apply rarely in this quest, and according to additional situational factors which render it useless to spell it out in traits. However, in terms of bonuses and penalties, I can elaborate. The words, "small," "moderate," and, "large," correlate to, "+10," "+20," and, "+30," respectively. While there are none currently on the sheet, you may sometime see traits using words like, "slight," and, "massive." These have arbitrary values, and will be noted explicitly in the trait in which they appear.

Things you can do. Abilities cover actions that are available to you, but aren't covered by the skills system. Bipedal movement is an ability, if an obviously unlisted one. Each ability is its own thing, with your facility in it tracked differently. This is the miscellaneous attribute. I'm actually slightly disappointed in myself that I couldn't figure out how to streamline the system so that I didn't need this, but it'll serve. Where abilities can be rated on a sliding scale, that scale will be noted in the ability description (for instance, the Sight ability is a sliding scale with 5 levels), with each level on the scale equating to an additional +10 on related checks (thus, a seer with a 4/5 skill level, a rare achievement indeed, would receive +40 on all Sight checks).

This category is something of a kludge, and I'm not thrilled with it, but it'll do for now.

Willpower is an odd stat, standing outside the normal system. I consider it to be one of the most significant. As always, this is rolled on a d100, and you can find your Willpower stat in the Character Sheet (beware spoilers, new readers!). Willpower is sheer stubbornness, yes, but it's also your determination and drive to succeed. In a challenging situation, I'll call a Willpower check to find out if you have the ability to see it through. Possible things against which you can check are: willpower pushes (explained below), deadlocked skill checks, mind control, sorcerous possession (opposed by target Magic check, prompted depending on spell design), bleed-out time, morale checks, and more. Willpower checks are either out in the open or hidden based on whether or not your character actually is aware of the conflict.

Sometimes, Dragon Ball is bullshit. Examples are all over the place throughout the franchise, with characters becoming stronger on the spot, according to their needs. This is obviously bullshit, but it's our bullshit, so I of course have modeled it here.

The way this works is, if you think you're losing a fight, you can initiate a willpower push. What happens in flavor text is that your character attempts to boost their power level temporarily by sheer stubbornness. Your chances of success are influenced by the power level disparity between you and your opponent and your willpower stat. If successful, you make up the difference between yourself and your opponent (or, if your opponent is weaker, just get a huge boost). This boost is fleeting, but potentially decisive if used well. If not, you make up half the difference and roll another willpower save against a higher DC (no boost at all if you are stronger than your opponent). If this fails, your failure demoralizes you and you lose the boost entirely (or, if you're the stronger party, take a penalty).

Obviously, willpower pushes are risky. If things go poorly, you're even worse off than before – and the greater the difference, the greater the risk and potential gain. They should be used only in the direst circumstances. That said, if you do succeed, I'll describe the result in the most bombastic possible terms and make you feel like an utter badass.

Willpower pushes can also be used on non-combat checks. The exact mechanics of this differ from check to check. Boosting ki sensing in this manner is very difficult; you can slap an additional +30 onto a check, but the DC is 130. For Communication checks, a success sees me tweak one of your arguments such that it perfectly targets one of your subject's triggers. If that's not applicable, I'll double the bonus from their largest trigger. The DC here depends on what you stand to gain. Failure, of course, has consequences as normal.

Other kinds of checks work in different ways, mostly because they all have very different ways of defining success or failure. I case-by-case them.

Okay, not gonna lie; this is pure fluff. I'm not making a mechanical framework to illustrate your relationship to people. At most, higher/lower relationship levels mean you tend to get better/worse circumstance modifiers on checks regarding that person. But it is handy to have it tracked where you stand with others and what you think of them, so I track them here. Relations are sorted three ways: "Enemies," "Acquaintances," and "Allies." Relationships can cover individuals or institutions; for instance, you have a, "relationship," with House Vegeta.

Enemies are simple. These are people to whom you are personally or ideologically opposed. In increasing order of severity, they're rated as Serious, Avowed, or Hated. For instance, a nemesis of truly epic proportions would be rated as, "Enemy [Hated]."

This is where I sort the people who you simply don't have the strength of feeling for to regard as Enemies or Allies. This is a five-point scale: Irritating, Negative, Neutral, Positive, Friendly. The positions are very literal; a Friendly Acquaintance is a friend you hang out with, and Irritating Acquaintance is somebody who just gets on your nerves. It's not that you don't care about these people, but the relationships lack the depth and strength of feeling of the other classes of relationship.

These are the people you truly care for. Allies are, in increasing order of closeness, Dependable, Strong, or Best. Like Enemies, the higher the level, the better you tend to get on with the person. You best friend with whom you share absolutely everything and whose death would emotionally devastate you is a Best Ally. Your parents when you're little (assuming they aren't assholes like Jaffur's) are your Best Allies.

Combat is, generally, an application of the skills system, as are all things in this quest. This, however, is a Dragon Ball quest, so I've added a lot of detail on the topic.

Various kinds of combat have different skills. Each individual technique you know has a skill, in fact. Your and your opponent's chosen approaches determine which skills come into play. The stronger opponent, in terms of power level, gets bonuses to represent their advantage. This advantage is as follows: +20 per 10% margin (from the perspective of the lower power level). This is so that each margin of 10% represents a clear advantage which requires leveraging superior skill or talent to reliably outweigh. Each 10% margin once conferred only a +10 on checks; I have reworked this, as it was trivial to overcome.

I will clearly represent relative power levels before combat starts -- as much as your character is capable of analyzing, at least. In addition, circumstances surrounding the fight such as clever use of terrain, mobility, morale, and many other factors, also confer an advantage, which I rule case-by-case.

Let us clear up one frequent misunderstanding right away: you can only gain the benefits of one style at a time. You can have as many as you can learn; you can't benefit from more than one at any given moment.

A style represents a character unifying their various techniques into a form to improve combat efficiency. Styles allow you to specialize in a certain style of combat and specific techniques, and offers powerful bonuses at the highest levels of mastery. Styles are, to the Saiyan society, derived by examining the forms of their predecessors -- the Lords Vegeta and Goku are, for instance, respectively considered to be the current paragons of the Vegeta and Goku styles of combat. The players will have the opportunity to select a style or, if they want to put in the time, build their own from the ground up.

Styles are rated on five levels from Incipient to Master (Incipient, Novice, Practitioner, Expert, Master), with each rank representing your facility in it along with what benefits it provides. Every rank, starting from Novice, grants +10 to all combat checks while the style is in use. An Incipient style isn't really a style at all -- it simply represents your fighting beginning to resemble a style due to frequent use of its techniques. Somebody who frequently uses the Kamehameha Wave, Instant Transmission, and one-on-one hand-to-hand combat, for instance, but doesn't study the techniques of Son Goku in particular, could be said to have an Incipient Goku style. Thus, it grants no bonuses. Master Styles, on the other hand, are the result of long and intensive training and represent a complete understanding of the ins and outs of those styles' techniques, as well as the possibility of advancing the general understanding of the style and elevating it to a new level.

Styles come into mechanical effect when a character decides to use it. However, this comes with restrictions; as a Style reflects specializing in something, those bonuses only come into play while using the "involved techniques" of a style, and while acting in a manner consistent with the style's philosophies. The Goku Style, for instance, being an overwhelmingly aggressive and melee-focused form, offers its bonuses to characters that spend the majority of their time up close, personal, and on the attack. Styles also have "penalized techniques." If a character uses these techniques while using a Style, they not only lose the benefit of the Style, but gain an equal and opposite malus to all combat checks while using those techniques. You can find the lists of techniques for each Style under the list of known Styles in the Lore Screen. If a technique has the words, "Signature," or "Extreme," after it on its entry, then it offers double the usual Style modifier. This double applies only if that technique is used, and only while that technique is in use. Potent, yes -- but very tactically limiting.

Styles once increased or decreased training time for involved or penalized techniques. That was a poor decision, and it no longer does.

Previously, I used an omake reward system that I referred to as cookies. The explanation for those is here:

Article:

In my quests, "cookies" are single-use bonuses awarded to specific players for various forms of exceptionalism. In this particular quest, they grant +10 bonuses to any check. They formerly allowed you to boost your power level by 10% for a period of time, but this function, on reflection, was wildly unbalanced, and is only moreso now that power level boosts offer even greater bonuses. It from now on will no longer be available. Finally, a cookie may be burnt to prevent your character's death, turning it into a critical injury in a similar way to burning Fate Points in Rogue Trader games. Cookies do not stack.

Unfortunately, the cookies piled up a little too swiftly for comfort, so I replaced them. Now, omakes receive bonuses according to their level of canonicity, to a specific kind of check thematically related to the omake in question.

There are three levels of omake. First is, "canon." This is something I'll hand out for omakes that stay well within the bounds of what has already been established in-quest. These are gospel. You may rely on them as much as you rely on my own writing; they happened. If you want your omake to be canon, stick well within the bounds of what you've seen, "on-screen," so to speak. I also reserve the right to deny canon status to omakes that I don't actually want to be part of my quest canon. Canon omakes receive greater bonuses, detailed below.

Second is, "compliant." This is for omakes that don't contradict anything I've laid out, but delve into historical, speculative, out-of-frame, or otherwise outside-context territory that, by its very nature, is not necessarily as settled as the material with which canon omakes deal. Reading these, you can understand that they contradict nothing the players have personally witnessed as of time of writing, but I won't be checking on them for reference in the future, and thus they may go out of date. I may be inspired by them, but will not use them as reference texts. Compliant omakes can (and in some cases, I suspect, will) remain un-Jossed for the entirety of the quest's run. These, like canon omakes, yield greater bonuses, given that I don't want to penalize you all for getting wrong things that I haven't yet covered.

Third is, "non-canon." These are things that contradict a point of my previously-established canon. They yield a lesser bonus.

Greater bonuses yield +10 to checks; lesser bonuses yield +5 to checks.

So, why bother with non-canon omakes? Why not try to get everything you write canonized, or at least compliant? Well, while canon and compliant bonuses do not stack with each other or themselves, they stack freely with non-canon omakes. For instance, two omakes of either canon or compliant status describing Kakara practicing her speaking skills wouldn't stack bonuses on training Communications; only one would apply for any given check. However, if somebody wrote a blatant piece of crack describing Kakara's epic quest to get better at speaking so that she could become Queen of the Penguins, that would stack with the bonus going to the training check. Thus, the players could stack up to +15 on a single check. Especially lengthy or deep omakes may generate multiple bonuses on different topics, and truly spectacular specimens can yield bonuses up to and including auto-resolves.

Fan art is also eligible for bonuses. They are not subject to canonicity distinctions, and are worth greater bonuses wherever they may arise.

I reserve the right to reject your submissions. Depending on how much mental energy I have at the time, I may or may not give feedback. The specific case I have in mind for this rule is if somebody dashes out a hundred words in five minutes and expects a bonus, but the rule is significantly more versatile, if other cases emerge. I'm not supporting anything which eats an infraction strike, to take one example.

Cookies that have already been awarded will not be voided. They will remain banked until used. Their rules of use have not changed, save that a greater bonus counts as one cookie for the purposes of cookie stacking. Cookies do stack freely with lesser bonuses.

The Cookie Jar tracks still-outstanding cookies; the Rewards List tracks still-unused greater or lesser bonuses.

Andres110 x1

SSJ2 "Control the Transformation" check.
~~The next time you find yourself "Dealing With An Unexpected Enemy."~~
Breaking out of a bad system.
A big reveal.
Next social with Jaffur.
Dealing with the fallout from the scout.
Next research check.
Escaping from or disrupting an enemy.
Influencing the scouts' leader.
Swaying the scouts.
PR regarding ki use for Garenhulders.
First Year 5 action that needs one.
Transcendence check.
Jaffur Style With Mato.
Convincing Dandeer to let you combat-train Jaron.
Making sure the next major social development with Maya goes smoothly.
Covering up a slip in your Masquerade.
First emergency training that needs it.
The Papata Fren interview.
Collateral damage control.
Sizing up an opponent.
~~Combat.~~
Introspection.
~~Maya interaction.~~
Avoiding bad endings.
Next thing that blows up in your face.
Jaffur recovery rolls.
Willpower checks.
Handling multiple opponents or ganging up on a superior opponent.
Mental combat.
Resisting genre blindness.
Willpower checks.
Style formation.
Distant interactions with home.
Jaron managing to [???].

Convincing Your Friends To Form a Super Hero Group (please don't make me write this unless they know how to use ki. I don't want to write children dying).
Standing your ground.
Escaping a trap.
Utter bullshit.
Style Training.
Tenshinhan Style Training.
Next Intrigue check vs. Berra.
Convincing Dandeer to let you combat-train Jaron.
Developing subliminal messaging.
Spirit Bomb research.
Sealing reversal failure mitigation.
Mental health checks forced by the use of lethal force.
Supporting magical allies.
~~DOOOOOOOOOOOOODGE!~~
Dealing with Vegeta.
~~Willpower checks.~~
Dealing with the Legendary Super Saiyan.
Healing checks.
Time travel.
The climactic moment of the Unsealing.
Talking down opponents.
Interacting with other timelines.
Dealing with advanced technology.
Multiverse interactions.
Searching for Earth relics.
Dealing with out-of-context threats.
Deceit checks.
Recovery from an unexpected recovery.
SSJ2 "Control the Transformation" check.
Training actions in Heaven.
Jokes.
Interactions with Dazarel.
Training the namekians.
Oozaru experimentation.

~~And one Auto-Resolve, courtesy of Simon_Jester's titanic omake series, Augur, goes to Jaffur Vegeta. In general.~~

My default for this quest is approval voting, with plurality-rules resolution. In other words, you vote for as many options as you wouldn't mind seeing winning, even mutually-contradictory ones should you so please, and the option with the largest slice of the votes of any option carries the day. I may have exceptions -- plan votes, for instance, although even then you can vote for as many plans as you like -- but they are exceptions and will be explicitly noted as such when they occur. The default is approval.

I will not switch to preference voting. I have more or less figured out how to make it work with write-ins on second consideration, but I still don't want to make the switch. Everybody is used to voting with [X]'s, and I don't want to force them to switch to [1]'s, [2]'s, and so on.

Do not nest your votes (i.e., -[X] "If above vote does not carry in the tally, this vote should be switched to plan X"). Neither NetTally, which is my preferred software, nor the forum tally software, have any provisions for it, meaning that if it catches on I'll have to go through each and every vote by hand to deal with nesting. No thank you. I'm just going to delete any votes like that. Just approval vote.

I merge votes not simply to correct for typos, but to merge functionally-identical votes which for some reason split in the tally. If you see your plan and a plan to which you are vehemently opposed being counted together in the tally, it merely means that I know something you do not.

I am generally more available for writing during the week rather than at the ends of it. You should not expect weekend updates. That's not to say that they will never happen, but by default you should not expect them.

PoptartProdigy · Aug 6, 2016

Character Sheet (Ridden With Spoilers)

Kakara Goku

The current Player Character, Kakara is a thirteen-year-old saiyan hybrid -- which, in the modern universe, is as saiyan as you get. Her Masque name is Karen Marsden.

Titles

These are the formal positions of responsibility you hold.

Scion of Goku: You are the heir to the leadership of Clan Goku. While your Clan doesn't take its Lords as seriously as Clan Vegeta does, you are still expected to someday take responsibility for moderating between the fractious Houses and leading your Clan into battle, should the need ever arise.

Willpower

This measures your drive and determination, and modifies rolls of a d100.

You are incredibly determined and disciplined. You can carry on against almost any opposition. In a contest of wills, you would smash the average (as in the mathematical mean) adult human (+10) with ease. Saiyan averages are higher due to more of them being dedicated warriors (+20), but even they are nothing compared to you.

+48 (+13 base, +20 from "Hopeful," +10 from "A Cause," +5 from "Ambitious,"), +58 when acting against Jaffur's Seal or Dandeer Vegeta.

Power Level

This measures how much energy you can harness while in various states.

Base Power: 375 Million (At Cap).

Super Saiyan Boost: 145-750 Million (At Cap).

Total Transformed SSJ Power: 1.125 Billion.

Oozaru Power Level: 750 million (At Cap, speed of 375 million, durability and strength of 1.125 Billion).

Golden Oozaru Power Level: 1.5 Billion (At Cap, speed of 750 million, durability and strength of 2.25 Billion).

Masqued Power Level: 300 Million (Increasable through Masque acclimation).

Shade Power Level: 1/20th of normal, able to use all forms.

Defeats

These are your greatest failures and downfalls. This isn't indicative of anything mechanical; it's just a record of those moments when you've lost.

Jaffur's Sealing. You fought with Jaffur to prevent his Sealing at his Mother's hands...and you failed. You put up a valiant showing, taking your father across the globe in his attempts to help Dandeer, but ultimately circumstances beyond your control took the victory from you. Now Jaffur is as good as human...as far as you know, permanently.

First Contact. In the first encounter with the aliens, you resorted to violence before words, and then lost the ensuing fight because of your mistakes going in. You opponent escaped, albeit temporary, and the experience badly shook your certainty in yourself.

The Unsealing. While it was hardly an unmitigated loss, the fact remains: Dandeer turned your ambush around on you, sealed you and all your allies, drove the resistance completely underground, and forced you to flee the planet. You got in your shots, and you will return...but for today, you have unquestionably lost.

Victories

These are your greatest triumphs. Above and beyond a simple win while sparring, these are the landmark moments that define you in retrospect; the candidates for what you can call your finest hour.

The Second Garenhuld Ancestral Council. In response to the turmoil of Jaffur's Sealing, the Ancestor Cult came together to debate their response to the turbulent times. Underneath the surface were plots -- your Grandmother's, there to rally support for your hoped-for defiance of your father; Lady Dandeer's, there to rally support for her own actions; and High Priest Celeran's, who meant to assume greater control over the Cult and rise to challenge the nobility. And in the struggle between these three, you won. By the Council's end, you had exposed some of Celeran's schemes, uncovered evidence of treason by his House, drawn a confession, repentance, and a sincere oath of service from him, presided over Dandeer's communal excommunication, and in doing all of the above doubtlessly lent strength to your Grandmother's efforts. The Cult loves you more than ever. You have a new friend. And not a single person had to die or be hurt for it. It was an unqualified success, the fallout of which you have only just begun to exploit. In terms of your entrance to the public scene, it's difficult to imagine how it could have gone better. In the wake of this Council, you finally feel as though you have gained the traction to start pushing your cause.

Nuclear Deterrence. At the age of twelve, you and your father flew out and blasted ten nuclear missiles out of the skies and space surrounding Garenhuld. Hopefully, the Garenhulders will never know, but even if they never do, the civilians who would have died in the blasts owe you their lives.

Capture. Through words and nonlethal force, you ended the threat of the Scouts and brought out the secret of ki to Garenhuld in a way that can be managed. While the long-term ramifications are unclear, one thing is certain: this day was a win. The turmoil from your earlier defeat at Meerak's hands has been wiped away.

Wyrm of the Void. Dazarel, a mighty and savage dragon, came to Garenhuld intent on genocide. You stopped him. Not only did you stop him, you did so by way of reinventing and perfectly controlling the legendary Genki Dama. Not only did you do so by way of the Genki Dama, you did it non-lethally. Not only did you do it non-lethally, you did it in such a way that rendered Dazarel harmless. NOT ONLY did you do it in such a way that rendered him harmless, you managed to leave him physical freedom while you were at it. A more complete victory would be hard to envision.

Reputations

This is how people perceive you, in general. In a situation where your reputation precedes you, you can expect any relevant Reputations to come into play in the form of mechanical effects.

Weakling: While few adults dare say anything to your face for fear of the consequences, your fellow children are more open. You are regarded as a despised weakling with no stomach or spine for fighting. While Scions are ordained by Seers at birth, many question why you of all people hold your position.

"The Gold." You are the most powerful Saiyan to live since the Exile began. Through your discovery of the Golden Oozaru form, you have discovered a way to push the limits of the Saiyan race even further than you could already. You are, and will be remembered as, a legend. You stand apart, for the moment, atop the heap. Any Saiyan alive will treat your words with immense weight, and Ancestor Cultists will view you as the chief demigod of their faith and a living saint.

In All But Name: At the Second Garenhuld Ancestral Council, you took command of the chaos surrounding the reforms there and forced it to bend to your will. Under your presence, those there bowed time and again as you displayed a wisdom and strength of character beyond your years. Word has been slow to spread beyond the Ancestor Cult, but it is spreading, and the word is that the Scion of Goku is the kind of saiyan who comes along not even once in a lifetime -- the kind of saiyan to whom any saiyan would bow the knee as a Princess or a Queen. People will watch you intently for signs of promise or ambition, and hold some expectations that you will behave as a Princess would.

"The Mighty." You are the first Scion to have their first transformation in battle in centuries -- even Jaffur had his after the fight was thoroughly concluded, and what followed was no fight. You ascended mid-battle and proceeded to fight a duel with another Super Saiyan, dominating the clash. While you consider the events that followed to be no victory, as far as the wider world knows you won a mighty victory over Jaffur and then hounded him across the planet before helping to put him down. You haven't disabused them of this conceit yet, although that may change. You are a figure of sheer awe and in some cases literally religious significance. The stain of perceived cowardice has been wiped clean, and in the eyes of many, your words hold immense weight.

Decisive: Your recent actions have led to a reputation for quick thinking and swift action in a crisis. Despite the misconceptions most hold regarding the matter, you must admit that your ability to act decisively is not one that's been exaggerated. In an urgent situation, people will more often look to you for direction.

Mysterious: The rumored-but-never-seen Scion responsible for the Sealing (as far as most people know, at least), who spends her time in public buried in ancient tomes or wreathed in power, who emerged from a meeting with the controversial Lady Vegeta alight with the full glory of a Super Saiyan -- you are a conundrum to Saiyan society. Few know anything about you, but all are eager to learn -- particularly those of your own age, given their previous willingness to spurn you in public. You are an object of intense focus by those around you.

People's Princess: Your entrance onto the public stage, with Papata Fren's assistance, was an unqualified success. Your awe-inspiring reputation, slowly filtering out of the Ancestor Cult, has been tempered into a more approachable and friendly public image, but one laid over a presentation of deep respect for the duties of your station. They love you for your warmth, and respect you for your devotion to your duty. Many now refer to you in public as, "Princess Kakara." This has made Dandeer furious, but not much doesn't, these days. Your dad is thrilled; having his heir inspire such deep respect on the merits of her ability to fulfill her role only helps his plans to centralize power further.

Natural Soldier: While it's as much a matter of clever presentation and unorthodox training as actual fact, your performance at the target shooting event at your father's tournament has given you a reputation as a natural-born soldier, in contrast to the Exile's more warrior-oriented mindset. Of course, you know that this isn't a matter of natural aptitude. You overcame your problems with violence late, and thus was far more comfortable with the lessons of command and organization. Nonetheless, the attention and acclaim has buoyed your confidence, and now that you think about it, you have acquired a mindset worth exploiting, even if it's a product of circumstance rather than a gift. Others will look to you for leadership in combat.

Age of Legends: First Scion Jaffur drew whispers and attention -- a warrior of legendary gifts and ability. Then Scion Kakara -- the Gold, the Mighty, the first to ascend in battle in centuries and the inventor of the golden oozaru. Yet Scions are Scions, and exceptional already. Now, with Tabe Stauber's incredible display in the final exhibition match of Lord Berra's Tournament, many begin to whisper that these children are the first of a new age for Garenhuld, a new age for the Exiles, and a new age for the universe itself. An age of advancement, and of progress. An age of heroes. An age of legends. You and your peers have a patina of legend to you, one lending your actions disproportionate weight.

The Spirit Saiyan: At the moment where Garenhuld was the most threatened in the history of the Exile, you recreated the legendary Genki Dama and channeled the combined ki of Garenhuld in a moment of shining, transcendent glory, securing the victory and your place in the legends of your people. Your star, long ascendant, can finally be said to have eclipsed Jaffur's, as you at last have surpassed him in the Exile mindset as a warrior Scion. You are viewed with outright awe, and in some cases worship, by your fellow Exiles.

Traits

Your personality in a few words. This is who you are.

A Cause: The matter of the Sealing has defined your life since you were eight. Everything about it is repugnant to you, and though you have been defeated for now, your resolve to defeat Dandeer is stronger than ever. Experience heavy vote weighting in favor of options spiting or thwarting Dandeer Vegeta and must pass Willpower checks to act in line with her interests. Slight prejudice against sorcery and its practitioners gained; you perceive it in your ki senses as feeling, "wrong," and it's nearly impossible to separate that from people entirely, even if you don't let it get to you. Kakara may not remove the destruction of the Seal from her To-Do list, and will occasionally take actions towards that end undirected by the player base. +10 flat bonus to Willpower at all times, which spikes to +20 when acting against Lady Dandeer Vegeta or Jaffur's Seal. Gain a bonus action category specifically working towards defeating Dandeer forever.

Ambitious: You have grand dreams, and want power some day. You will push yourself to get it. Gain a passive +5 to Willpower. Kakara will actively take note of opportunities to increase her personal/political/etc. power for the player base's benefit to the best of her perceptive abilities. Slight vote weighting on options that lead to you gathering more power.

Compassionate: Your first thought is often of helping others, and you find value and affirmation in making sure that the people around you are okay. Gain a small bonus to Medicine checks.

Compelling Presence: When you speak, people listen. Something about your words draws and fascinates those around you. You have an almost undefinable charisma about you that draws people's attention whenever you have something to say. Small bonus to all Communication checks and moderate boosts to take charge of a situation.

Convictions: A fearful whisper, let loose by Dandeer Vegeta, made you fear for your integrity and possible likeness to Lord Vegeta. Upon confronting this, you found...nothing. You aren't like him, and your behavior was not out of line. You were in the right, and the knowledge of this has strengthened your faith in yourself. Gain a small bonus to all actions taken in what you believe to be in the service of right.

Decisive: While level-headed, you recognize that when a crisis beckons the time for waiting has passed and the time for action has come. In a time-critical situation, gain a small bonus to all actions that resolve or defuse the situation swiftly.

Gentle [Foundational Trait]: You dislike fighting and violence, but this viewpoint is presently undeveloped. You gain combat traits, abilities, and skills more slowly, and may encounter barriers to improvement that cannot be surpassed without exceptional pressure. Positive effects: none yet…

Driven [Foundational Trait]: Some thought your distaste for fighting made you weak. Those people were idiots. Gain a permanent +10 to all Willpower checks and +1 yearly action.

Hopeful [Foundational Trait]: Above all things, Kakara believes in making tomorrow better than today. All of her struggles are not just about righting past wrongs, but about making things in the future better. Kakara believes this is possible. She holds onto that hope, using it as the core of her drive to change herself and others. Not to control them, but to give them the tools they need to rise in the hope that anyone can be better. Grandpa Gohan didn't have much hope for Jaffur, but he admitted he was wrong. Maybe what the Exiles need now is some hope, a vision to strive for. Gain a flat +20 to Willpower. As time goes on, the probability of Kakara busting out a shounen-vintage anime monologue approaches one. Gain two free floating AP. Under development...

Hot-Blooded: While you are a gentle girl, you don't take kindly to insults or abuse. You have a fiery temper, and, while you have great practice in restraining it, sometimes lose your head when the right insult is offered. Your QM has identified certain triggers. When those triggers are hit, heavy vote weighting will come into effect favoring aggressive and to a lesser extent violent responses. On the absolute verge of vanishing. A single vote contradicting it will see it dead.

Inquisitive: You like to know things and are none too shy about poking around until you find them out. Gain a small bonus to all actions to gather information.

Ki Prodigy: You have no equal in the art of using your ki, not in terms of raw talent. You have a far easier time increasing Ki Talents, gaining large bonuses to all training attempts, and have small bonuses in increasing Ki Manipulation skills. CANNOT BE DEVELOPED.

Knowledgeable Gokun Foreigner: With the conclusion of your noble education has come an advanced understanding of both the ways and customs of Clan Vegeta, and their deep cultural tolerance of Gokun failures to adhere to these customs outside of extreme offense. You will take only a small penalty on social interactions with Vegetans as a result. They will think more highly of you, but the fact that you know enough to do that means they'll stop trying to overlook failures.

Level-Headed: You are a calm girl, at heart. You don't react to provocation easily, and keep your head when somebody is doing their level best to set you off. Gain a small bonus to all calm or patient actions.

Mature: You have been forced to make difficult choices and endure great pains and trials well before anybody your age should have. This experience has changed you in some undefinable yet easily-noticeable way, putting you a lonely step ahead of your peers. The QM will transcribe more age-inappropriate statements verbatim, and you gain a small bonus to introspection. You take a small penalty to interact normally with others of your age group, although you can counteract this with careful action.

Modest: There is no denying that you have many impressive achievements under your belt, but honestly, you're a little tired of constantly hearing about them. You didn't do any of those things for the sake of public acclaim. You're not asking anybody to forget that they ever happened, but you'd really rather they stop bringing it up every few seconds. Kakara will generally try to shuffle along the conversation when it turns into blatant flattery or hero-worship. Kakara will often receive circumstance bonuses on social interactions where this trait becomes relevant, given modesty's general attractiveness. There is, however, the odd person who finds modesty not merely undesirable, but actively offensive.

Oddball: What everybody can agree on is that your mind works in strange ways. You tend to take people off-balance. Gain a small bonus to any check involving you acting in unconventional ways, and a moderate bonus to take others off-guard in doing so.

Protector [Foundational Trait]: Meerak forced you to confront the question of what kind of person you really are. It was a painful year, figuring out the answer, but now you have it. You have your powers so that you can keep people safe. Everybody. Even those who don't want to be. People who are working to hurt others need to be stopped, but that doesn't mean you need to sink to their level. At the end of the day, the wicked need to be stopped, but you aren't them -- and you won't become them. That might mean that you need to talk them down, or it might mean that you need to fight. So be it. But no matter what, you know one thing about yourself: Thou shalt not kill. You gain heavy vote weighting against the use of lethal force on sapient beings, and will never default to it of your own will, even against Hated Enemies. The use of lethal force will never be presented as a default option; the players must write such options in if they want them. However, Kakara now gains a moderate bonus on all checks made in service of actions taken to protect the lives or safety of others. You no longer encounter barriers or penalties to combat skill training. This trait may, still, be developed further. There are no exceptions to this trait. Kakara will never think killing is morally right, or that anybody deserves death, even if that is written in. The players can make Kakara kill somebody. They cannot make her think it was the right thing to do.

Socializer: You don't have many friends, but you like people, and it's hurt you deeply to be cut off from yours. But when you get the chance, you tend to seek out others. Gain a small bonus to all Communication checks.

Abilities

These are your transformations and esoteric talents, or simple attributes of your person. Like walking upright, or having tortured yourself through a year of screaming nights into having a numbed tail. You're not traumatized.

Oozaru, Mastered. Like any Saiyan with a tail, a simple glance upwards on the night of a full moon is all you need to become a colossal, ravening beast. After a long time spent practicing, you now can control this form. In it, your durability and raw strength are boosted by half again your nominal power level, but your speed is only half of your nominal power level. You experience no strain in this form, and can maintain it indefinitely. You of course also know the Power Ball technique.

Golden Oozaru, Grade One. You have discovered the secret of the Oozaru form, and transformed into a Super Saiyan whilst in it. This form does the same things to your durability, speed, and strength as normal Oozaru does. You suspect that if the Masquerade ever falls and Scions are permitted to try and break through to higher transformations, you will be able to use them as an Oozaru as well. Currently you can't use this form to its fullest extent even in the Training Hall for fear of breaking the wards, but fortunately, you can still modulate how much of the Super Saiyan boost you access.

Psychic, Seer & Shield [Level 2/5]. You are a Seer, a bloodline ability pressed upon your race when your ancestor Bardock was cursed so many years ago. In you, it manifests quite strongly. You are a Seer in your people's tradition and can, according to your first teacher, see the truth of what was, is, and will be. Your own personal gift is that of internal mental mastery. You can, if your willpower is equal to the task, be the absolute master of your own mind, regardless of any obstacles in your way. Finally, the sheer fact of being a psychic grants you access to a ki-less form of telepathy that cannot be intercepted by physical interposition as ki telepathy can.
-Pastsight: Navigate the stream of time, and see what was. This is a straightforward ability, allowing you to delve into the events of times past and watch what really happened as an observer. You have fairly extensive practice with this element of your powers.
-Presentsight: Delving into the more esoteric applications of your Sight, this allows your vision to pierce past obstruction and deception to the truth of things in ways that surpass ordinary sight. While you have some recent practice with this ability, it is less of a focus of yours. Still, it gives you some advantages in a fight when it comes to fighting blind and avoiding feints, for all that it's a strain.
-Futuresight: What many think of when they picture the white-eyed seer. You can peer into events of the future, and see what will happen if you or another seer does not intervene in events. Somewhat unreliable and prone to disruption, but further mastery could allow you to manipulate events decades ahead.
-Mind Projection: Given specialized training on the matter, you have gained the ability to reliably step outside your body and walk the world as a shade. In this form, you are a fraction of your normal strength but are undetectable to anybody other than Seers or Sorcerers. While it's a forbidden art, you also have the ability to step into people's minds, and either communicate with them or undertake rather more...sinister...actions. You find the prospect of abusing this power abhorrent in the extreme. Given the nature of your escape from Dandeer, you are locked into this form for the foreseeable future.
- Combat Precognition: An application of premonitions, this ability allows you to receive instinct-level warnings of coming danger, allowing you to respond or warn allies. Functionally, acts as a saving throw. Upon failing a roll against critical (fight-losing) danger, make a check at a DC of half the difference by which you lost the roll. Apply your full Seer bonus, and any applicable traits. On a success, you mitigate the damage from failing the roll. Opponents taking specific efforts to counter your precognition may still inflict damage, albeit reduced. By paying her full and active attention to another individual with whom she can readily communicate, Kakara may instead use this ability for that individual's benefit; for the duration of this kind of use of Combat Precognition, Kakara is effectively helpless.
-Prophecy: In an experiment on the new limits of your powers, you found yourself uttering something strange, yet nevertheless True. Under unclear conditions, you may speak scraps of unalloyed Truth about events to come -- not merely what will currently happen absent seer intervention, as with normal futuresight, but what will occur, no matter what. You don't know how you know this...but you do. What you say in the grip of true prophecy is True. This facet of your abilities is a massive mystery, but what is clear is that it takes a heavy toll on you.
-Lightning Shield: You can shield your mind and thoughts with a shield of crackling psychic lightning, one that at its strongest spills into the real world as a physical shield.

Super Saiyan, Full-Power. You have broken through your limits and tapped into your inner potential, unlocking the legendary ability of the Saiyan race. Having trained for a year in its use, you have mastered the form utterly. It is now as easy as breathing. As long as you are conscious, you may transform or detransform instantly and without effort, up to your full current maximum. Increase your base power cap to 375 million. Upon use, gain anywhere from 145 million to 750 million units at your absolute discretion of how many you would like to use.
-Ultimate Super Saiyan. An inefficient and wasteful transformation, it is nonetheless a potent magnification of your abilities. If you need a lot of power for a big damn blast, you can use this to double the boost you receive from Super Saiyan...at the cost of threatening the integrity of your people's Masquerade.

Trained Tail. Out of sheer distaste for the weakness having your tail grabbed inspires, you literally tortured yourself for a year straight until it didn't bother you anymore. While the experience was somewhat traumatizing, you've nonetheless succeeded. Your tail is essentially discardable for all the fuss your pain receptors would put up over losing it, although the battle with Dazarel proved well enough that it is a very psychologically traumatizing experience.

Host Bond, Level 3. You are an insubstantial shade anchored to the material realm in the mind of a living host -- in this case, the namekian Bassoon. With focused time and exploration of his mindscape, you have developed your bond further than before. Thanks to a wish made to Porunga, you can also physically manifest yourself within your host's vicinity. You cannot: trivially project out of Bassoon's mind or directly interact with the outside world in any way when not using manifestation time. You can: use multiform, donate ki to Bassoon, use telepathy to speak to people outside of his head, use your own senses through his eyes, grant him the use of your various senses, pull him into the mindscape, form a Genki Dama, and physically manifest yourself for about half an hour per day.

Skills

The meat of this Quest, these are your talents and capabilities -- the one thing that always triggers when you have to make an action.

Non-Combat

Communication [Exceptional]: You watched your father ride herd on the rising panic and strife of a nation in hiding for over a year, and then watched him convince them all that it was all for their own good. You have learned at the feet of a true master.

Deceit [Competent]: While the art of lying is no great area of focus of yours, time and necessity have taught you how to keep a straight face, if nothing else.

Intrigue [Talented]: The past few years have seen you watch your father consolidate his power and influence as Lord Goku, finally clawing back the power lost when Oni launched his rebellion. Only a few realize what he's done -- and none have contested it. You are still not his equal, but you know now how to set up circumstances to your liking, to a level far beyond your years.

Masque Affinity (Human) [Talented]: Recent and focused effort in the use of your Masque has lent you an ease of use that most of your people don't achieve. You are comfortable in it, and for all intents and purposes act alike to your normal form. And as you spend more time in it, your affinity for a human form grows and grows. You have access to 80% of your Base Power Level while Masqued, and take roughly 10 seconds to transform into it.

Masque Affinity (Saiyan) [Poor]: A moment of curiosity had you request that a Sorcerer grant you a Saiyan Masque. You're not sure what the benefit to this might be. Through time invested, you're now somewhat minimally comfortable in this form, although you have no idea what it's useful for achieving. Use research projects to both improve Saiyan Masque Affinity and figure out how it might best be used. You have access to 20% of your base power level while Masqued, and take roughly 30 seconds to transform into it. You can use Super Saiyan and Oozaru forms in this form, at the 20% penalty. You cannot unlock new forms under Masque unless you meet all requirements, including power level.

Medicine [Competent]: You've taken the first step down the path of medical scholarship, and are well-equipped to offer first aid or take care of minor bumps and scrapes.

Command Training [Talented]: You have trained your understanding of the art of command to the very pinnacle of the knowledge of your people. Under your father, you have learned to be a leader with no superiors; only peers. In terms of the wider galaxy, you are good, but not amazing. Your people haven't actually fought a war in quite some time, after all. But with effort and through practical lessons imposed by your father, you have become a talented leader of warriors.

Combat

Overall Skill: Exceptional. Jaffur may be able to claim that he is a once-every-several-generations genius, and that would be perfectly accurate, but that does not mean you are not an excellent fighter yourself. You have trained and trained, and hard work has made up for much of what you lack in natural talent. You increase combat skills below, "Exceptional," a little more quickly.

Hand-to-Hand: Overall Skill: Exceptional. Hard, hard work and long dedication have overcome your natural stumbling blocks in this field and left you as a truly excellent hand-to-hand fighter. You increase hand-to-hand skills below, "Exceptional," more quickly.

Dueling [Exceptional]: This is the art of single combat. Despite your distaste for fighting, you made the effort to become above average in the art of combat. But you have fought Jaffur Vegeta, and once beat him, wounded or not. Your understanding of this has transcended mere talent and entered the realm of the truly exceptional. You are as proficient as any Exile can hope to be.

Crowd Fighting [Talented]: You use different moves when you're fighting half a dozen people than when you only have to be worried about one, but that's alright, because you haven't slacked off on your training here, either. You've been working on improving your technique here, drawing on your recent advancements in hand-to-hand, and made excellent progress. Another push, and you'll be something truly special.

Team Fighting [Exceptional]: Training Perika has yielded results that more impersonal duties never did. You can call yourself a truly skilled fighter when working with a partner.
Ki Manipulation: Overall Skill: Exceptional. You are an acknowledged genius in the art of ki use in general, but that isn't what has carried you this far. It took years of hard work and dedication to reach your current peaks. Your natural talent has helped, yes, but you earned this. You increase Ki Manipulation skills below, "Exceptional," more quickly.

Kamehameha [Talented]: Few things are more stirring to a Saiyan than the sound of a Kamehameha. The iconic technique of your house, this was the first advanced skill you ever learned. Cup the energy, call the incantation, and let loose with a devastating ki wave.

Solar Flare [Talented]: Your Dad once told you that every fighter needs a way to disengage from a fight they don't want, which sounds pretty good to you. This might just be your favorite technique of all. A simple shout and your opponent is blinded.

Instant Transmission [Talented]: The peerless evasive technique, you have become incredibly talented in its use. Locking onto any ki signature you can sense as a guide, you can instantly teleport to another point. You need a subjective second or so of downtime in between jumps.

Kikoho [Competent]: To create a monstrously powerful blast, pour your life's energy into an attack. Hits at an effective power level of 1.5 billion. It can only be used four times at your current level of mastery before it becomes unsafe.

Dodonpa [Competent]: This is your first ray technique, one you now have a fairly solid grasp of. The dodonpa is a dense ray of ki capable of drilling through opponents of equal power with ease. You are now capable of using it to disrupt less concentrated beam attacks that are weaker than yours, giving you a new angle of attack on these foes.

Genki Dama [Unlearned]: The ultimate technique of Son Goku's style, the pinnacle of the North Kai's life's work, the weapon of legend that destroyed Majin Buu -- the Spirit Bomb; the Genki Dama. Requiring a lengthy charge time and the consent of others to truly unlock its full potential, this technique nevertheless, when fully prepared, unlocks a blast or power-up of truly transcendent power and nature. In rediscovering it, in the midst of battle with Dazarel the Wyrm of the Void, you have forever secured for yourself a place in the legends of your people.

Ki Talents

Overall Skill: Exceptional. Here is where you shine. You are possessed of an incredible understanding of the way ki flows through the body for your age, as well as how to harness it. It would not be inaccurate to say that your entire body, through your ki, is under your firm control. You move exactly how and when you desire to, and with an easy and eerie grace. You increase ki talents below "Exceptional" more quickly.

Ki Sense [Exceptional]: You possess something close to omniscience in the art of sensing ki. Even at the age of eight, you were never unaware of the movements of those around you. Now, you remain constantly aware of any living creatures within a mile of you, and can freely sense people within planetary ranges. With focused effort, you can detect individuals at interstellar distances. After your exploits in the art of sensing ki, you now know that far more is open to you than anybody has ever before dared to imagine. May freely train to, "Elite," with "Machine Sense," and, "All Is One," as possible Elite Talents. You are starting to get brief, intermittent flashes of that transcendent sense of oneness from the Genki Dama.

Flight [Exceptional]: You move through the air with ease and style. You didn't quite fly before you ever walked, but it was a near thing. In the air, you fly more easily than a bird does. You command your body to carry you to your destination, and it obeys.

Ki Control [Exceptional]: You can raise yourself to maximum power in a heartbeat and drop it down as quickly if you ever need to avoid notice. You are in perfect control of yourself and your body at all times, and move with nearly ethereal grace. You feel as though there is little you can do to directly improve your talents as they stand now...so why do you feel like there's more still to learn...?

Ki Refinement [Competent]: Jaffur Vegeta's contribution to the art of ki control is a strange means of controlling the flow of one's ki so tightly that virtually none is wasted. This does not improve power level, but allows one to strike with greater force. With Jaffur's assistance and further great effort, you have attained a degree of skill in this technique, and can reliably assume it in combat, although it remains outside of your norm. At present you can gain an effective 10% boost in your power level.

Ki Overcharge [Competent]: Tabe Stauber's signature technique, this aims for greater strength at the same power level through a different method than Jaffur's -- by slamming your ki out so hard, it massively expands your strength, at the cost of harshly curtailed endurance. Given limited training opportunities, you still don't know how much this increases your strength by, but you can hold it for a solid minute before it goes.

Telepathy [Competent]: An evolution of Ki Control, this is the art of using ki to project your thoughts into somebody's mind, distinct from Mind Delve, which is an evolution of Ki Sense and functions by picking up the ki patterns signifying thought. You picked this up extremely swiftly, and are already at the point where you can use your ki to speak to somebody mind-to-mind anywhere within a hundred miles with no fraying of the connection. Outside of your range, the connection will fray and your thoughts will be overheard by people other than the intended target if they're close enough.

Telekinesis [Competent]: Projecting your ki out of your body is basic stuff; when you get down to it, that's an aura. Doing it without blowing things up is basically flight. Doing it and then wrapping your ki around something in order to move it around is something entirely different.

Multiform [Exceptional]: One of Tenshinhan's iconic techniques, Multiform has some use in combat. However, the power splitting it entails makes it suboptimal for fighting. You've found greater use in increasing your ability to multitask. You have an acceptable grasp of its use and can split into four different bodies with a minimum of fuss. It is effectively instantaneous and your copies can easily disperse across an entire planet's surface. Your endurance has also increased, and at your current level of ability, your talent in this skill gives you significantly more time to multitask. Thrice per day, for a period of up to an hour per use, Kakara may create up to her limit of clones to handle tasks during her daily routine. She gains 3 free AP per AP turn as a result of this skill. Your Perfect Multiform technique is technically field-ready against weaker foes as a finishing move, but you're leery about deploying it outside of spars; it burns your ki reserves in subjective seconds and leaves you helpless afterwards.

Styles

A warrior who hasn't united their disparate techniques into a cohesive whole is no warrior at all. This represents the overall approaches you are capable of taking in battle.

Goku Style [Incipient]: You know and use many of your ancestor Son Goku's techniques, and although you haven't put any effort into copying his form, some have said that you have begun to echo it. Traditionally, Scions of your House tend to, so it would at least make people happy. No effects yet...

Tenshinhan Style [Novice]: After years of deliberation, you decided to proceed down the path of the Crane. This form is extremely versatile, lacking major weaknesses, but lacks the sheer strength in a given area from which more specialized forms benefit. In a fight, this is an excellent default, with powerful techniques if used properly. You are a mere initiate in this school of fighting, but already your motions in a spar are more effective and unified than previously. Your understanding of this combat style is very basic, and won't compare favorably to trained warriors, but it is there, and will bear great fruits in the future. 6/10 progress to the next level.

Relationships

This represents anybody of importance that you know.

Allies: Lady Kala Goku [Strong]: Your mother does not hold the same stigma as your father in your eyes. While she was also on board with the Sealing, she did not and in fact could not take an active role in it. She was not the one to hound you and Jaffur down across the planet. She did not hold you immobile and force you to watch as Jaffur was forced into a locked Masque. She is no longer your idol, but you haven't lost as much faith in her. You asked her to get herself and your siblings to Senzu Hall; she went back for your father after doing so, and was captured. Dandelor and Jennifer later rescued her.

Fasha Goku [Strong]: Your little sister, quite differently from your brother Mato, not only has no interest in being Scion, she's glad it's you. She has absolutely no desire for the responsibilities it entails. She can be annoying and loud, but she's your little sister, and that's enough. You love her very much. She made it to Senzu Hall after your warning.

Endivan Goku [Strong]: Endivan, your littlest sibling, is growing into a quiet boy. Intensely physical, but not overly social, he can barely be made to sit still unless exhausted, and barely made to talk unless necessary. He is your brother, still, and that is all you need to read his -- surprisingly expressive -- looks and quiet murmurs. He made it to Senzu Hall after your warning

House Senzu [Strong]: You entrusted the resistance against Dandeer to Raditz Senzu's command, and gave him implicit leave to pursue the Super Saiyan transformation in doing so. You have gambled, and hard, on their dependability and reliability. Thankfully, they've not yet let you down in circumstances under their control.

Maya Webley [Strong]: Long your best friend, Maya has now secured a place as the first human not a spouse of an Exile to be made aware of your people's secrets. Her acceptance of the revelation and your timing in sharing it have reaffirmed your relationship, to your everlasting relief. Given your recent revelation regarding the true depth of her feelings for you, you're not sure how you feel about her. You are intensely relieved that she made it to Senzu Hall.

Jaffur Vegeta [Strong]: Few things are certain with Jaffur, but after the revelations of Synchronicity, and your insights into the jumbled mess that are his feelings for you, it's undeniable that the two of you share a connection. Given the unique and obviously flawed nature of his Seal, and the difficulty of sealing a sorcerer of his power, you're actually uncertain if you'll face him the next time you return to Garenhuld, or something Dandeer kludges together to pilot his body.

Mato Goku [Dependable]: Your little brother is deeply envious of your position, and in particular the rights that come with it. He wants to be a Super Saiyan, and is jealous that you, who don't want to have to use it at all, are the one to have it already. He is your brother and you both love each other, but it's hard to get along with him sometimes. Despite a crisis regarding your father's attention some years back, your shared study of Jaffur's ki tricks has brought you two to a stable place. You're not as close to him as you are to your other siblings, but he is still your brother. He made it to Senzu Hall after your warning.

Sophie Schultz [Dependable]: Sophie dragged you out of your shell, and you're grateful to her for it. Over time, you've come to fit into the Misfits, and truly feel safe and happy while with them. You owe her a lot, like the rest, and she likes you as one of her best friends, just like the rest. She made it to Senzu Hall.

Jennifer Birch [Dependable]: Jenny is outspoken to the point of insane bluntness. It's no wonder it hasn't won her any friends outside the Misfits, and less that it made her the first to be pulled into Sophie's orbit along with Maya. Despite her (self-professed) rudeness, however, she's a good friend. Crass and often teasing, you've discovered a trickster-esque sense of humor in her, and a careful dedication to her friends despite her sometimes abrasive tongue. She made it to Senzu Hall, and has been having a hard time settling in; your people's condescension sits very poorly with her, pushing her to greater heights than before. You hope she can settle in.

Gemina Kostos [Dependable]: Gemma is always buried in a book or notebook; she keeps one on her desk in class, and she reads or scribbles while she walks. Despite that, she always pays attention, and has a sarcastic sense of humor that emerges at odd moments to take you all by surprise. Before you came along, she was the newbie, by about a week. She has really good recommendations for books. Most assuredly the smart one, she is affectionately resigned to a life of dragging the rest of you through your studies, even if she has to take her eyes off her books to do it. You broke the Masquerade for her as with the other Misfits, telling her to get to Senzu Hall. She made it, and seems to be staying cautious about her new surroundings.

Yammar Vegeta [Dependable]: You aren't a fan of Patriarch Yammar, but he seems to like you well enough. He approves of your spine, at least. He was the last of your allies to fall during the Unsealing, and his fate is uncertain.

Jaron Somerlad [Dependable]: You went to bat for Jaron with his parents, and agreed to help him gain the training he wants. While Jaron's nature as a Face for a Seal, who is only aware of his status while asleep, makes any friendship with him a rather mutable thing, you can call him as true a friend as any of the other Misfits now. Given the unique and obviously flawed nature of his Seal, and the difficulty of sealing a sorcerer -- albeit untrained -- of his power, you're actually uncertain if you'll face him the next time you return to Garenhuld, or something Dandeer kludges together to pilot his body.

Fennella Peat [Dependable]: You met Fennella at the Second Garenhuld Ancestral Council. While she was terribly nervous in the presence of somebody of such critical importance to the Cult at first, through the power of food and calm discussion you have managed to break through to her and secure a tentative friendship. Your performance during the rest of the Council left her with a healthy sense of awe of you, but she's since apparently decided to take you under her wing, like a little, dorky sister. You're fine with this. You desperately hope that she got your warning and made it to Senzu Hall in time.

Bassoon [Dependable]: The Namekian warrior-mage is your first host outside of your own body on your galactic exile. With your return to New Namek and confirmation from Porunga that you're trustworthy, he has fallen wholly into place on your side, although his obvious distrust for Dazarel remains between you. For now, you believe that you can trust him; his demonstrated magical abilities probably mean that he doesn't have to deceive you, if he means you ill. After your time training him, his power level is now coming in at 36.4 million, now surpassing Lyre.

Lyre [Dependable]: Tall, muscular, and unusually dark-skinned by namekian standard, Lyre habitually works with Flute, the two moving about as partners in their adventures in the wider galaxy. One of the team's heavy hitters, Lyre clocks in at 36.2 million. He's a fairly serious and unsmiling man. His friendship with Flute is very much a match of opposites.

Flute [Dependable]: Short and stocky, Flute is Lyre's partner in adventure. Actually the strongest person present on the team -- aside from you -- Flute reads at a solid 45.3 million. He smiles often, usually has a joke, and always has time to get a rise out of Lyre.

Bugle [Dependable]: Bugle is fairly unexceptional in terms of appearance, except for a fairly spectacular scar coming straight through his left eye. He's your team's blaster -- which he says is a specialty he prefers due to poor luck in hand-to-hand fighting. Bugle is fairly withdrawn, but seems to be warm with Bassoon. His power level comes in at 30 million.

Snare [Dependable]: Snare is extremely tall and very lanky. He doesn't look like a fighter at all. Indeed, he's not on the team to be a fighter. Snare's power level is only 1.1 million, and he has consistently refused your offers to help him change that. Most Exiles could flatten him in a fight, and there are plenty of champions in the wider galaxy that could do the same. He's along for his wide network of contacts and extensive experience in getting to know the places of the galaxy; mission control, in other words. He's a loner by habit and fairly unassertive.
Acquaintances: Betarel Senzu [Friendly]: Betarel was your first friend in years. Your meeting at Hall Senzu reaffirmed in your mind that you still are, despite everything, if necessarily distant ones. But your visions of you and him flirting as teenagers make you fairly uncomfortable. You're not sure how you feel about them or even how relevant they are to the current situation.

Cynthia Balor [Friendly]: You first met Sensei Carrick's niece during the Tastreyan Invasion. Since then, she's been inclined to be friendly towards you. She's the only person you've ever met who has outright told you that your attitude towards violence is the right one. You like her. You like her a lot.

Papata Fren [Friendly]: Miss Fren and you took to each other quite happily. She's your first case of hero-worship, and she finds you adorable and precocious in an endearing way. She happily worked with rather than against you during your first public appearance, and you don't imagine it'll be difficult to continue that going forward. You'll always have a friendly ear with the most influential news personality in Exile society, should you not screw this up. You gave her warning of Dandeer's impending mass ritual; you hope that she got to Senzu Hall in time.

Perika [Friendly]: The saiyan born of the Guru's wish is a fairly cheerful soul. Despite the confusion and displacement she's feeling, she approaches things with a cheerful attitude, and rarely lets it get her down. She has asked you to give her a name, having decided after the month you spent socializing with and training her that you can be trusted to pick something good. She is frustrated at being left behind on New Namek while you go out scouting.

Tabe Stauber [Positive]: Tabe has an obvious crush on you. For your part, you don't really know what to think. He's cute and endearing, but he's the very definition of a stupid boy sometimes, and you haven't spoken with him too much in private. Also...teenage relationships are an odd thing in Exile society, but you don't need your social upbringing to tell you that considering a relationship with a boy who looks like a little kid, while you're months away from the end of your own puberty, feels weird. For all of the awkwardness, you still gave him warning of Dandeer's ritual. In your visions, you've seen that he made it to cover in time.
Enemies: Lord Berra Goku [Serious]: You love your father, but the events of the Unsealing have permanently recast him as your enemy, albeit not of his own will. You will free him, but it will be a long and hard fight to do so, given Dandeer's hold over him.

Apra Goku [Serious]: Grandma was one of Dandeer's victims. You will free her some day...but the next time you see her, you know that it'll be a fight.

The Enemy [Serious]: Every Saiyan alive is under existential levels of threat from this mysterious shadow of a being. He has killed gods, and the death of one coupled with the annihilation of Old Earth was not sufficient to see him dead. You barely know his gender, much less anything about him or why he wants you and yours dead, but you don't need to in order to fear him. Given the centuries and (let it be so) light-years of distance, it's hard to hold onto any level of personal antipathy for whatever he is, but if there's a single being in Creation who could rally every Saiyan alive to unified action, this is the one.

Dazarel [Serious]: In your eyes, you offered Dazarel mercy after he made a serious attempt at murdering your planet. In his eyes, you humiliated him and confined him to the body of a child, imposing your rules on him. It's not very surprising that when Dandeer offered him a way to turn on you, he took it. Fair play, you ripped out his soul and now are dragging it with you along your vision quest through the wider galaxy. He'll be your only constant company. Currently, he is under orders, on pain of death, from your deity of an ancestor to aid and train you. You are presently training him in the arts of ki, in hopes of finding a way to change his perspective on the universe.

Carrick Balor [Serious]: Your teacher in the art of Bardock's Craft, Sensei Balor is a grouchy old man with little interest in social niceties and an abrupt manner of doing things. Despite the closeness you two fostered, the Unsealing revealed that he's been under Dandeer's thrall for years. Despite this, he's still fighting, and you swear that you'll someday free him.

Lord Vegeta Vegeta [Avowed]: You do not care that he's as much a victim as Jaffur is. His aura screams cruel, distant, and cold, and you've seen him maim his son in front of an audience of hundreds. You're not sure what he thinks of you, but again, you don't care. He is a monster.

Lady Dandeer Vegeta [Hated]: You hate this woman so much. You have never hated anybody as much as you've hated her. Hate is a strong word. She has earned it. You don't like fighting. For her, you are unhesitatingly willing to make an exception. You no longer think that even she deserves death, but honestly you still plan to let Jaffur have her when the time comes. You're not sure you'd feel right about letting him kill her, but it's not like you abrogate the right to an opinion after handing her over. With the Unsealing, the two of you are in active and open conflict. You have fled Garenhuld with the explicit promise to return and tear down everything she's built. There will be a reckoning, some day.

Inventory

These are all of the significant items you have on hand. Here you can find a list of the various physical assets available to you -- not necessarily on your person. Items that signify nothing of note and that are well enough within your means to have available at all times such as "generic street clothing" or "shoes" are of course not included. With your assumption of shade-hood, even that has left. You can change what you appear to be wearing, and by default appear to be wearing a House Goku Gi, but it has no actual effect on anything. Until you regain a physical form or obtain something you can carry as a shade, your inventory is locked as empty.

House Goku Training Gi (Several): It's not that there's some reason you wouldn't have them, but in terms of what they signify, your various training gis are worth noting. From the color scheme to the symbol on the back and breast, this outfit marks you as a member not only of Clan Goku, but specifically of House Goku. To wear this announces your status as nobility wherever you go, making you instantly recognizable. They are reasonably durable, although certainly not under any intense fighting. You have a variety of weighted sets as well, although they do little for you at your present strength. To go among saiyans with any hope of anonymity, you must specifically choose to leave these outfits behind; your default is to wear them as casual wear. They are stored in your family home.

Saiyan Royal Armor (Two): You asked for a set of saiyan armor from an armorsmith in Clan Vegeta. He gave you two ("One for backup"). What you didn't expect was for him to provide this particular model of armor to you. On reflection, given how nobility is regarded in Clan Vegeta, he probably would have felt like he was offering insult if he gave you anything other than the royal model. Saiyan armor is impressively durable even in extremely high-power battles, its flexibility allowing it to maintain its integrity even under intense punishment. It has no peer when negating scratch or blast damage, but does little to stop focused blasts or strikes once past a certain power level that you and anybody you'll find to fight on Garenhuld are well beyond; an impressive tool for improving your combat endurance against the minor injuries that combat doles out by the handful, but not something that will stop a beam attack. Saiyan Royal Armor takes it all up a step. The present incarnation of royal armor lacks the pointed shoulder pads of ancient models, preferring a simple thick pad atop the shoulders instead. In addition, it has similar pads atop all vital areas, offering non-negligible protection against even substantial assault in those areas. Enemies at your own level will still plow straight through, but even the strongest base saiyan would struggle to break through them. Beyond that, it is adorned with symbols of your Clan and House, symbols that only you and your family have a right to wear. Finally, it comes with your choice of an orange or blue cape, which can be left off if you (likely) prefer. Apparently House Vegeta prefers crimson. The smith tells you that once you become Lady, he will happily provide two other sets, "More befitting of a Lady's station." Whatever that means. This armor is combat gear; to wear it outside of that context is to back up your words with the silent threat of force, and beyond that to reinforce your noble status to the point of laying your claim as a Princess, every bit as much as House Vegeta does. Your sets are presently stored in your family home.

To-Do List

Both for QM and player reference, this keeps track of Kakara's various priorities. A new addition, this list is presently sparse, and we'll be fleshing it out in the near future through play. Mechanically, the priorities outlined here will help me to determine what default options I offer during the course of play, reflecting what Kakara's natural first thoughts are in a given situation.

Critical Goals (Absolute must-haves; these are Kakara's primary motivations)
- Undo the Sealing
- Regain a physical body
- Return to Garenhuld
- Cast down Dandeer
Important Goals (High priorities; these goals are pressing matters which demand a greater slice of attention)
- Grow stronger
- Grow more skilled
- Reach New Namek
- Use the Namekian Dragon Balls
Moderate Goals (Essentially the default; these are goals to which Kakara assigns no special weight)
- Learn more about the wider galaxy
- Keep Dazarel contained
- Train your psychic abilities
- Improve your rapport with Bassoon
- Test the limits of your habitation
Insignificant Goals (Nice-to-haves; these goals are the things Kakara wants, but will sacrifice in the name of basically anything else)
- Get more of the story of Gine Goku and Torruffal Vegeta's Forbidden LoveTM
- Acquire coping mechanisms for sensing death

Monthly Itinerary

Red means complete, yellow means in-progress, green means incomplete.

[X] Plan Deathbybunnies - General Training
-[X] Sight (2 AP) 89
--[X] Continue Your Training (1 AP) 45
--[X] Looking Abroad (1 AP) [Tien Style]: Utilize our Sight to view Tien himself and/or historical Masters of Tien Style, to supplement our own Style Training (Free AP) 67
-[X] Training (3 + 3 AP)
--[X] Improve a Skill (1 AP) [Dodonpa] 42
--[X] Improve a Skill (1 AP) [Kikoho] 44
--[X] Improve a Skill (1 AP) [Crowd Fighting] 37
--[X] Style Training (1 AP) [Tien Style] (Free AP) 48
--[X] To Go Beyond (1 AP) [Perfect Multiform] (Free AP) 18
--[X] To Go Beyond (1 AP) [Ki Sense - All Is One] (Free AP) 54
-[X] Social (2 + 2 AP)
--[X] Strengthen Host Bond (1 AP) 82
--[X] Talk to Dazarel (1 AP) 18
--[X] General Training (2 AP) 35
-[X] The Outside World (1 Free AP)
--[X] Instruction (Free AP) 9
-[X] A Cause (1 AP)
--[X] Improve a Skill (1 AP) [Genki Dama] 50

Code:

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{slide=Titles}
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{slide=Willpower}
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{slide=Power Level}
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{slide=Defeats}
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{slide=Victories}
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{slide=Ki Talents}
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{slide=Styles}
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PoptartProdigy · Aug 6, 2016

Lore Screen (Spoilers present from "The Sundering" onward)

History

The history of the saiyans of Garenhuld is one of tragedy and fear. They are a race of exiles in hiding, living in constant, if distant, fear of obliteration.

The Death of Goku and Vegeta: Heroes die.

Not necessarily to their enemies, or to sickness, but in the end, should nothing else intervene, old age.

Goku and Vegeta were not prepared to give that last enemy the satisfaction.

Son Goku was ninety, his body finally falling to a slow decline and the trauma of a life of fighting. God or not, there was only so much divine ki could do. Vegeta was older, and in worse shape, held together seemingly out of determination not to allow his rival to surpass him in this last struggle.

As old age closed in, the two met one last time. They agreed that a quiet death of old age was unsatisfying to men such as them. And so, they said goodbye to their families and friends, and left Earth.

Piccolo had, some years past, ascended to godhood through some means he shared with nobody. And a few minutes after the pair left Earth, he felt their energy spike.

Alone, entire light years away from any other living beings, the Prince of All Saiyans and the Hero of Earth fought each other in a last battle to the death. Of all the heroes of Earth, only Piccolo was able to sense the fight, and he paid vigil over the last moments of the two.

Modern astronomers have determined that the light of the last, cataclysmic blast of the duel reached Earth's solar system a little over two hundred years later, in Age 1057.

But when the light arrived, there was no Earth to welcome it home.
The Decline: Goku and Vegeta died in exactly the same manner as they lived -- fighting, proud, and on their feet.

But in doing so, they left behind a planet ill-prepared for the gap left by their passing. Piccolo aside, not one of the Z Fighters was a god by that point. The wider galaxy, long since scared straight by the threat of the saiyans of Earth, spent a shocked pair of years as the news of Earth's greatest defenders circulated.

Then, like sharks, they pounced.

Deprived of its storied defenders, Earth was beset on all sides. Piccolo was pressed to his limits by enemies that had lived for years in fear of the wrath of the Super Saiyan Gods, and he was not enough alone.

Fortunately, there were others. Saiyan hybrids and humans alike stepped forward to combat the foes against them. Maron, the daughter of Krillin and Android 18, a fierce and determined fighter. Son Goten and Prince Trunks, close as brothers and capable of fusing to create the incredible warrior Gotenks. Tenshinhan, the last of the original human Z Fighters, wizened and succumbing to age at well over a century but still willing to take the field and a source of wisdom and temperance. Piccolo, of course, the immortal God of Namek and devoted defender of Earth, fully redeemed in his later years. Uub, the reincarnation of Majin Buu and the last student of Son Goku. Son Pan, the daughter of Son Gohan and a woman of incredible, ever-increasing might, leaping from strength to strength and threatening to become the greatest of them all.

And, finally stepping forth again for the first time in decades to once more assume his place as the strongest in the universe, Son Gohan, who at last became a god to defend what his father no longer could.

This hybrid of the old Z Fighters and the new defended Earth against enemies both mortal and divine for the rest of the long decade following Goku and Vegeta's deaths. But those years were long, and hard, as enemies banded together and trained, trying to strike down Earth while they could and make the galaxy theirs to claim.

They failed. One by one, they fell. They came, and they were not enough. At last, the final foe was struck down. At last, the galaxy was safe, and all challengers to the dominance of Earth were dead.

And it was then, at last, that the Enemy came.
The Death of Earth: Nobody knows what the Enemy was. All that is known is that Piccolo and Gohan sensed...something...on approach to Earth. The Z Fighters moved to intercept. And one by one, those who had defended Earth for so long simply vanished from the senses of those away from the fight.

Uub briefly returned, using the dragon balls to wish back Maron and gain the little information known today -- that the Enemy was beyond death.

Then he went back to the fight, and died. As did Maron, a mere second after her resurrection.

They all died.

Their terrified families prepared to evacuate, at Gohan's telepathic instruction, loading up into a space ship built by the long-dead genius Bulma. As they fled, the world turned blue, in the final ascension of Son Gohan. Left alone, the last one alive, the son of Goku finally achieved the Super Saiyan God form, rising to heights unmatched ever since. But it was plainly not enough. Seconds later, his power redoubled yet again, giving the fleeing families some hope.

But it was a suicide attack, an act of desperation that killed Gohan and the Earth. Worse still, it is not known whether or not the Enemy died in the blast. But given the words of Shenron, in proclaiming the Enemy beyond death, it cannot be assumed that the answer is "yes."

In the midst of that chaotic flight, as Earth died along with all of its heroes and Gohan's grandson Mato ascended in agonized grief from the losses of the day, the survivors mourned. It was not for hours that anybody came to recognize their situation. But when they did, it was clear what their course was.

Hide. Run, and hide. The age of Earth had ended. The last survivors of that planet would need to find a place where they could vanish from the eyes of the galaxy. Their strength was broken. Their home was gone.

Earth had died. The Exile had begun.
The Exodus: Son Mato was the strongest of the survivors -- the only Super Saiyan to survive the death of Earth. As such, the man was the one to take the lead as the Exiles fled into the wider galaxy in search of a safe place to hide.

But sadly, there was no such place to be found.

It had not been known to Earth, but the galaxy at large had transitioned from the chaos following Freeza and Cold's deaths. Under the command of the Galactic King, the Galactic Patrol had spread throughout the stars, bringing order and peace to a galaxy that had known only war for so long. It was a new golden age.

It was ending.

The Galactic King, having witnessed the power of Goku and Vegeta, and having a connection to them via his Patrolman, Jaco, had leveraged that connection into a silent threat of saiyan retribution to any who challenged his rule. This kept the worst of the villains focused on Earth, and lesser ones unwilling to rise against the King's Peace. The connection hadn't been true even by way of Jaco since the deaths of Goku and Vegeta, and there had never been a formal arrangement of mutual aid, but the fiction remained, and kept the galaxy stable by it. But with the destruction of Earth, not even the fiction was left to the Galactic King, and rebellions were swiftly engulfing the galaxy.

Son Mato was infuriated. The constant onslaught of enemies -- perhaps, even, the Enemy -- had come to Earth only because the Galactic King had offered them up as his shield against a populace he lacked and had always lacked the strength to rule. Earth was dead because of this weak being's deception.

The King begged Mato to stay, and keep the Galaxy stable with his newfound strength. Mato refused, filled with anger and contempt, and took the Exiles away.

The Exiles fled, far into the Galactic East, where the rebellions were thickest and the rule of law lay lightest. They fled further, into the far edges of the galaxy where stars are few and far between and even those isolated points on the road to the edge of the galaxy are rarely inhabited. They fled, searching for a place to settle where they could stay hidden forever.

And on the very fringe, in a system bordered by dead systems bordered by dead systems, they found Garenhuld.

Somehow, humans had found their way across the stars in the distant past. From the time of the battle against Freeza, the Z Fighters knew that other humans were out there. They didn't know how, and frankly didn't care, but there were humans there. And Garenhuld was a planet of such humans.

It was perfect. It was a quiet world, perfect for human life. It had no advanced technology to send signals into space -- the inhabitants still lived in castles and wore chainmail to fights. It had no powerful fighters to broadcast ki -- not even the likes of Muten Roshi. The people there were culturally opposed to innovation or advances, making them perfectly stable for what the Exiles needed.

Son Mato brought his people there, and the Exiles settled quietly into their new home, nursing their grief. They would never leave.
The Masquerade: Blending in on Garenhuld unnoticed was a challenge. The humans of Garenhuld had changed somewhat from the norm elsewhere -- the colorless freaks didn't even have spiky hair. Their planet had no Guardian, their martial arts had no tradition of ki, their technology was backwards and primitive. And they certainly didn't have tails. The Exiles did; unlike Chi Chi and Bulma, they were not so sanguine about snipping their children's limbs off. The Exiles were constantly forced to remain hidden and out of sight. For a generation, they lived among themselves, keeping their own customs and marrying their own people.

And exactly one generation later, they were all related to each other and in dire need of somebody else to have children with if they wanted to avoid inbreeding. They needed to reach out the Garenhulders -- ideally, without compromising their secrecy. But...how?

In the end, the answer was found: Sorcery. Some among the Exiles, wanting to know how to defend themselves but terrified of learning the arts of ki for fear of broadcasting their strength for a hostile galaxy to feel, had come together and worked out between themselves how to use the occult arts. These first Sorcerers banded together and invented spells to help the Exiles blend in to their new home.

Wards, wrapped around locations of significance and meant to hide them away from sight and sense.

An arena, dug out of the earth in a grand quarry, shrouded in enchantments to give the Exiles a place to be truly themselves.

And a strange spell that allowed the Exiles, who were all at least partly saiyan by that point, to transform into humans in the fashion of Garenhuld.

This sorcery was controversial, at first, and many were reluctant to adopt it. But in the end, the need to remain hidden while amongst the humans won out. Scattering with the promise that they would remain hidden and not marry each other for at least three generations' time, the Exiles broke apart, and vanished into the societies of Garenhuld. The Masquerade, as practiced by the Exiles to this very day, began.
The Dark Age: Just because the Exiles were hidden did not mean that all was well. Splitting apart into countless family units, the survivors of Earth were disorganized and fragmented. While they kept in contact, their society was not a cohesive whole, and they didn't practice any societal custodianship of their old artifacts.

Through simple carelessness, and a lack of organization that prevented anybody from realizing the situation, things were lost, bit by bit.

Techniques of the old Z Fighters, passed down through the generations, were not taught to children, and died with their wielders with nobody knowing they were even lost until one day somebody wanted to learn, and nobody was left to teach. Capsules broke under constant use, one by one, until the stockpile was alarmingly low. Countless artifacts of technology were lost in acts of carelessness, and more often than not, nobody noticed.

And most tragically, piece after piece of the culture of Earth broke away under the constant, smothering presence of Garenhulder culture. The Exiles ate in Garenhuld's culture. They slept in that culture. They lived every day in that culture. Their language drifted away, and then their mannerisms, their beliefs, and their customs. They became more of a radical subset of Garenhuld culture than anything reminiscent of Earth -- a people who lacked the instinctive revulsion of innovation that Garenhulders hold, but certainly had little of dead Earth in them.

It was a Dark Age, one that nobody even knew of until the families finally reorganized. It is today recognized as the greatest tragedy of the Exile.

But it isn't. Today, the Exiles have forgotten even the existence of some techniques. Some technologies are not remembered at all, having been lost and never recorded. And the Exiles have no way of knowing that their culture has shifted so radically -- because when, if ever, would any of them have written it down? As far as they know, they still maintain the cultural traditions of Earth.

No, the greatest tragedy of the Exile's Dark Age is that they don't even know how much they've lost.
The Reformation: A hundred years after the Exile began, the scattered families began to drift back together again. It had been long enough, they thought. They had grown, split apart, and grown again. Their relations were distant enough that surely they now could come together again, and stop living among the colorless humans of their homeworld. They came together.

They blasted apart.

It had been quite some time, and they had grown apart. Without even realizing, they had become more akin to Garenhulders than natives of Earth. And Garenhuld was still split between hundreds of fractious nations. The Exiles came together and flew apart as their differences proved too much to tolerate. The Masquerade itself shook under the conflicts that resulted. Families tore at each other in a fury as the companionship they had hopes for turned to naught but ash.

One such family, however, stood aside.

In the third generation after the Exile, when the families were growing further and further apart, one particular splinter had chosen as its surname, "Vegeta," in honor of their royal ancestor. They sought to hold on to who they were by immersing themselves in the pride and dignity of the legacy of saiyan royalty. And they were ruled, wholly, by one member of their family.

At the time of the Exiles' reunification, that was Garla, the matriarch of the entire family. Garla looked out at the chaos of their people and was horrified. She was a Super Saiyan, and influential besides. She was powerful, and wise. Yet before the chaos of her people tearing each other apart, she felt utterly helpless. She resolved to change things. This situation, she felt, was unacceptable.

Lady Garla stepped forth, and demanded peace.

A hundred saiyans rose against her. One by one, powerful warriors, many of them Super Saiyans as well, came for her blood. One by one, they all failed. She stood atop a mounting pile of bodies and demanded peace. Again and again, she sent out the call, making it clear that she would have peace or the saiyan race would die.

One day, the head of the Mato family, named in honor of the ancestor who led the Exiles from Earth, came to her. But he did not come to fight. Instead, he dropped to his knees before her. He swore his fealty to her. The house of Mato swore eternal loyalty to her and hers, in the hopes that she would lead their people to something better.

The world of the Exiles paused. And then, in a great tide, more came forward. By the end of the year, no saiyan on Garenhuld remained outside of Garla's authority. She ruled them all as one leader. For the first time since the start of the Dark Age, the Exiles were one again. And in her reign, she reorganized the scattered people of the Exile, formalizing their family units into noble Houses, each with a Head to rule over them. And they all paid fealty to her -- Garla, the Princess of all Saiyans.

It was not to last. When Garla died, she split the Exiles once again, this time cleanly in two. She gave half of the Houses of Garenhuld to her elder son Daikon, who took the House of Vegeta's leadership, and was made the Lord Vegeta -- the Prince of All Saiyans.

Her second son, Toma, could not also be the Prince. But she didn't wish to cut him out entirely. And so she gave him the other half, and crowned him the Lord Goku -- to form a new House in honor of that great, distant ancestor.

The First Lords settled into their new positions, and the Exiles were calm and stable. The saiyan race was once more organized. The Reformation was over.
The Ancestor Cult: Garla's husband, Celeran, mourned her death greatly, but he didn't allow it to distract him from his own aims.

In the years following the Death of Earth, some of the Exiles had come to fixate on the fact that Goku, Vegeta, and Gohan, had ascended to godhood. Their respect for their ancestors had passed beyond simple acknowledgment and reached the realm of worship. They prayed to this trinity for guidance, wisdom, and strength. There were a dozen means of worshiping the three, with no unity.

Celeran was one such worshiper, and like his wife, the disunity offended him. He wasn't a Super Saiyan like her, but so soon after her death, her newly-wrought authority still held strong. He had for years worked to centralize the various branches of this new faith, to often violent opposition. The newly-formed House Balor, in particular, was vehemently opposed to the new religion, and tended to go against it to lethal effect. However, Lady Garla had finally taken a hand in the last years of her life, firmly stifling any notion of violent protest to the new religion. Leveraging that, Celeran called all the worshipers of the nascent faith to a grand council, to solidify their beliefs and practices and make a true, organized religion. It was a colossal undertaking, but in the new peace wrought in the wake of his wife's actions, Celeran was able to accomplish his goal. The Garenhuld Ancestral Council was an unmitigated success. Celeran was anointed as the High Priest of the new faith, charged with organizing functions of all the faithful and keeping, maintaining, and interpreting their core scriptures. His subordinate priests were assigned to lead members in their localities in prayer and to organize a sense of community among them. That more than anything was Celeran's intent in organizing; Garenhuld religion was an intensely private and disorganized affair, and he wished to make his a matter of community and common worship.

With that, a potential wild card in Exile politics was centralized in a thoroughly state-disassociated faction. His final gift to his sons done with, Celeran died the year after. The newly-formed religion survived its first transition of power with ease and aplomb, and went on to be one of the most stable features of the Exile world in the centuries to come. The religion, which its adherents referred to formally as the Church of the Ancestor Gods, or more colloquially, the Faith, suffered no major turmoil after Celeran's act in solidifying it. To the rest of saiyan society, however, it remained strange, inscrutable, and too insular to easily countenance conversion to. And thus, they named it the Ancestor Cult.
The Saga of Endivan: The history of Garenhuld's Exiles is not quiet, nor is it safe. After the shock of Garla's Reformation passed, some among the Exiles grew discontent. Not everybody had bent the knee happily -- no, the new society had been formed very explicitly under threat of force. Some wished to upset the system and violently forge a new one -- for if it persisted only through the strength of those on top, what right had those on top to forbid challengers to their authority? And so to this day some reach for heights of power banned by law, and access the legendary Super Saiyan transformation. Every such rebellion in history has begun with the same cry -- "The Lords stifle us and forbid us our ascension! To breathe free as the mighty warriors we truly are, we must fight back!"

It is ironic, then, that the first such rebellion was put down not by a Lord, nor a Lady, nor even their Scion, but by a simple man -- a peasant, by any measure -- named Endivan. Endivan was a content man, living in service to the Lady Goku of the time. He was happy with his existence, and served as a law enforcement agent. His duty was to investigate and attend to the smaller crimes of the populace. It was a respected, and quite quiet, position. But the times Endivan lived in were not as calm as him. Two generations after the death of Lady Garla, tensions were stirring. The newest generation no longer remembered the chaos of the Dark Age. They wanted their freedom back. And one House in particular, House Tarsus, meant to act on that desire.

Tarsus schemed to overthrow the leaders of the Clans and raise the entire saiyan population to Super Saiyans. Only in overwhelming force across the board, they preached, could the solution to the problem of the Enemy be found. But they knew that enacting their plan while the Ladies of the day watched was infeasible. So they plotted to shatter the Masquerade in a devastating strike demanding the Ladies' full attention before enacting their plan.

Endivan caught word of this strike, and investigated. Thanks to his warnings, the Ladies were on hand to prevent the strike. But that still had them out of the way, and House Tarsus began its plans anyway. The only counter was Endivan.

Endivan was one man, but he was strong. He had trained to the very cap of saiyan strength. Beyond that he was a masterful fighter -- a practitioner of the Gohan style derived from the recorded techniques of Son Gohan. He was a master of the style, in fact, having made several key advancements in it to move it into the modern age again. He was a force to be reckoned with. But he stood opposed by the full might of House Tarsus -- fully seventeen warriors were ready to fight him, even discounting their Head.

Yet Endivan went to face them. And though his opponents were ready, he was better. Endivan plowed through their ranks like a scythe, and he did it all without killing a single one. The warriors of House Tarsus came against Endivan, and he broke them all in a stunning display of martial mastery. But throughout all of this, Head Tarsus was absent. As the last warrior fell, the Head announced his entry onto the battlefield with a pillar of golden light.

In the moments that followed, none were able to follow what happened. Both fighters were well above the levels of those left conscious to observe the fight. But it is known that Head Tarsus came at Endivan with the full might of a newly-ascended Super Saiyan, and Endivan could respond only with the strength of a single, basic Saiyan warrior.

And it is known that on that day, Endivan Mato did the impossible, and slew Head Tarsus in single combat. Nobody knows how. The details have been declared state secrets by the leaders of the Clans ever since. But somehow, Endivan Mato stood against a Super Saiyan on even ground -- no tricks, no evasions -- and won unambiguously. And if historical records from the time are anything to go by, he had the nerve to be disappointed that he failed to take Head Tarsus alive.

While the details are hidden, Endivan Mato is honored as a legend by the modern Exiles -- almost certainly the greatest warrior in the entire history of the saiyan race. He put down an entire House and slew a Super Saiyan in single combat, and codified the Gohan style into its modern form into the bargain. And afterwards, he simply retired from the public stage awaiting him, fading away to live the rest of his life in the quiet peace that had characterized him up until his greatest achievement. He refused everything -- honors, accolades, even the glory of being granted the right to start his own, third noble House atop a new Clan -- and chose to live his life in solitude and peace.

Few live up to the example set by the Saga of Endivan. But he is renowned even today for the magnitude of his achievements. He is known as a peerless warrior, a learned scholar, and a man of saintly humility and iron morality. He is a legend, as truly as any of the honored ancestors of Earth.
The Lord's Rebellion: The era after Endivan's death was the nearest thing to a golden age that the Exiles ever had. There was peace and order, and the people were content in the rulership of the Lords and Ladies. In the back of every saiyan's mind was the knowledge that the position of Lordship wasn't out of reach -- it was open, should anybody demonstrate, in a time of extreme need, their suitability for it. That prospect kept people calm, for it linked the position to merit in their minds, and made the necessity of a new member of that highest level of rank a matter of direst need indeed. Clan Goku was beginning to truly come together around its leaders, finally coming to respect their authority as Clan Vegeta did theirs. And Clan Vegeta was slowly accepting more input from those outside the central leadership structure. Society was peacefully evolving towards a better result. The system as established by Garla finally, truly, seamlessly, worked.

That golden age was shattered, tragically, by the action of a Lord.

It was Age 1000, the historic turn of the millennium as the Exiles count their years, and Oni, the Scion of Goku, had just ascended to the rank of Lord with the birth of his daughter Vina. It was, as always, a time of celebration. All of Clan Goku cheered for the new Scion, and Clan Vegeta was glad for their cousins.

But not all was well. Oni was an ambitious man, one who desired to bring his people back to the stars. For years he had plotted, scheming of a way to crack open the Masquerade and compel the cooperation and, eventually, fealty of the humans of Garenhuld in returning to the stars. He wanted to bring his people to glory, and destroy the Enemy with the power of tens of thousands of Super Saiyans. He had been patient and careful in his plots, waiting for his chance. And with his daughter's birth, his chance had at last come.

But Oni's ambition was not merely his own. No, his ambition held roots in another -- his human wife, Samantha.

Samantha Goku was a Garenhulder who came across Oni one day when he was out of his Masque. What followed was a nearly storybook romance -- were it not for the fact that it was mandated. Oni took the burden of taking the interloper into the Exiles' culture upon himself, seducing and marrying her. It was another step in his plan to build up a justification for his eventual scheme of revealing the Exiles to the world. For after all, if even the Lord's beloved wife was not permitted to be with her people as she wished, what did that say about the righteousness of the Exiles? And, surely enough, Samantha was furious when she discovered the catch to her romance.

Furious, that she had not been let in on it.

Samantha and Oni were two halves to the same whole -- cruel, ambitious, and wholly amoral. Once she discovered Oni's scheming she demanded to be included -- to work with him to bring his ambitions to light. He was naturally delighted, and so they quite happily got to work on producing the heir their plot required.

When Oni became Lord, he moved immediately. His father conveniently "died in his sleep," leaving no Patriarch to check the excesses of a newly-risen Lord. The Matriarch Vegeta similarly died. And Oni began to rally others in his Clan who felt as he did, most notably the members of House Peat, who had long opposed the Masquerade.

The Lord Vegeta of the time, Tappan Vegeta, was busy holding down the chaos from the sudden upheaval in the power structure, and had little interest in a fight with Clan Goku in any event. But his son, Scion Carrick, was not so encumbered. Carrick and Oni had known and hated each other for years, and Carrick did not miss the suspicious timing of the deaths in both Clans, and moved to confront Lord Oni.

It was the last thing he would ever do.

Oni had expected and accounted for Carrick's intervention, and when his long-time rival showed up, Oni struck. Oni's conspirators ambushed Lord Vegeta to keep him tied up, and Oni attacked Carrick to bring the Scion down. The two clashed in a full-power battle outside the confines of the Training Hall, dueling across deserts, mountains, and ocean as Oni strove to bring the battle within sight of populated areas. Carrick focused on trying to keep the battle away from civilization, determined to spite his rival's plans if nothing else. It proved to be his undoing. Oni exploited Carrick's unwillingness to fight all-out and managed to deliver a fatal strike, bringing the Scion of Vegeta to the ground. For a moment, it seemed as though Lord Oni would succeed in his designs. The Scion of Clan Vegeta lay dead before him, and while the fight had been close-fought and exhausting, Oni had time to recuperate while his followers bought time against Lord Vegeta with their lives.

But Oni's schemes were foiled from an unexpected quarter -- House Stauber. Traditionally the staunchest of loyalist Houses, Stauber was one House that could always be counted on to serve their Lords loyally. Nobody thought they would turn against Oni. But when Carrick Vegeta sacrificed everything to stop Oni, Stauber stepped forward, rallying other Houses that heeded their word, and attacked their Lord in open rebellion.

Across Garenhuld the Exiles' society erupted in civil war as two Lords a planet apart each fought a coalition of basic saiyans for the right to decide the planet's future. The humans of Garenhuld were kept from the truth of that day by the slimmest of margins. But they were kept. For in the final minutes of the battle, as his exhaustion finally overwhelmed him, Oni slipped. House Stauber, in what was meant to simply be the latest in a flurry of near-pointless strikes, pierced his Lord's heart, ending the rebellion in a split second. Lord Oni died, leaving only his infant Scion daughter behind to lead his Clan.

Oni's Rebellion proved to be the blow that would permanently shake the stability of the Exiles' society. From that day forward, the leaders of the Clans sat in silent, suspicious opposition to each other, always ready for one to reach for more power. Saiyan society reacted harshly against its human cousins, withdrawing further from Garenhuld's main society and thus exacerbating the cultural tensions between those who wished to remain hidden and those who wished to come free with who they were. House Peat, Oni's greatest supporters, began a history of rebellion and recidivism that remains to this day. The authority of the Lords of Goku has never recovered from Lady Vina's disastrous long regency, even as Clan Vegeta has centralized further and driven the Clans yet further apart. And most ruinously, the people of the Exile have ever since held one truth in their heads: that it doesn't take a living legend like Endivan to defeat a Super Saiyan. Enough saiyans, working together, can beat a Lord outright in open combat.

And if they can be beaten...they can be killed.
The Death of Bricca Talt and the Talt Rebellion: House Talt was a minor Vegetan House of little note and less influence. They were simple and uncomplicated in their ambitions, and loyal to their Lords and Ladies. They were one of the few Houses untouched by the chaos following the Lord's Rebellion, continuing their tradition of loyal service with exactly as little drama as they had before it.

So when a minor, doomed Super Saiyan revolt began in the Clan of Vegeta, Head Bricca Talt answered her Lord's call to arms without question. She and hers were trusted to hold down the non-Super Saiyans aligned with the rebels while the Lords attended to the heavy hitters. She led her House into battle exactly as expected, and in conjunction with House Senzu cut a swathe through the traitors. But no plan survives contact with the enemy, and in the chaos of battle, Bricca Talt was separated from her comrades and family.

She was opposed by five fighters, all stronger than her. She was alone and beyond reinforcement, and half of her allies had no idea that she was even in trouble. She was doomed. But she still fought.

Bricca Talt was a master of the much-maligned Yamcha style, and a talented warrior. Despite the odds, she fought with everything she had, and slew four of her attackers before being killed. It was an incredible feat, one that saved the Yamcha style from obscurity and made her a hero in the eyes of the Exiles. But her son Toma was not sanguine about her demise.

Toma Talt nursed a bitter grudge against the Vegetan Lords for his mother's death. Truthfully, neither the Lord nor his Scion, Yammar, knew that Bricca was even in trouble until after she was dead. But Toma was not in the mood to accept that. He wanted vengeance. In secret, he worked for years to raise his House to the level of Super Saiyan. He and his wife produced seven children and made them all transform, hoping to overwhelm the Lords with numbers. He struggled to find a way to reach the Lord's level of strength -- although he found only the bulky forms. And decades later, when he had gathered to him dozens of allies and led a Clan composed entirely of Super Saiyans, he struck.

Yammar had, with the birth of his son Vegeta, ascended to the Lordship years before. But Yammar's father, Vegeta, was still alive. Toma came for him first.

Vegeta died from a blast to the back when he received the son of one of his dearest and most loyal friends for an afternoon visit, and when Yammar came roaring in, filled with fury for the treachery he had sensed, House Talt and its allies rose en masse -- fifty-seven Super Saiyans, against two Full-Power Super Saiyans.

It was futile. In their quest to challenge the Lords, House Talt had found the bulked-up forms of Super Saiyan, and turned to that to win the fight. And one by one, they were defeated as the forms' speed penalties undid them, letting the nobles of Clan Vegeta effortlessly weave around them and kill or incapacitate them. It was a slaughter that only House Talt and a handful of its allies survived.

Yammar brought them to the Training Hall.

He set the youngest rebel still alive, Toma Talt's six-year-old daughter Fasha, free. Still seething, Yammar announced that every member of the House would have the opportunity to fight him in single combat for their freedom. To ensure that nobody interfered, he blasted off the limbs of those not fighting and called in House Senzu to ensure that they could still fight when their turn came. He then turned to Fasha Talt.

Two seconds later, she lost the fight.

An hour later, she died.

And then Yammar released her older brother Chivan, and gave him his "chance."

Scion Vegeta and the members of House Senzu gathered that day watched in horror as Yammar tortured and killed his way through every member of House Talt and their allies. By the time he was released to fight, Toma Talt was mad with grief, and lost in a heartbeat. Yammar spent a full twenty-four hours with him, tearing the man apart only to heal him for another try, repeating this process over a dozen times before he finally obliterated him completely.

It horrified the Senzus, and it shattered Vegeta. The young Scion was destroyed by the horrors of that day in a way that would become clear only years later.

But in Clan Vegeta as a whole, peace reigned. Bought with the blood and screams of children, and eerie stillness fell over the Clan, as none dared to contradict the words of their brutal Lord. The unrest that had plagued the Exiles in general died down, as even Clan Goku sat back in terror at the Death of Talt.

It was only a decade later that the final price for this peace became clear.
The Sundering: Ten years after the Death of Talt, the Clans had a new pair of Lords. Vegeta Vegeta, the Scion made to watch as the Talts were all executed, had produced a son, and his counterpart Berra Goku had celebrated the birth of a daughter. Both were three years old. It was a joyous time for the Lords, and they celebrated together. Vegeta and Berra had been the best of friends since they were born. Some whispered that the two dreamed of reunification -- of mending the split in their people that had persisted for centuries.

Perhaps, but it never came to be.

Vegeta's trauma from the Death of Talt had festered for years, undermining his sanity more and more as time went on. He awoke screaming in chorus with the death cries of Fasha Talt as they raced through his mind, and he sobbed himself back to sleep half of the time. But that was tame; tame, in comparison to what lay in Berra's heart.

In the heart of Berra Goku, Lord of his Clan and Vegeta's best friend -- Vegeta's brother, and the only one trusted with the true knowledge of Vegeta's struggles with himself -- moved blame.

Berra was a fiery and passionate idealist. He was a young man who threw everything he had into the task of ruling, and he believed -- truly believed -- in the ideas of good and wrong.

It is not known what exactly he said, when his indignation overpowered brotherly feeling and he cast all of his moral outrage into Vegeta's face. It is not know how he elected to tell Vegeta that Berra blamed him for the screams that haunted Vegeta's dreams every night.

It is known when.

The skies of Garenhuld turned a sickly grey that faded to red as Vegeta lost his mind in a howling second of agony, betrayal, and rage. The planet trembled as the Lord Vegeta, in his full power and might, was swept away and replaced by a raging berserker, intent on stripping his brother's flesh from his bones.

Berra transformed in response, a desperate, horrified action as the young Lord began to barely grasp what he had unintentionally done. And then the two met in combat.

For a heartbeat, the planet's survival hung on the edge of a knife. And then the Matriarch and Patriarch Goku and Vegeta intervened. Apra Goku and Yammar Vegeta emerged from their solitude for the first time in years, and moved against their sons to stop the fight. Garenhuld's fate again wavered, but the older fighters were victorious, and the skies calmed again.

And since that day, the two men, once as close as brothers, have never again spoken without spite in their voices and hearts.

The Sundering has marked the modern world of the Exiles. The separation between the Clans, already wide, has only deepened with the fury and bitterness between the Lords. It is harder than ever to move across Clan lines, and the Exiles begin to tear apart into two separate cultures, their isolation near-complete.

To live in these times is to live a life in constant threat of war. It is to watch your Lord for the signs that the grudge is about to go hot again. It is to accept that your place is outlined by borders painted in blood, and that even the gentlest of Lords will not speak for you if you step over that line. It is to accept that your people's slow recovery from your darkest age has been halted, perhaps permanently, by the selfishness of one man and the mistakes of others since. It is to know that once the galaxy quieted to a peaceful hush for fear of your displeasure, and you must now hide from even the hint of discovery lest you risk oblivion. Forget the glories of the past, for so much has been lost you no longer know what you once had. Forget the tales of brave heroes making the galaxy a safe place, for those heroes are dead and long past. When your people dare to check, they find that there is no peace among the stars, only a gradually-expanding tumult of conflict and war, and the terror of a nameless Enemy.

But not all is lost, and if your histories have taught you anything, it is that hardships are to be overcome. You have lost much, but that simply means you need to learn it anew. You have fallen far, but your ancestors started from even less. The galaxy is terrifying and mysterious, but it once stilled at your people's silent influence and weight, and may again. If you wish to try, there are ways for you to defy the collapse of your people, and return to the glories and freedoms of old.

But to achieve that will be to defy the nature of the world you live in. It will be to fight against a collapsing system that persists on the inertial fear of exactly what you intend. It is to dive into the middle of the disastrous wreckage of your father Berra's hopes and dreams, and set it aright. It is to mend the sins of your father and correct his greatest mistake.

History has ended, and the world moves now. And for you, the Scion of Goku, the question is no longer one of "what happened?"

Now you must answer: "What will you do next?"

Omake Index

These are various pieces of reader-submitted writing. Thanks for contributing, everybody!

Additionally, many thanks to @Gore17 for creating a TVTropes page for the quest! You can find it here.

Canon: I have moved the Canon omake index to the Sidestory threadmarks.
Compliant: I have moved the Compliant omake index to the Apocrypha threadmarks.
Non-Canon: I have moved the Non-Canon omake index to the Apocrypha threadmarks.

Fan Art

I have moved the Fan Art index to the Media threadmarks.

Useful Information

If I have a favorite aspect of writing, it's world-building.

So you have a glaring, colossal, obvious favorite, then?

Oh, hush you.

There's a lot of backstory that goes into this, and it's not all covered under history. This is how the world works. I will update this as questions arise in-thread, naturally, but I'm also -- finally -- getting down to adding the stuff that will be generally useful.

QM Quirks

What's with the random times when you talk to yourself with normal/bold text?: Boldtext is the representation of a very dear IRL friend of mine. We banter a lot. I pretend to be back-and-forthing with them sometimes for the sake of comedy.
What's your gender?: Unspecified. If you must assume a gender I can hardly stop you, but I'd prefer neutrality if you can swing it. "They," for preference.

Exile Society

The society of the Exiles has been informed by several key factors: their saiyan heritage, their status as refugees, and the gigantic target on their backs.

Clan Structure: The political structure of the Clans, being a system that derives from the deliberate splitting of a single, streamlined government ruling over a small population, is remarkably simple in design. You have your ruling Lords, who employ as intermediaries the Heads of various saiyan houses in order to not have to ride herd on every single individual saiyan in Creation. The basic unit of saiyan society is the house. A house is essentially what we would call a dynasty in the fashion of the Middle Ages; it's a family name given political weight. The distinction comes from how centralized houses are in comparison to real-life dynasties; every house has a single Head, whose authority over their house is informal and varying based on the house in question, but ultimately up to them and backed by the authority of those higher up the line. Heads are broadly expected to keep their houses in line and not make trouble, and are allowed any means they deem necessary to accomplish this.

Every saiyan alive belongs to a house by definition; if somebody made a grand gesture of forsaking their house and taking no other, they'd be summarily assigned a new surname and house if they chose not to take one for themselves. It wouldn't even be a sign of overbearing authority; the defiant saiyan would freely accept the gesture given that it would propel them into the ranks of the lower nobility as a Head of House. Beyond that, not belonging to a house is such an arcane concept that it makes no sense to the minds of the Exiles. They're aware that the concept exists; they live among Garenhulders, after all. But their culture does not provide for it and given their isolation from any alternatives they simply don't consider the concept to apply to them in any relatable way.

Every house belongs to one of two Clans; Clan Goku or Clan Vegeta. Of the houses within these Clans, one of each -- the titular houses of Goku and Vegeta, naturally -- is responsible for the leadership of its Clan. The Heads of these Royal Houses are given the title of Lord/Lady Goku/Vegeta, and are the ultimate authority in saiyan society. The Lords are ordained at birth by a Seer of their Clan, by some criterion that is unknown, but worryingly only sometimes appears to include such trivialities as, "Is a moral person." At the very least, no ordained Lord has been an incompetent ruler. The Lords are responsible for moderating disputes between Heads, leaving the management of individuals largely up to the Heads themselves in order to delegate workload. However, displeased house members may appeal directly to a Lord if they feel that their Head is acting unjustly. This is rarely a problem, however, as a Lord or Lady who feel that their time has been wasted get to do essentially whatever they like to the one who brought the matter up. Anybody who files an appeal generally has brought with them an excellent case for it.

This system, when described on paper, can seem sensible, streamlined, and elegant, with clear delineations of responsibility and a lack of complicated bureaucracy, much like the actual feudal system it was based upon. Also like the feudal system it was based upon, it is in fact a broken mess. The only reason the Clans are not in a constant state of splintering and flux is because the ones at the top are effectively gods as far as anybody else is concerned and have a vested interest in not rocking the boat. They are constantly embroiled in internal strife thanks to the elegant social fictions keeping them content having broken down over a century ago (see, "The Lord's Rebellion"). Worsening this, the previous Lord and Lady released the population controls in anticipation of a long game eventually ending in the end of the Masquerade and an arm's race in the hopes of destroying the Enemy. When their sons had an explosive falling-out and abandoned the scheme only after becoming the reigning Lords ("The Sundering"), not having been brought in on the particulars of the plan, the controls were not put back into place and anybody who tried to do so would be ceding the numbers advantage to their now-bitter-foe. As a result, the Lords are strained to the breaking point by their ever-mounting workload as houses splinter and multiply along with the population's growth.

Just like real feudalism, the system is good in theory. Just like real feudalism, it suffers swiftly as the population to which it administers grows, and lacks any insulation between its leaders' personal dramas and the collapse of social order. Reform is direly needed, but the situation is wrong for it. The past antagonism made wide-scale reform suicidal, and the present seething turmoil makes it an open invitation to mass revolts.

And with the release of the population controls, a Royal House versus their entire Clan is no longer a certain victory for the establishment. The Lords need to tread carefully.
Technology Levels: The Exiles fled Earth with some of the most advanced examples of technology they had to hand, in a fleet of Briefs-made spaceships. However, over the course of the Dark Age much was lost.

The Exiles, technically, are at a more advanced technology level than Garenhuld -- which, through various advancements introduced by the Exiles, is at a roughly (IRL) Earth-like standard of tech, although near-completely without any space technology, instead having a more extensive ground infrastructure than even IRL Earth's. The Exiles, through ancient artifacts such as capsules and the last remaining functional spaceship (under Senzu control, presently), maintain a higher standard of living. Their agriculture technology is incredibly advanced, and they possess fully-functional scouters of an advanced design. However, most of their advanced technology is artifactual; they have lost the secrets behind its construction, or no longer possess the tools to maintain it. While the Exiles have samples of most of the technology of lost Earth, they know how to reproduce almost none of it. It is a constant target of research on the Lords' part.
Seers: Seers, the inheritors of the curse Bardock suffered, are an incredibly small demographic among Garenhulders. Incredibly rare to begin with, Seers are often viewed as intensely creepy individuals, and as such many people who suffer the visions prefer to pretend that they don't exist. There are thus fewer than 300 Seers on Garenhuld. Despite this, they hold important roles in the Clans, serving as advisers to the nobility and proclaiming the Scions. That does not save them, however, with being tarred by a lesser form of the extreme discrimination that surrounds the sorcerers. Seers are held as a servile class to regular saiyans, and generally receive some passive level of contempt by the average saiyan. They don't suffer anything like the concentrated disgust most saiyans hold for sorcerers, though.

Seers have many abilities, but they are broadly categorized around a nearly-conceptual ability to See the truth of things. Their abilities are divided into three broad categories: Pastsight, Presentsight, and Futuresight. All Seer techniques are incredibly exhausting to perform at any length, and navigating the Sight is supremely confusing -- even masters of the Craft have extreme difficulty finding the visions they desire.

Pastsight is the ability to gaze into the past. Of all of the dimensions of a Seer's abilities, this is viewed as the most straightforward -- as simple postcognition. The Seer prompts (or is subjected to) a vision, and Sees what occurred in the past. Relatively few Seers have any measure of gift for this dimension of the Sight.

Presentsight is the ability to see things in the present, and is among the most varied of the disciplines of Bardock's Craft. Being a form of Sight that allows Seers to see things as they occur -- and therefore affect them in the present -- it is the subject of intense study. Studies in presentsight lead to some of the more advanced techniques available to Seers: among them ki sight and the ability to See past illusions or deception. These are very advanced techniques, however, taught only to experts in the Craft. In addition, presentsight allows a Seer to conduct Mind Projection -- casting their consciousness out of their body to explore the world directly, allowing them a level of control and precision unknown to other forms of Sight. At its most basic, however, presentsight is simple -- the Seer sees a vision of things happening in the now. A moderate amount of Seers have gifts in this form of the Sight, but it is perhaps the most heavily developed.

Futuresight is the ability to see into the future -- the most traditional form of the Craft. Futuresight is finicky, and a single vision can be hard to effect, but it is a potent tool with sufficient practice. Futuresight, developed properly can even enable a form of subconscious precognition -- instinctive nudges telling a Seer which way to move or what not to do in order to achieve the optimal result on whatever action they're taking. This is a master-class ability. Futuresight in general allows the user to gaze into the future as it presently will occur absent intervention from the Seer. It is difficult to change these visions without extensive and thorough forecasting of the events leading up to a vision and telling the Seer just what they need to do to avoid their observed fate -- an exhausting and difficult task. However, properly developed, this form of the Sight lends Seers the ability to manipulate events over the course of decades or, theoretically, centuries. Most Seers have a gift for this form of Sight.
Anti-Sorcerer and -Seer Prejudice: It is tempting to give the Exiles a free pass on their prejudice. They are the culture through which Kakara perceives the world. It's tempting to identify with them, and derive logical and understandable reasons for them to hold the esoteric arts in distaste. A holdover from the desperate days prior to unification, perhaps. Maybe a general distaste for the utility of the arts themselves, which reflects to an extent on their wielders.

Unfortunately, no. The prejudice is actually far more due to the Exiles' cultural glorification of the Z Fighters than anything else. The Z Fighters were ki fighters, and moreover, ki fighters who were ultimately some of the undisputed masters of the use of ki in the galaxy. After all, the role the rest of the galaxy tends to play in Exile legends is those idiots who can't even into energy sensing. The Exiles have a cultural myth built up around the idea that in their galaxy, they alone held the true secrets of ki. They alone were the true masters; they alone produced the masters capable of rising to the level of the divine. Even Freeza only reached his greatest heights after copycatting Earth's masters. An entire culture, built on a retrospective. A people constantly chasing and glorifying the deeds of their ancestors, clinging onto their cultural mastery of ki even as the rest of what once was their culture is annihilated under the massive pressure of the Masquerade, with no way to even recognize how much is being lost, because nobody thought to write it all down before it was already gone. A desperate fight to retain some sense of worth and superiority -- anything to keep themselves from feeling just like a bunch of terrified rats, hiding in their hole as the cat prowls outside.

And then these fuckers aren't even interested in trying.

Of course, the truth is far more complicated. Kakara's easy progress in and mastery of skill of sight is extremely unusual, thus Carrick's frequent astonishment at you doing things years in advance of when you should have been capable of them (and through a block, at that). Training and maintaining sight or magic skills is, for the ordinary person, a full-time job. An unpaid one, where you only get paid for taking overtime in the form of actually applying those skills, to a supreme lack of cultural appreciation. It's a lot of work, the involved concepts are difficult to grasp once you get beyond beginner levels, and overall it leaves very little time for rigorous, often brutal ki training.

But to the average Exile, it looks like a whole class of people just ignoring their people's heritage. Throwing it all away. It doesn't help that nobody understands them when they get going (the jock vs. nerd stereotype, writ large). And most damningly...they don't even have the grace to be useless. Being obviously inferior to ki fighters would be at least a tacit admission of the Exiles' cultural obsession's inherent worth and superiority. But no. Not only can both do things that your average Exile fighters cannot, sorcerers have the unmitigated gall to serve a vital and irreplaceable function that allows this society of ki-glorifying fighters to persist and survive in the first place.

The prejudice against sorcerers and seers is not born out of anything admirable. It's not even born out of anything really understandable or sympathetic. An overwhelming majority that controls all of the social status and power doesn't get good excuses for being discriminatory shits. No, the Exiles' deep dislike for the esoteric arts is built on a foundation of spite, insecurity, resentment, and jealousy, all buried under a deep well of denial. It is ugly, contemptible, and foul. It's never anything different, for a majority punching down.
Lost Techniques: Not for nothing do the Exiles claim that they are only just departing a dark age. Much of the knowledge of their ancestors has been lost -- either through its holders dying without sharing what they knew, or through the notorious tight-lipped nature Goku had regarding his most potent techniques. Some thing have been lost entirely. The following is the list of techniques that were never passed down to the modern generation of Exiles. This the first time the list has been put to writing, so it will be updated as I remember other techniques which are supposed to be here.

Ki Hypnosis.
Fusion Dance.
Spirit Bomb.
Any and all techniques invented by fusion gestalts in general.
Any and all techniques invented by non-Freeza, "villains," who never joined the Z Fighters.
Mafuba.
Thunder Shock Surprise.
Imprisonment Ball

Kakara and Pacifism

This section deals with the, "Pacifist," trait, which Kakara held for many years of the quest's run time. Many things about the following, thus, will be outdated now that she has evolved the trait.

Kakara is a pacifist.

This has been the subject of intense turmoil and debate. The argument never really goes anywhere, and so I keep on having to repeat myself. I've decided to post my explanation here to save time; it was getting wearying to repeat myself.

Before I start, a salient fact: Kakara is eleven years old, at time of writing. She has had four serious fights in her life, and none of them were conducted with lethal force. While she is intelligent, she doesn't have the sophistication of worldview to have a terribly nuanced opinion on violence. It will be quite some time, or a truly hellish short time, before that changes.

Once you cut through all of the various fine distinctions and philosophical quibbling, pacifism is at its core the rejection of violence as a valid means of solving interpersonal disputes. Different pacifists interpret this in different ways. To some, even the slightest bruise inflicted upon the lowliest earthworm is a tragedy to be avoided at all costs. To others, even truly intense fighting is permissible in the proper, non-malicious context (there are pacifists who play American Football, for instance, contextualizing it in the arena of sports rather than violence).

Kakara's interpretation is very simple; she is only eleven, after all. "Violence is morally wrong." To Kakara, the act of engaging in violence with another sapient being is a moral failure. Where most people would interpret punching a person with a gun to keep them from firing as self-defense, Kakara would feel as if she had just committed felony assault.

Thus, to her, it is very simple: violence is violence is violence, and all violence is wrong regardless of circumstances.

Now, that's not to say that Kakara is barred from being violent. Everybody has exceptions to their worldview, and she's no different. If Kakara has exhausted other options to no effect, she is willing to resort to violence. She feels terrible about it, but using violence after satisfying herself that she did everything she could to stop it is enough to preserve her overall peace of mind. Kakara also has one notable personal exception; see the "Enemies" tab of her "Relationships" tab in her character sheet. Kakara also does not view sparring as violence. Much like the above example, she's fine with sports, and in Exile culture sparring is sport. To continue the metaphor, it's not a sport she's a huge fan of, but she's not unwilling to involve herself.

This all comes to a head in the "Pacifist" trait. The text can be found above, in the character sheet, but overall what it does is weight votes heavily against violence and offer a small bonus to peacefully defusing circumstances. Additionally, it hinders combat skill growth in some areas and caps some outright. This makes combat significantly less viable; that's the point. Further evolutions of the Pacifist trait may mitigate this, or they may instead double down in exchange for improving Kakara's ability to avoid violence productively. Depends on how you all play it.

Ultimately, however, the thread should be warned that every iteration of traits from the Pacifist trait family will hinder your ability to engage in violence in some way. They may make it more difficult for Kakara to willingly engage in it, impose penalties in the aftermath of it, or even actively harm her prowess. No matter what, a pacifist will always be a worse fighter than a non-pacifist, all else being equal.

"But Poptart, this is Dragon Ball! Fighting is the core of this world; always has been. What the hell are you doing saddling us with such a useless trait?!"

I'm glad you mentioned that, strawman. Simply put, this is Dragon Ball, but I am not Toriyama Akira. If, in this 'verse, I want to say that non-violence is as viable as hyper-violence, then my word quite by definition goes. Given that the first sentence of the quest is me introducing how Goku, Toriyama's darling dearest, died and left behind a world unprepared to fend for itself, it is hopefully apparent that I plan on deconstructing and/or reconstructing several aspects of the universe. My stance on violence is one of them.

To reiterate what I've said before: there will always be a pacifist option to get shit done. There will also always be a violence option for the same purpose. Neither one of those is guaranteed to be "right" from every perspective, and it's not a simple binary choice, either. You may spare somebody that you oughtn't have, only for them to go on to wreak havoc; perhaps using Instant Transmission to land them in a jail cell would have been wiser. You may kill somebody and their entire race declares blood feud in reply; perhaps you ought have ambushed them and captured them instead. Not every option is the right one and there's no one right answer that you can choose every time. But there is always the option, even if it's unpalatable.

Pacifism is hard; contrary to what most people seem to think, so too is violence. Both represent the choice to act in order to affect the world around you. It's inaction that's easy. And thus, in my interpretation of Toriyama's colorful world, pacifism is not inaction. Here, pacifism from a game design perspective is the presence and viability of a path to productive action that does not involve violence. And in that sense, this quest is truly pacifist indeed.

Now, as to whether or not that's the best thing for Kakara to be? That, and from now on everything about this topic, I leave in your hands.

S-Cells

Ah, S-Cells. S-Cells have not been so much decanonized in this quest as they are irrelevant.

Which, honestly, isn't much of a change from their status in canon.

Let's be clear: S-Cells are basically midichlorians. They're a special microscopic cell which only ~~Force users~~ Super Saiyans have in any relevant amounts, which allow one to ~~use the force~~ access the transformation. Like midichlorians, S-Cells were introduced after literal decades of the franchise muddling along acceptably without them, as an attempt to create an explanation for a phenomenon which didn't really need one. They are a solution, desperately searching for a problem and finding nothing.

Furthermore, they possess virtually no presence in the canon save for their mere, pointless existence. They aren't needed, they're used poorly where they're used at all, and they're boring. My reaction to them, much like my reaction to midichlorians, was, "Oh, I guess that's a thing. Okay, I guess. Doesn't seem terribly necessary. Does it change anything? No? Alright, I'll just wait for you to stop talking then, Akira."

S-Cells are pointless, and unless they make themselves relevant, I intend to ignore them. They're not decanonized; they're there, even if they don't really do anything other than the obvious. I just don't intend to grant them any more relevance than they've earned.

Which, in this case, means never mentioning them in the quest itself, and this being my final word on the matter.

The Enemy

Why Didn't Uub Wish For...?: Uub didn't wish for Goku and Vegeta because they'd each had their rez's. Goku and Vegeta did not intervene themselves against the rules because they'd pulled that shit enough times that they'd pissed off upper management and gotten locked in a box. Uub didn't vote to relocate planets because the Enemy hadn't worked their way up to the strongest Z Fighters by that point and it looked like they were avoiding doing so. Only afterwards did it become clear how badly the Z Fighters were losing, and by that point Shenron was gone for his year's nap. Uub didn't wish to nix the Enemy because the dragon balls can only do what their creator can do, and Dende is a weedy f*ck.

Known Styles

These are the styles of which Kakara is presently aware, and consequently is capable of learning.

Goku Style: The iconic style of your House, this style relies on overwhelming physical assaults and is heavily offensive in nature, falling back on mobility to evade attacks only when severely outmatched. Ki blasts are used, but generally not as a primary feature of combat. They're finishing attacks, not the main show, and outside a special few, practitioners of this form will have little facility here. Given its progenitor, it is not remotely suited to fighting with anybody else, having been created in expectation and even anticipation of fighting all enemies alone. Involved techniques: Hand-to-Hand [Dueling], Kaio-Ken, Kamehameha, Instant Transmission, Spirit Bomb (Lost Technique). Penalized techniques: Hand-to-Hand [Team Fighting], Ki Projection [All Save explicitly Involved Techniques].

Vegeta Style: The iconic style of House Vegeta, this form tends towards a different approach. Created by a warrior who commonly fought entire armies unaided or with limited backup, this form shines when put against multiple foes. As is only sensible for those kinds of conditions, ranged combat proved to be most efficient, and thus while the practitioners of this style can certainly fight up close, they have a lot of talent at range. It is overwhelmingly aggressive and unrestrained, and has virtually no response to being put on the back foot. This style emphasizes absorbing punishment over avoiding it, and thus is not for the weak of body or spirit. Involved techniques: Hand-to-Hand [Crowd Fighting], Galick Gun, Big Bang Attack, Final Flash, Ki Projection [Basic Attacks]. Penalized techniques: Flight, Ki Control, Hand-to-Hand [Team Fighting].

Krillin Style: A balanced form that plays well with others, this style is near-unique in that it seems to have been built in the expectation of being outmatched. Emphasizing evasion and targeting of vulnerabilities, this form has virtually no defense to direct confrontation. Given its creator, that's sensible. Practitioners of the above two forms tend to study this at least a bit so that they're not so helpless should they be confronted with a superior opponent, and so they don't commit the grand idiocy of being so overwhelmingly offensive that they prefer to allow themselves to be punched in the face if it allows them to do the same to their opponent. Involved techniques: Ki Control, Solar Flare, Kienzan, Flight, Hand-to-Hand [Team Fighting], Kamehameha. Penalized techniques: Hand-to-Hand [Dueling], Hand-to-Hand [Crowd Fighting].

Piccolo Style/Demon Style: The form of Piccolo, this emphasizes precise and clever strikes with great concentration of power, and a balance of offense and defense. It possesses powerful techniques at any range, but lacks specialization. Practicing this style demands an ability to control the field of battle as is most expedient at any given moment. Involved techniques: Makankosappo, Explosive Wave, Evil Explosion, Masenko, Light Grenade, Hellzone Grenade. Penalized techniques: None.

Turtle Style: Roshi's style is largely an anachronism that was designed before the full potential of ki was realized by the Z Fighters, and you should not use it in a real fight. It is meant to be used by a fighter locked to the ground, against a fighter locked to the ground, and treats any and all external use of ki as a flagrant and extravagant expense to be saved only for the direst of eventualities. That said, as a foundation for other styles, it's fantastic. Its reliance on hand-to-hand means that practitioners are very good at it in absolutely all of its forms. Involved techniques: Hand-to-Hand [all, signature], Kamehameha. Penalized techniques: All Ki Talents (save Ki Control) and Ki Projection skills, and cripplingly so.

Trunks Style: While Trunks of our timeline contributed little to fighting given that he never actually refined his technique beyond what he had at eight years of age, his future counterpart contributed a brutally pragmatic and survivalist style to the Z Fighters' understanding of combat. This style assumes constant unfavorable numbers against overwhelmingly powerful opponents, demanding insane agility and swift exploitation of exposed openings, with none of the acknowledged theatricality of other styles. In addition, it is the only form developed in conjunction with a weapon. It shines against multiple opponents and when outmatched, and its use of a sword tends to take opponents off-guard. Involved techniques: Sword Use, Hand-to-Hand [Crowd Fighting], Flight (signature), Burning Attack, Masenko, Heat Dome Attack, Final Flash. Penalized techniques: Hand-to-Hand [Team Fighting, or all when without a sword], Ki Sense.

Yamcha Style: This is nearly extinct, but to be honest, it's undervalued. While he eventually retired and was constantly outmatched in strength, many forget that Yamcha was a talented martial artist, who even after years of retirement and with a total lack of Saiyan biology was able to defend against Golden Freeza's invasion of Earth right along with the rest of the Z Fighters. As a derivation of the Turtle School it contains all that you would expect, along with a focus on flurry strikes and esoteric ki techniques that overwhelm the opponent's ability to keep up -- very much the school of death by a thousand cuts. Involved techniques: Hand-to-Hand [Dueling], Spirit Ball, Kamehameha, Flight, Wolf Fang Fist. Penalized Techniques: Ki Sense, Ki Projection (all save involved techniques).

Tenshinhan Style: This form is rarely-practiced, but deceptive for all that. Tenshinhan's form is refined and balanced, offering few concrete advantages, but unlocking the potential to pour the user's life force into an attack. Practitioners have no stylistic weaknesses, and gain a risky but powerful last resort option, in addition to a variety of strange techniques. Involved techniques: Solar Flare, Multi-Form, Four Witches Technique, Kikoho, Dodonpa, Shin Kikoho, Flight.

Gohan Style: A blend of the Demon and Goku Styles, this form is more heavily geared towards hand-to-hand than the Piccolo Style and loses on some of its versatility and most of its precision, but lacks the near-total weakness of the Goku Style outside of zero range. In addition, it is less useless on the defensive than the Goku Style in exchange for tending to be less effective on the attack, and is in fact capable of, when necessary, dodging. That said, it retains a preference for the offensive in a fight. This is an excellent form for fighters with a hand-to-hand focus who don't wish to risk the notorious overspecialization of the Goku Style. Involved techniques: Kamehameha, Masenko, Hand-to-Hand [Dueling]. Penalized techniques: Hand-to-Hand [Team Fighting], all Ki Projection talents that involve the dense concentration of power.

Satan Style: NO. Involved techniques: Losing. Penalized techniques: Self-awareness.

Freeza Style: Overwhelmingly offensive and lethal combat style. This style favors single-target techniques, grappling, and hand-to-hand combat, but has provisions for larger blasts. Freeza stylists suffer (arguably) from one unique flaw -- unlike other martial artists, Freeza stylists must continue to make checks against accidental lethal damage when using a combat skill that has been improved to "Competent" or above if trying to do so non-lethally. Freeza stylists are outright disallowed from attempting to inflict non-lethal damage with skills that are at "Unlearned" or worse. However, using techniques with lethal intent nets a moderate bonus to all checks. Freeza stylists who reveal their study of the style instantly gain the reputation, "Legacy of Freeza," lending crushing penalties to interactions within Exile Society and disabling all positive reputations while among Garenhuld saiyans for a year following the revelation of the stylist's focus. At the end of the year, depending on the stylist's actions, they may or may not get their positive reputations back. Involved techniques: Death Ball, Death Saucer, Death Wave, Death Cannon, Death Beam (signature), Hand-to-Hand (Dueling). Penalized techniques: Ki Control (extreme), Ki Sense, Hand-to-Hand (Team Fighting)

PoptartProdigy · Aug 7, 2016

Character Generation

As Saiyan nobility, you've had a lot of training throughout your brief life. Not too much, though. You're only eight.

As Kakara Goku, that has resulted in a certain advantage in some areas. You are exceptional by Saiyan standards, no matter your distaste for fighting. The only question is just how that has manifested. Please vote for the following in plan format to keep things simple. No write-ins unless otherwise noted; the choices are as they are for a reason.

Kakara is not the most devoted fighter. As a result, she has not hit the cap on a normal Saiyan's base strength, and has a power level of 12 million. In addition, she has not picked up the most extensive array of combat skills.

You start with basic competence in hand-to-hand combat and the ability to project basic ki blasts. Your overall genius with ki manipulation translates somewhat into a gift for blasts, making them come to you easiest of any kind of fighting. You begin the game knowing how to use the Kamehameha Wave and the Solar Flare technique. Additionally, you may pick two of any of the following techniques to have learned over your life:

[ ] Kienzan (Destructo Disk) - A disk of ki that can cut through foes of vastly greater strength, at the cost of accuracy.
[ ] Improve Hand-to-Hand - the meat of any fight, you've taken the effort to improve your skill here past mere competence.
[ ] Kikoho (Tri-Beam) - Burn your life force to hammer your foe with blasts of intense strength.
[ ] Kiai - Move quickly enough to hammer your foe with the shockwave of your movements, tossing them back.
[ ] Makankosappo (Special Beam Cannon) - Focus your ki to a needle-point, piercing through the defenses of even vastly stronger foes.
[ ] Kaio-Ken - Drive your ki to incredible heights, surpassing your normal limits. USES UP BOTH CHOICES.
[ ] Instant Transmission - Using somebody's ki to guide you, instantly traverse the distance between two points. USES UP BOTH CHOICES.

While you are highly talented in all uses of ki, there is one area in particular that you shine in. Choose one of the following:

[ ] Flight
[ ] Ki sense
[ ] Controlling your power level

Have you taken the initiative to be tested for aptitude as a Sorcerer or that rarest of talents, a Seer?

[ ] Yes (reveals hidden aptitudes. 5% for Sorcerer, 1% for Seer. I've already made those rolls; this just reveals the results)
[ ] No, I've focused on other things (+1 choice in one other category)

Beyond that you possess certain other skills that one picks up over the course of their life. Or, you know, one or two. Choose two of the following skills to begin play with greater talent in:

[ ] Communication - the art of persuading, empathizing, and conversation.
[ ] Deceit - the art of lying and subterfuge.
[ ] Medicine - treating injuries and illnesses.
[ ] Tinkering - fixing, upgrading, and building machines.
[ ] Write-In

But beyond all of this, who are you, Scion? Beyond a gentle soul, what makes you tick? Choose one of the following traits:

[ ] Inquisitive - you have a strong desire to learn about the world around you.
[ ] Stubborn - authority, strength, common sense -- there's not much that will keep you from following your own course.
[ ] Humble - you don't reach for glory or reputation.
[ ] Driven - some people think your distaste for fighting makes you weak. Those people are idiots.

Remember, vote by plan. We're moving into story posts after this one, so be ready. Enjoy!

PoptartProdigy · Aug 9, 2016

[x]Plan Teleport
[ ] Improve Hand-to-Hand - the meat of any fight, you've taken the effort to improve your skill here past mere competence.
[ ] Instant Transmission - Using somebody's ki to guide you, instantly traverse the distance between two points.
[] Ki sense
[] No, I've focused on other things (+1 choice in one other category)
[] Communication - the art of persuading, empathizing, and conversation.
[] Medicine - treating injuries and illnesses.
[] Driven - some people think your distaste for fighting makes you weak. Those people are idiots.

Welcome to the Training Hall

The Training Hall. For centuries, the center of Saiyan civilization.

Centuries ago, the first Sorcerers banded together in the hopes of creating a single place for the refugees of Earth -- a place to be safe. A place where the survivors could socialize and, yes, train. A place wrapped in mysterious energies to hide the ki of those within from the outside world.

Strictly speaking, the name is misleading. The Hall is open-air -- a colossal cave without a ceiling. It is ringed by smaller training rooms and even apartments, for those who simply don't want to bother with the hassle of the Masquerade. But it is shrouded in charms to keep it hidden from those who don't belong. It's as secure as a cavern a mile underground.

And it is, by necessity, the place where Scions go to transform.

For fear of being sensed, nobody is allowed to walk around the outside world at full power. What few scouters survived the fall of Earth found an unexpected new relevance in determining who couldn't be allowed to go outside the Hall without their power-dampening Masque on. But within the Hall, your people can unleash their full strength.

So it is rather surprising that, when your father, mother, and you enter the Hall, it is near silent.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

Really, positively tranquil.

"-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

In fact, it's almost like nobody is here at all.

"-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

BANG.

You brush the rubble cast about by the boy across the way powering up off of your gi. Truly, a peaceful evening.

A muscle-bound colossus of a man drifts through the air towards your family. Your father rises into the air to meet him.

"Vegeta," says your father.

"Berra," says the apparent Lord Vegeta. "You're late."

An explosion rocks the hall as the boy across the way launches into a training routine that seems to involve mass devastation of his surroundings. Nobody even glances over.

"I doubt you care, Vegeta, but it's my daughter's birthday today," says your father. "She had her party earlier."

Vegeta -- Lord Vegeta, you remind yourself -- grunts. "Waste of time, if you ask me. It would be better if you let her train more."

"I let her train as often as she pleases," says Dad. He looks back at Mom. "Kala, could you get yourself and Kakara settled in?"

She nods. "Already on it. Come on, Kakara." She starts leading you off to the edge of the Hall, where the apartments are. You look across the Hall to where the boy is still training.

"Mom, is that the other Scion?" you ask, watching as he pulverizes a boulder.

"Yes, Kakara," says Mom. "Scion Jaffur. You and he will probably train together at some point."

"I don't know..."

You've always had a good sense for ki. Actually, scratch that. You're a recognized prodigy. You can sense a bug on a tree branch a mile away, which is both useful and...ew. You've learned about sensing the ki of others until you can measure even your father down to the unit.

And it's telling you that Jaffur is sitting pretty at 15 million units. He has literally trained until he can train no more.

"I don't think I'd get anything out of a spar with him," you say, quite aware of your own current limit of 12 million.

"Don't sell yourself short, Kakara," she replies, shaking her head. "I'm sure you'd do fine."

You decide to keep any remaining doubts to yourself.

The two of you approach the apartments that Clan Goku owns, and a Saiyan standing at the door your heading to nods to your mother. "Kala. Pleasure to see you again." Then he looks at you, and his tone cools noticeably. "Scion."

"How are you, Parsna?" asks Mom, apparently not noticing his slight towards you.

"I'm good." He looks at you again. You decide that you don't like him.

"Mom, can I go flying?" you ask, really wanting to not be anywhere near Parsna anymore.

"Sure, Kakara," she says. "Just be back by sundown, okay? You'll need to be rested for tomorrow."

You nod and lift off, heading for the upper reaches of the Hall.

And, promptly, you jerk to a halt as a small but stupidly dense beam of golden light zips by an inch from your nose. You follow it back to the source.

Jaffur stands, wreathed in his aura, and lowers his arm. "Scion," he says, face blank.

[ ] Fire back
[ ] Don't fire back

* * *

And we're into it. This bit and the next few updates will be both intro and continued chargen. We'll set up the circumstances of the quest and introduce the conflicts, and you'll also gain traits and skills at an accelerated rate in comparison to the rest of the quest. Basically, how you play the next few updates determines who Kakara has, up to this point in her life, been like as a person beyond the base motivations you set up in the character generation post. Stuff like if she has a temper, for instance, or how paranoid she is. The one you picked, however (driven), will be rather more foundational to her sense of self.

I'll start filling out the rules and character sheet bit-by-bit over the next few posts, but you still don't have to worry about them too much just yet (or at all, if they don't interest you).

PoptartProdigy · Aug 10, 2016

Pleased To Meet You, Jackass

You scowl at Jaffur, folding your arms. "Nice to meet you, jerk," you say.

He raises his eyebrows. "That's it?"

"Hey, waste your energy for all I care," you reply. "I'll save mine for important things."

"Like flying into the sunset?" he asks, a slight smirk appearing. "Literally, it's sunset. Where are you even going?"

You flush a bit. "I'm just flying! Don't you ever?"

He snorts. "No. I do important things." He shifts his foot back into a more stable stance. "Care for a spar, Scion? We're going to be rulers someday, might as well see what we've got."

"No."

"What's the matter?" he asks. "You're not scared of me, are you?" He powers up as if taunting you.

To be frank, you are a little bit. You could fit a whole quarter of your power level into the gap between the two of you. He could vaporize you without terribly much effort. You know a fair amount about fighting -- enough that you can tell from his stance that he's at least as good as you. You would be stupid to not be afraid of him.

His confident, thin smirk fades into a scowl. "Come on," he says, suddenly growling. "Fight me, Scion." There's a strange gleam in his eyes. "Fight me."

You find yourself considering it. Your Dad's right here after all. He'd stop the fight before anything happened. And you did consider it at first, however briefly...

"BOY!"

You both flinch as Lord Vegeta's voice echoes across the Training Hall, and look over to see him scowling at his son.

"Did I tell you to stop?!" shouts the giant. "Get back to work this instant!"

Jaffur's lip curls slightly, and he gives an irritated sigh. "Fine."

"What was that?"

"Yes, Father!"

"Better!"

Jaffur turns to you with a bitter smirk on his face. "Next time, Scion. Good luck." He powers up to maximum. "You'll need it."

After that, you honestly don't feel much like flying. You fly back to your family's apartments, ignoring Parsna, and settle into bed.

Trait gained: Level-headed!

* * *

Over the next week, you learn many things.

First, failure stings. You really don't like it. Really much.

Second, it seems that even Dad's patience has a limit, and you're rapidly approaching it.

Third, Lord Vegeta is a sadistic monster.

You are powering up, trying to snap past the barrier keeping you from going any higher in apparent futility. "Haaaagh! Aaargh! AAAAAGH!"

Despite your best efforts, your screams seem more pained than energetic, and the barrier remains in place. You just...can't...

"AAAAAAaarrgh..." You slump, panting in exhaustion.

Dad sighs, pinching his nose. "This isn't working. We'll try tomorrow."

You grit your teeth and straighten. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAA..."

He closes his eyes. "Kakara..."

BANG.

You flinch as Jaffur slams into the ground half an inch from your feet at Mach 20. He lies there, unmoving, his right arm clearly broken.

You look up and see his father, staring you down with a blank expression on his face.

"Vegeta..." says your Dad, angrier than you've ever heard him.

"The boy lacks motivation, Berra," replies Vegeta, drifting closer and not taking his eyes off of you. "Your methods are soft and useless. There is only one way to access the transformation." There is a glint in his eyes. "I'm just trying to bring it out. As often as I need to. Without a stop. Until he snaps."

You scowl back, not caring about your exhaustion anymore. You hate him. You hate him so much, it's no wonder Jaffur is such a jerk. It makes you so angry-

"VEGETA!"

You blink and look over at your Dad. He has transformed and powered up to full power, a look of rage on his face.

"What?" asks Vegeta, not bothered. "It nearly worked. In a minute's conversation, I accomplished what a week of your time-wasting has failed to achieve." He looks down at Jaffur. "Feel that, boy? This weakling girl nearly succeeded where you, my son, have so consistently failed. What a disappointment."

Jaffur struggles to his hand and knees, breath ragged. His aura winks in and out with the growls escaping his clenched teeth.

"Not good enough," says Vegeta, turning away. "You remain nothing but a failure."

Jaffur goes tense. "Haaaaa...hraaaaaa...HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!" And his power level is at five million, six, seven, eightninetentwentythirtyfifty-

With a strangled gasp, he collapses, sobbing as his aura winks out again.

Vegeta, having paused for a moment, turns away again. "Hmph."

A boy, one of the Vegetans, flies over and fumbles at his belt, pulling out a small bean.

"Leave him, Betarel!" calls Vegeta.

The boy, Betarel, looks up in shock. "B- but Uncle Vegeta-!"

"I said leave him! Heal him in the morning when he needs to train. For now, he stays as he is." Lord Vegeta flies away. His wife collects their son a moment later and flies off, rubbing little circles on his back and whispering soothing words against the helpless tears falling from his face.

"That despicable monster," snarls Mom.

"I know, Kala," says Dad. "There's nothing we can do, though." He looks at you. "Kakara, we're done for the day. We'll go inside."

You're about to reply, but then you hear somebody next to you saying, "Um, hi."

You turn and see the little boy, Betarel. At a guess, he's a year younger than you. "I'm Betarel," he says, rubbing the back of his head. He straightens, seemingly remembering his protocol. "Ah, Betarel Senzu, heir to House Senzu! An honor to meet you, Scion Goku." He puts his hands together and gives you a proper bow.

House Senzu. You aren't the biggest scholar of Saiyan history, but you know about them. One of the first branch Houses of Clan Vegeta, they're also the most significant, thanks to their ownership and careful guardianship of the only Senzu Bean farm left in creation. In addition, their latest generation hosts a fully-trained Sorcerer. Those in addition to their tendency to cross Clan lines when necessary has made them one of the most significant families in the Clans. "Rich as a Senzu" is a popular saying.

Betarel straightens. "So, uh...want a Senzu?" He holds out his hand, with one of the precious beans resting atop it. "I mean, you've been working hard." His tail lashes nervously.

* * *

[ ] Take the bean. You don't need it, but those things are more valuable per pound than gold, and he's just giving one to you. A bean that'll cure all of your injuries is always good. Plus they're like ten days worth of food in one bite! For humans, anyway. You'd get maybe three.
[ ] Don't take the bean. You don't need it. It wouldn't be fair, given how valuable these are.

Afterwards...

[ ] Politely say your goodbyes.
[ ] Invite him back to your family's apartments for dinner. It's only polite, given the magnitude of his gift.
[ ] Tell him to get lost.
[ ] Chat a while.

* * *

Trait Gained!

Level-Headed: You are a calm girl, at heart. You don't react to provocation easily, and keep your head when somebody is doing their level best to set you off. Gain a small bonus to all calm or patient actions.

Portraits

That's as close as Xenoverse could get to depicting his current age. Pshaw. Come now, Xenoverse, this is Dragon Ball. Where are my child soldiers?

Estimate his age down a few years. He should be at phantom!Goku's waist at this point.

PoptartProdigy · Aug 11, 2016

Kakara Makes A Friend

Staring down at the bean, you are enveloped by indecision.

Your first thought is to take it -- obviously. It's a Senzu Bean that he's just giving to you, why would you not?

Then your mind turns to Jaffur, only just disappearing into House Vegeta's apartments, and you wonder whether you shouldn't give it to him instead, somehow. He's in a bad way -- in fact, if you think about it, he's ended just about every day like this.

You shudder to think what Lord Vegeta's preferred training methods would look like.

That said, if you can tell anything about Jaffur, it's that he has a lot of pride. He nearly transformed today just having it pointed out that you nearly got there ahead of him, and you can still remember how creepily intense he got about trying to spar with you. He'd probably yell at you if you just gave it to him. Maybe you could spar with him over it? Maybe you could give him half and then spar for the other half? Of course, you'd probably need it after pulling that...maybe Instant Transmission would help? Maybe you could slip it to him with that! Or maybe he'd beat you anyway...and maybe all of this would be pointless and Lord Vegeta would put the injuries right back after you both were done.

In the end you shake your head and reach out, taking the bean. You're not sure what to do, but you at least know that you can get a Senzu bean out of this. Maybe you'll hand it over later.

Temporary Trait: Troubled. Extremely close voting and heated debate means Kakara is strongly in favor of giving Jaffur a bean somehow, but isn't sure how. Future choices regarding this will be weighted. Trait to be removed upon resolution. (Giving him a bean somehow was actually the majority vote, you just couldn't agree on how)

"Thank you!" you say, smiling.

"Sure!" he says, grinning back. "I mean, your Dad seems nicer than Uncle Vegeta, so I guess it won't be important for you, but I thought it would be handy."

"I think so," you say. "Um...that's pretty generous of you, really. Wanna stay for dinner? We've got plenty of food."

Both of your stomachs rumble at the mention of eating, and he perks up. "Really? Yeah I would-" He catches himself in the middle of that and does another bow. "I mean, yes, Scion Goku. Thank you for your generosity."

"Hey, relax," you say, smiling. "We don't do that stuff in Clan Goku. C'mon, let me ask my Dad!" You zip through the air towards your Dad, excitement welling up inside you. You don't interact with kids your age. They all hate you. This is really new, and really nice. "Dad!" you say, zipping around him. "Dad? Dad? Dad? Dad? Dad? Da-?"

He sighs, reaches out, and snags you out of the air. "Yes, Kakara?" he asks, holding you at arms length by the back of your gi. "What is it?"

"Can Betarel stay for dinner?" you ask. "He gave me a Senzu, and I figured it would be nice to have him over."

"Betarel...Senzu, is it?" asks Dad, looking over at your friend.

You follow his gaze and blink, seeing a man that must be Betarel's dad standing there as well. "Yes," he says, a hand on his son's shoulder. "A pleasure, Lord Goku." He inclines his head.

"Head Raditz," says your Dad, returning the nod. "Very generous of your son, to give away a Senzu bean."

"Betarel is kind," says Raditz. "I expect this from him, and allow it. He may stay, if he's welcome."

Your Dad thinks a moment before nodding. "He may." He releases you, and you and Betarel both cheer and race inside, settling into the time-honored tradition of trying to steal some food as your Mom makes it.

* * *

You learn a few things over the next few hours. First, Betarel is a year younger than you. You were right! Second, he's probably the most Saiyan child you've ever met. If he were from House Vegeta he'd probably be Scion. His hair doesn't even grow! Plus it looks sharp enough to hurt somebody.

Third, he eats like a Saiyan.

"This is delicious!" he says, interrupting the usual hungry silence of a Saiyan dinner table at the top of his lungs.

"I'm glad you like it," says Mom, a tart note in her voice. "Seeing as you stole half of it before it was done."

"We were hungry!" you say, giggling.

* * *

Forth, he's actually really strong. Nine million units, you'd guess. Well, if you had to guess it would be because Dad was quizzing you or showing you off again, so you'd guess nine million, one hundred and two thousand, four hundred eighty-nine.

"Can't catch me!" you say, sing-song as you zip through the air.

"Only 'cause you're stronger!" he says, chasing after you in a streak of blue.

In response, you flip upside down and stick your tongue out at him.

He narrows his eyes, and then screws his face up and strains, putting on a burst of speed well beyond what he should be capable of. Your eyes widen as he comes on like a freight train, and you place two fingers on your forehead.

vip

"Hey!" He whips around, scowling at you. "No fair!"

You giggle, grinning. "Ha ha! Too slow!"

He growls and shoots back off after you.

Fifth and finally...you like him. He's a friend.

And that is a very new and strange thing to you.

* * *

The two of you sit on the edge of the pit that comprises the Training Hall -- just barely within the concealment charms warding it from the outside world.

"Is Lord Vegeta really your Uncle?" you ask, feet swinging. "I know my Dad calls anybody in the Clan 'cousin.'"

"He is," says Betarel. "My Dad was friends with Lord Vegeta when they were kids, and my Mom is his sister."

You hum. "Why is he like that? Lord Vegeta, I mean."

He shrugs. "I dunno. Dad says he wasn't always like that, and I sort of remember that. I don't know what changed. Jaffur's never really been the same since it started to get different."

You look over at House Vegeta's apartments, with your eyes and your ki sense. Jaffur's over there, but his power level is low. He's either hurt or napping -- maybe both. You don't see him moving around at all, though. "I guess I'd be different, too," you say.

He shrugs, curling up on himself. "I guess."

"Betarel!"

You both look down as Raditz's voice echoes up to you.

"Come on down," he says. "It's near bedtime."

"You too, Kakara," says your Father, standing a little way away from the Senzu Head.

The two of you look at each other and groan. "Fine!" you say in unison before pushing off the edge of the pit and catching yourselves on ki. You both drift down in silence and go to your Dads.

"See you tomorrow, Betarel!" you say, waving.

"Bye!" he says, waving back.

Dad's hand settles onto your back, between your shoulder blades. "Let's get you to bed, kiddo."

"Daaaaaad..."

"C'mon. It'll be a hard day tomorrow."

You sigh. "Yeah, just like all the others."

He rolls his eyes, giving you a little shove to get you moving. "On you go, little brat." His tone takes any sting out of his words. "Tomorrow is a big day. The day you transform."

"You say that every night!"

"It'll be true one of these times."

"Dad!"

* * *

That night, you toss and turn in bed. The reason is, to anybody in the Hall, obvious.

Jaffur is training.

That alone isn't, strictly speaking, unusual. He's been doing this every night, staying up and working himself to the limit in an effort to push himself past it. You've actually gotten used to it.

But this time is different, because he's never been hurt this bad, and he still hasn't been healed. He's out there, pushing himself as hard as he can, with one broken arm and a power level that's just barely flickering on the edge of five million. It feels like he's dying out there. You feel kind of sick just feeling it. You can your parents arguing with each other in muffled voices about it. You can hear the hushed whispers from everywhere within the Training Hall as the Scion of House Vegeta nearly kills himself training.

Slowly, those whispers begin to die off as people accept that there's nothing they can do, and go to sleep. Eventually, nobody is awake.

Except you, and Jaffur.

* * *

What do you do?

[ ] Go out and investigate
[ ] Go out and watch
[ ] Go back to sleep

Item Acquired!

Senzu Bean: The most valuable item a Saiyan can own, just one of these beans heals all injuries and restores one's energy to full power.

Trait Acquired!

Socializer: You don't have friends, but you like people, and it's hurt you deeply to be able to talk to so few of them. But when you get the chance, you tend to seek out others. Gain a slight bonus to all Communication checks.

PoptartProdigy · Aug 12, 2016

My, You're Popular

Okay, that's enough sitting around, he is going to die doing this. You haul yourself out of bed after a final check to make sure that nobody is listening in and throw open the doors to your bedroom's balcony. You step out and then promptly lift off, flying over to where Jaffur is training.

"What are you doing?" you ask, touching down behind him.

He halts, takes a second to wipe sweat off of his face, and turns to face you.

You flinch. He looks awful. Pale and flushed all at once, and breathing so heavily you're amazed he hasn't passed out. His right arm hangs with a horrible kind of limpness, and occasionally he is wracked by a full-body shudder.

"Training," he rasps, coughing.

"Why?" you ask, still horrified. "Your strength is at 15 million units exactly. Like, not even one off either way! There is absolutely nothing you could get out of this!"

"Can always be...better." He sways slightly, his gaze somewhat unfocused. "S...skill."

"I don't think you're going to get any of that out of this," you say, looking his over.

"Have to try."

You frown. "No you don't! You look like you're gonna die!"

"Have to try. Have to. I'm...I'm not weak." His gaze goes unfocused fully for a moment there. "M'not."

"I didn't say you were, but you're going to kill yourself going like this!"

"Can't have a Senzu. Father says."

"I...didn't say anything about a Senzu." Yet.

"Then what?" His gaze regains a bit of focus. "You going to put a band-aid on it, Scion?"

"Oh good, you're being a jerk again. Means you're back, I guess."

He spits off to the side. "Hm. Not like I'm in great shape."

You sigh. "You should go to sleep."

"Sleep doesn't do anyone any good." He straightens, as much as he's able. "Better to keep pushing." A ghost of a smirk crosses his face. "How about a spar, Scion?"

You throw up your hands. "You are so stupid!"

"Nah. I'm very smart. I just don't back down."

Well, he seems to be getting better the more we talk.

You frown. "Yeah, well neither do I. And I'm telling you that you need to go to sleep!"

His lip curls. "You don't back down? What, you think I haven't heard the stories? 'Kakara Goku, the Coward Scion.' 'Kakara Goku the Weak.' Weak Scion for a weak House. You don't back down? What a joke!"

You come to a screeching halt, eyes widening.

* * *

Vote weighting in effect from "Troubled."

[ ] Turn and leave. He's not worth your time.
[ ] "You know what? Fine." Fight Jaffur. It's what he wants.
-[ ] x2.0 Give him the Senzu bean first. "I wish to challenge your TRUE power, not this broken wreck." (Easier Communications check. You've been asking for it...

)
-[ ] x1.5 Give him a hit of your energy first. You're no healer, but anybody can do that. (Easier Communications check)
[ ] x2.0 Just chuck the Senzu bean at him.
[ ] x1.5 Try to give him a dose of ki healing -- what little you're capable of, at least. (Communications to convince him to allow it)
[ ] Ignore him. He's trying to provoke you. You're curious about something.
-[ ] What about? (All topics trip Communications)
[ ] FUCK THIS GUY. Blow him up. Leave. (Non-fatal, don't worry)
[ ] Insult him and leave.
-[ ] Write-In? (My wife suggests saying, "At least my Dad doesn't abuse me." Terrifying little woman, she is)
[ ] Write-In.

You may pick as many of the above as you like, provided they don't conflict.

PoptartProdigy · Aug 14, 2016

Capacity Does Not Imply Intent

You take a short, sharp, breath through your nostrils. Then you smile. It is not a nice smile.

"You know what? Fine." You pluck out the Senzu bean and whip it at his face. You take a certain glee in seeing it bounce off before he can react. "But eat that, first." No, he'd never do that just because you said so. What would provoke a Vegetan? Oh, there you go. "I wish to challenge your TRUE power. Not this...broken wreck."

[Trait Gained! "Hot-Blooded"]

In the middle of stooping to pick up the bean, his eyes flash and he stiffens, glaring at you. You've made an impression.

"I am not BROKEN!" he shouts, straightening.

"You're not fixed, that's for sure!" you reply.

He snarls at you.

[Communication check tripped...narrow failure]

"Are you trying to make me broken?" he asks, waving the bean at you. "My father will cripple me if I take this, and leave me that way. I'll be even worse than I am right now, maybe for weeks!"

You pale. "W-what? But he wouldn't-"

"Kill me?" Jaffur spits. "No. Not even he could get away with that. Uncle Raditz would stage a coup. But Senzu beans can cure...a lot..." His gaze loses focus for a moment before he shakes himself and scowls at you. "You have no idea what you're making me risk, giving this to me!"

"I'm trying to heal you!"

"Some help! I-" He bites himself off, taking a break. "I..." He shakes his head. "It's too much. You'd need to break my arm and beat me to a pulp all over again." That said, he slips the bean inside his gi.

You shudder away from the thought. No. "At least let me heal you first," you say, trying to get him to see reason. "It won't be a fight if you're still hurt."

He cocks his head. "I hadn't heard that you were a healer."

"I'm not." You hesitate and shrug. "I mean, I don't know if I am. I never tried."

He grunts. "Figures. Father never had me tested, either."

[Communications check tripped...failure (damn, those rolls)]

He sighs, shaking his head. "No."

"What do you-"

"I mean no. Don't heal me, I'll fight you as I am."

"You don't stand a chance," you say, confidence, worry, and pity all surging within you at once.

"Hmph." He smirks, straightening. "Just...just give me a minute." He closes his eyes and slides down to the ground, entering the lotus position with the ease of one who's performed it countless times. His aura lights up around him.

You start powering up yourself, only going as far as you can easily reach. About eight million sounds good.

His eyes open. His power level is holding steady at five million, and his expression is unnaturally calm. "Only around eight?" he asks, his voice slightly dreamy. "You're not taking me seriously." His head dips and his expression takes on a distinctly...predatory...cast. "Don't."

His aura shifts, wrapping closer around his body -- less him standing in a blue bonfire, and more him wreathed in shining sapphire flames. You have never seen this before. You don't recall any stories of anybody having ever seen something like this before.

He vanishes from view, leaving only an afterimage behind.

What?

WHAM

With a blinding impact, you are flying backward. You regain yourself and look back at the spot you were standing a moment ago.

Jaffur phases into view right next to you.

What?!

WHAM

You smash into the ground, avoiding injury only by virtue of your ki.

"My gift is speed," he says, phasing back into view above you as you drag yourself out of the crater. "I move way faster than I should. I can play in your league, Scion, no matter how hurt I am."

"What are you doing with your aura?" you ask, gaping.

"Me? Nothing." He phases out of view again. You press your fingers to your forehead and-

vip

-reappear at the very edge of the arena.

Jaffur slams into the ground where you were standing below, and looks around for you for a moment before sighting in on you. "There you are," he says. You can only read his lips before he's tearing off again at breakneck pace.

At this distance, you can see him coming fairly clearly. He's fast, but you're not at full power yet. With a flex of your muscles, you bring yourself up to ten million and set yourself up to receive him.

With another burst of stupid speed, he twists around your strike and launches a kick at your head which you barely block.

"Ten million!" he says, withdrawing and lunging forward to grapple with you. "Better!"

You and he strain against each other, and you marvel at the sheer, manic strength he's exerting. "H- how...?"

He draws back. "You're still not taking me seriously!" He lunges forward, levering his forehead into yours.

You drift back from the hit and use Instant Transmission on instinct, moving to the other side of the arena.

Once you gain your bearings again, you see him homing in once again. You frown. If he insists on being like this, you have no choice but to take him seriously -- no matter how ridiculous it is that he's not down yet. If you were fighting for keeps this fight would be done, but you're curious about how he's moving so far beyond his abilities. You'll figure it out later, though.

You place your hands by your head as fast as you can. From his perspective, it must look like you blurred.

And you call out, "Taiyoken!"

LIGHT

Jaffur comes jarring to a halt with an aggravated scream, clutching at his blinded eyes. You take the opportunity to bring yourself up to your full power.

"Solar Flare," he grunts, trying to rub his vision back into place. "Oh, you little..."

And we're done.

You fly towards him and kick him away from you. Then you chase him down, hammering your feet down into his midsection before phasing down below him and blasting him to a dead halt. Then you use Instant Transmission to close with him and grab one of his wrists, holding him aloft, his eyes fluttering shut.

"Little what?!" you yell, shaking him. "Little what, you stubborn idiot?! Am I weak now? Huh?!"

"Ch...Cha..."

You bring him closer. "Hm? I didn't hear that."

"Cha...Char..."

"Louder, stupid!"

His eyes snap open, and you feel his hand against your belly. "Charon's Breath!"

SHREEEEEE!

A bright silver beam of energy, only as wide across as his palm, blasts into your stomach and carries you away from him.

"Oof-!"

You push yourself off with some difficulty. It didn't hurt, just winded you, but that said...

"...that was ten million units," you say, staring at him. "How did you do that? You're only at five."

He grins, bloody. "Heh." He falls into a stance, still shaky. "Taking me seriously yet?"

You take your own stance after a moment. "...yeah."

His grin widens. "Then you'd better power all the way up now, because I'm about to cut loose."

And you suddenly get it. He thinks you're at his level. Presumably he hasn't been keeping track of you like you have been him, or maybe he just assumes that you've been holding back and that's why he has such a negative opinion of you.

Or he's just a jerk. That could be it.

His expression sets, and he charges.

He kicks, you dodge, you punch, he blocks, and in the ensuing exchange of blows, one thing becomes clear.

Jaffur is not as good as you.

He is better.

You are faster, stronger, and more perceptive by him by more than double, and fighting him is honestly like fighting a very persistent child. But he moves with an economy and ease of motion that astounds you, every twitch of his body utilized to its fullest extent despite what must be a truly crushing amount of exhaustion and pain from his day. You have no idea where he found the time or inclination to train like this, but he is perhaps the most highly-trained Saiyan you have ever met -- easily in even your Dad's league.

[Jaffur's Combat [Hand-to-Hand] skill level revealed -- Exceptional]

Yet even with all of this ease and efficiency, he is tired, pained, and increasingly angry. There's nothing he can do to meaningfully hurt you at this level of difference between you two, not even with all his skill. Your heart isn't in this.

"Still only twelve," he gasps, scowling. "Take me seriously. Take me seriously. TAKE ME SERIOUSLY!"

"I am," you say, blocking a powerful hit.

"Don't...you...dare." He disengages and stands back. "I will not be teased like this! I am the Scion of Vegeta! I am a Prince! Fight me like your life is on it! I won't accept anything less than your best!"

"I'm giving you my best!" you say.

His eyes narrow. "Liar! KAIO-KEN!"

His aura flares red, and he vanishes, reappearing to slam into your back.

Okay. Okay. Eight million, now. You can still handle that. You can-

"RAAAAAAAAH!"

WHAM

You fly back up towards the sky until you bounce off the wards, all the breath leaving your body at once. You fall for a half second before he catches up with you and slams you back into the invisible ceiling.

Frantically, you release all your ki in an area burst, clearing the skies and sending him tumbling back. At least that works right. He didn't become immune to the laws of being hit by somebody stronger.

"You know that too?" you say, recovering.

"I spend every day and night fighting," he says, catching himself and gasping in pain. "I have trained every day of my life. Of course I know something as useful as this." He zip forward, and you barely block his strike.

He's hitting a lot harder now. It's not threatening yet, but his aura isn't even flickering, and it looks like despite everything, he can keep this up as long as he needs to. You put your fingers to your forehead and flash away.

Well. If he can do endurance, you'll just have to fight like he can. You need to take him down all at once. At the other end of the arena you gather your strength, aura flaring bright blue even as he turns around to face you.

"Ka...Me..."

His sudden grin in reply is bloody and absolutely crazed. He clasps his hands together in front of his chest.

You keep on. "Ha...Me..."

He brings his hands forward, palms towards you. The tips of his thumbs touch while his fingers interlock, forming a basket with his hands.

You bring your hands forward, channeling your ki down your arms. "HA!"

His aura flares, and he cries, "Apocalypse Beam!"

His silver beam, only as broad as his hands are wide together, meets your blue wave straight on and punches straight through. Your eyes widen, and-

[Skill check tripped: DODGE!]

-you lunge out of the way relatively easily, the beam continuing on like a laser to carve a gash out of the wall behind you.

You stare at him, wild-eyed. "How?! How did you do that! That blast hit twenty million, how is that even possible without you transforming! Why do you not make sense?!"

He snarls back, his good mood apparently gone. "Me? What about you? You're still at twelve million!"

[Willpower push activated: passed]

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Energy rolls out of him in a wave, buffeting you even as far back as you are. In a heartbeat, he's in your face, and he slams you down into the ground.

"I won't be mocked," he says, every word thrumming with power. "I won't let you win like this! Give me everything you have, Scion, or I'll tear you apart!"

You stare at him, wide-eyed. He's at twelve million, just like you. The fight is now, however briefly, even.

I rolled this fight out with my wife, who handled Kakara's rolls. Here are a few (paraphrased for humor) samples of our conversation.

* * *

WIFE: Why are you even bothering with these?

ME: If I just decided that you win, it would be stupid and I would have come up with these rules for no reason.

WIFE: Fine, whatever, let's just get this done. Pointless, though.

(LATER)

WIFE: Well, I'll give him this much, he's doing pretty okay.

ME (FROWNING): Yes. Because you crit-failed the first exchange and he got a ninety-four.

(LATER)

WIFE: How is he still going? Isn't he beaten half to death? Still wanna kill his Dad for that, by the way.

ME (FRANTIC): Why do you think I'm rolling the dice before we start every single round? He's having to make willpower checks to not collapse every round! And he's passing them!

(LATER)

WIFE: Oh what the fuck.

ME: HE WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE ABLE TO USE THE KAIO-KEN WITHOUT PASSING OUT. HE ROLLED A NAT-100 FOR THAT.

WIFE: What the fuck?

(LATER)

WIFE: I DON'T CARE WHAT BULLSHIT HE HAS. KA-ME-HA-ME-HA!

ME: Well, he has a reply to that, so he'll at least try to fire back. (roll) Still doesn't pass out from sheer exhaustion. Do I need to give him a trait to reflect this? I don't think "Stubborn" works here. (roll) Okay, he still controls the Kaio-Ken. Somehow. Whatever. (roll) And he keeps up his Style effect. Fantastic. (roll)

WIFE: ...

ME: ...

BOTH: WHAT THE FUCK?!

(LATER)

WIFE: HE DOESN'T NEED A DAMN WILLPOWER PUSH! HE'S DOING JUST FINE ALREADY!

ME: IT'S WHAT HE WOULD DO IN-CHARACTER, I HAVE TO TRY.

WIFE: If you roll those dice, you are sleeping on the couch.

ME: NO.

WIFE: So help me-

ME: NO. NO, THIS FIGHT IS APPARENTLY A STRESS-TEST OF HOW BADLY DICE CAN FUCK OVER THE SYSTEM NOW. WE'RE SEEING IT THROUGH.

WIFE: Why do you get like this?

ME: (roll)

WIFE: Oh my god.

ME: WHAT THE FUCK?!

* * *

As you can see, things got slightly out of hand. I felt like Jaffur was ranting at me when I wrote out his speech at the end of the update. I felt that it was only responsible to check in with you all at this point. Before now, despite being complete and utter bullshit, Jaffur hasn't actually inflicted meaningful damage on you. The Apocalypse Beam and subsequent willpower push mark the first opportunities he actually had to hurt you, so we're putting the rest of this up to a vote.

...I swear, by sheer law of averages he's going to fail a check sometime soon! HE ONLY HAS TO FAIL THE "DON'T PASS OUT" CHECK ONCE! IT GETS HARDER EVERY ROUND! *breaks down sobbing*

I mean, I built him to be a combat monster because that's his character, but this is literally statistically implausible. Statistically speaking, he should have put up a valiant effort and gone down by the time he fired up the Kaio-Ken due to being thoroughly outclassed in sheer power. He's not natively this good. But yeah, you were supposed to crush him, since he refused any kind of healing. Suffice to say, whatever rail-like shapes I had in mind for this encounter, we are now thoroughly off of them.

Yes, he used a willpower push, not a transformation. The transformation comes in response to a need, not a desire, and Jaffur does not need to transform -- not yet.

Your options, for dealing with what is apparently the living avatar of bullshit, are:

[ ] Head-to-head. You need to take him down fast, before he can pull something else out of the box.
[ ] Stall for time. He might have made up the power level difference somehow, but it is literally impossible to maintain something like that. You just have to wait him out.
[ ] Give in. You've had enough. You don't like fighting anyway!
[ ] Try to explain. Defuse the situation. You really are giving it all you've got. You have nothing left to give. This is it. [Trips Communication]
[ ] Write-In

New Trait!

Hot-Blooded: While you are a gentle girl, you don't take kindly to insults or abuse. You have a fiery temper, and while you have great practice in restraining it, sometimes lose your head when the right insult is offered. Your QM will identify certain triggers. When those triggers are hit, heavy vote weighting will come into effect favoring aggressive and to a lesser extent violent responses.

Dragon Ball: After the End

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