Dragon Ball: After the End

[ElleonXan]

Omake time:
----------
Trunks looked down at the scroll, stunned.

"No." He said, his voice weak from the shock. "Say that this is just a joke."

"I'm sorry Trunks," said the woman sitting across from him, her red hair falling over her eyes. "It's true."

"You're lying!" Trunks yelled, as he leaped out of his chair and loomed over the short woman. For a second it seemed as if he would grab her, but then the fight seemed to go out of him and he collapsed back into the chair. "You have to be lying. This can't be true. It can't."

The woman reached over as if to comfort him, but her hand stopped just short of his shoulder. There were just some things you just had to bear alone... the final death of your planet was one such thing. She slowly brought her hand back down, and the two of them sat in silence. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Trunks spoke.

"Supreme Kai of Time... isn't there anything we can do?"

The Kai in question shook her head. "This point in time cannot be changed."

"But..."

She held up her hand, silencing him. "I said cannot, not will not." She paused to gesture around them, at the ruins of what had once been the great Conton City.

"Look around you, Trunks. The days when we faced Mira and Towa are long gone. Our champions are dead, the time patrol shattered. I don't know if you've noticed, but we have only twelve patrollers left... including you and me. Aside from you, the next strongest patroller could barely beat Dodoria on a good day. And your hair is more white than purple these days."

Trunks shook his head, his hair swinging in front of his eyes. The grey he saw really brought it home. She was right... somehow when he wasn't looking, in the last fifty years he had spent working with the Time Patrol and fighting the great battles of history, he had gotten old. "But surely the Kais..."

"The Kais," She scoffed, her pink skin shining an almost red hue in her rage, "can do nothing. The directional Kais, and even the Grand Kai himself, are truly non-combat administrators in the grand scheme of things. I'd be surprised if all of them together could match Cell in his first form. The young Supreme Kai? Feh, even as he is today he would barely stand up to Buu at his weakest. Elder Kai? He's good with magics and tactics, but you could have wiped the floor with him when you were twelve."

The Supreme Kai of Time then gestured to herself, a self-deprecating smile on her face.

"And me? I'm not nearly that good at fighting. That's why I found you, remember?"

Trunks' head fell. "The Gods?" He asked, already knowing the answer.

The Supreme Kai of Time's answer still hurt when he heard it. "We'll get no help from them. Of them, only those who were once mortal but have fully ascended would have been able to help... and I have heard that your Earthling-Saiyan 'come back to life repeatedly' escapades have angered those upstairs so much that both Goku and Vegeta have been placed in an impenetrable box to keep them from doing just that. And as we just saw, Gohan just wasn't enough even with divine ki. I'm sorry Trunks, but there's just no way to save Earth."

Trunks exploded. "Then why show me that? Why force me through this hell if there's nothing we can do?"

The Kai smiled, though it was a weak one. "Because there is a future for your people after all."

She held out another scroll, this one different. Wrapped in a shimmering void, it seemed as though you were staring into infinity whilst looking at it... and written on the front was one word: TOMORROW. Trunks took it, and opened it up. Looking at the inside of the scroll, he saw history yet unwritten flash before his eyes. The descendants of the Saiyans, fleeing through the stars. Their arrival on a foreign world, to hide in fear from the one they knew as "the Enemy." Of their ups and their downs, of their sunderings and reconciliations. Of a surly Scion of House Vegeta named Jaffur, and of the trial he would face. Of a spunky Scion of House Goku named Kakara, and the beginning of her grand adventure. And then... he saw nothing.

He turned to his companion, frowning. "It ends. Why does it end? Do they all die?"

The Supreme Kai of Time sighed. "I don't know. It ends, Trunks, because the future me that writes the scrolls is no longer around to write the history. THAT BEING that your people call The Enemy will come for me. He will find me and kill me to get at Tokitoki. You of all people should know how much power Tokitoki has. Tokitoki will not allow THAT BEING to have him. When I fall protecting him, he will kill himself. THAT BEING will not get his way… and that is when we strike."

Trunks laughed, though it was weak and forced. "So you do have a plan."

His companion nodded. "Yes, though not much of one. When Tokitoki and myself die, we will both release massive amounts of energy. Not enough to hurt THAT BEING, but enough to break the boundaries of space and dimensions."

At this she paused, reaching over to a nearby table and retrieving a glass of water that had been all but forgotten in the discussion they had just had. Taking a sip, she continued.

"As we are speaking, the remainder of the time patrollers are working on a device… a 'package' or 'bubble,' if you will. When I die, I will use the last of my energy to send that bubble through the dimensions, right towards your people's chosen world."

"And what will you send?" Asked Trunks. "Power? Information? Techniques? Magic?"

The Kai shook her head. "Nothing so powerful, I'm afraid. I will only have one chance at this, after all, and I cannot let THAT BEING gain even the slightest hint of what I'm doing. He must not be able to follow the package back to your people. No the package- invisible, intangible and ephemeral- will contain only the slightest of things: hopes, dreams, faith, belief, and wishes."

At this, Trunks stopped and scoffed. "Hopes and wishes? That's your big plan? What can they do?"

The Supreme Kai of Time stood and faced the horizon. Sun was setting on Conton City, the sky a mass of oranges and reds. Though there was time left still in the day, the dark was almost upon them.

"Quite a lot, Trunks, quite a lot. I've been alive for over 75 million years, and I've seen things few others alive have. It was belief in an unbelievable legend and a selfish wish for a boyfriend that led a blue-haired genius teenager out of her front door and into a chance encounter with a nearly-feral monkey mountain boy. It was belief in an untested boy that led to Gohan's ascension to the second level of the Super-Saiyan form and the defeat of the monster known as Cell. So no Trunks… I may not be sending any power, but faith has a power all its own. I may not be sending any magic, but dreams can be more magical than any spell. Trust, bravery, hope… these are things which are difficult to quantify, but can win battles just as well as technology or tactics. Besides…"

She turned, shooting a cheeky grin at her long time subordinate and friend. "With as much as you have seen, as much as you've experienced, you should know just how powerful a single wish can be."

 

[PoptartProdigy]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[X] "Hopeful" : Above all things, Kakara hopes and believes in making tomorrow better than today. All of the political effort, all the training, everything, it's not just about righting past wrongs, but about making things in the future better. Kakara believes this is possible. She holds onto that hope, uses it as the core of her drive to change herself and others. Not to mold them or force them or beat them down, but to lift them up, to perceive and strive for 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 be stirred toward.

[X] Yes. You can trust him with this. ("Recruit Sensei Carrick" option occurs next year; even if you don't take it, somebody will approach him to bring him in)

Year 4: Outside Context
​

You stare at the paper in front of you, gaping.

You look up at your mother. Her frown deepens. You look back at the paper.

"A C in Reading," she says, her tone very purposefully quiet. "And a B average elsewhere. Kakara Goku, you are a better student than this."

"Mom, I-"

"I talked to your teachers," she says. "Your Reading teacher says you haven't turned in an assignment in a month. Apparently it's just your tests that you bother with."

"Mom, I'm busy-"

"We don't have many expectations for you," she says, ignoring you completely. "Kais know you'll have plenty when you grow up. But the ones we do set, we expect you to live up to."

Dad shifts, entering the conversation for the first time. "Obviously, with everything that's happening right now we aren't going to make you really work on your grades. There's just too much. It wouldn't be fair to you. But once this is all done with, we want to see straight As again. We know you can do this, Kakara. We just want you to do your best."

"But there's so much else to do!" you say. "School only matters because I'm supposed to get a job eventually. Why do I even need a job? I'm going to be Lady some day!"

You mom slaps the table. You flinch at the sudden sound. "You go to school," she says, "because no daughter of mine is going to be a head of state without a high school diploma. And to get that, you need to go to school."

"You don't need a job, Kakara," says Dad. "I hope you get one. I have one, because it helps me to stay in touch with the human world. How can I help us stay hidden without understanding them? But to do your job as Lady, you don't really need a job at all. Your friends will wonder what you're up to if you don't, mind." He shrugs. "No. School is valuable on its own terms."

"And you're going to apply yourself," says Mom, scowling at you.

Y'all remembered that Mom's Masque job is being a primary school teacher, right? Slacking has paid dividends. You have dropped to a B average. Your parents have laid down the law that you may not slack this year.

* * *
​

News of the year!

...quarantine is to remain in effect until further notice. All human-side residents have a period of one week to prepare before the Hall will be opened to mass evacuations. Remain alert, and keep your senses up.

Lord Berra Goku reminds all Exile residents that power levels must be kept to five or lower while outside the Training Hall. Members of particularly physical professions in the human world, including but not limited to military service, law enforcement, construction work, emergency services, or other such physically demanding positions, may exhibit a maximum power level of ten.

At all times, be alert for aliens in your vicinity. Upon sensing one, immediately report it to your nearest response team and get yourself and any other nearby saiyans under cover.

Please remain calm and proceed in an orderly fashion. Despite the alien presence on Garenhuld, we urge all citizens to be mindful of the Masquerade and the implications of their actions. This broadcast will now repeat.

With the successful and undetected landing of an alien vessel upon Garenhuld, a State of Emergency has been declared. Regarding the alien vessel, a quarantine is to remain in effect until further notice. All human-side residents...

A State of Emergency is now active. Until the scouts have been rooted out, social crackdown among Exile society to ensure secrecy is limiting your freedom of movement. Effect: -2 yearly actions.

* * *​

Actions Available! [13 (10 Base, 2 from Hopeful, 1 from A Cause, 1 from Ambitious, 2 from Multiform, -2 from State of Emergency]

Opportunities Available! Please read even old options carefully; some have changed from last year.

Outside Context Problem active! Expect further potential disruptions of your yearly schedule.

As usual, for Year posts the voting is absolute plan voting; you vote by plan, for the one plan that most appeals to you.

Spoiler: Masquerade

Maintaining the appearance of being a human is exhausting, but in the event of somebody investigating Earth, potentially vital. This is your part in it.

Attend School (Mandatory, choose one of the following): Time-consuming, tiring, and the part that you're most likely to be discovered doing. Unfortunately, you really have no choice. Current grades: trending B. Effect: Attend school.
-[ ] Slack (1 action): You have better things to do! Slack off on schoolwork to focus on other pursuits. Your parents are closely watching you. They will not appreciate you doing this. Effect: Possible grade loss. You're smart and this is primary school, you have a decent chance of not dropping a grade. You will automatically drop a relationship level with your parents by taking this option, and next year will encounter hard restrictions on your actions as they crack down on perceived delinquency.
-[ ] Maintain Grades (2 actions): You're good where you are, and you have a lot to do. Let's just get the effort in to stick it out and then focus on other things. Effect: Maintain grades.
-[ ] Raise Grades (3 actions): Your grades have slipped lately. Your parents aren't requiring it with everything else that's going on, but you still want to get them back to where they were. Effect: Hit the books for a possible grade gain. You are very smart, and thus should almost certainly succeed.

[ ] My Best Friend (1 action, may be taken more than once): In particular, there's one person you want to spend more time with this year. Effect: Take the time to improve your relationship with one non-saiyan person in particular (including Jaron).

[ ] Queen of the School (1 action): No better Masque than blending in! Effect: Socialize as a human and expand your current social circle. You'd do very well here, most likely. Opens social opportunities in the human world.

[ ] The Power of Learning (1 action): Quite aside from school, the human world has always fascinated you. Maybe you can learn something from them? Effect: Become a bookworm in (insert field of study) or just read as widely as possible if nothing specific catches your eye. This is something you'd be good at.

[ ] Loose Lips Lead To Ultimate Power (1 action): ...maybe you're crazy. Part of you thinks that it would be an utterly stupid idea. But there's a big part of you that wants to try and bring your friends in on the secret -- of ki, that is -- particularly with the aliens coming, and especially since you've already told Maya. Better to ask forgiveness than permission, right? Effects: Try and instruct your friends in the mysteries of ki. Disapproval from Exiles.

[ ] Improve Masque Affinity (1 action): The human world of Garenhuld offers many intriguing possibilities. Now that you're comfortable in your Masque, you feel that you could explore them...but you also know that you could improve your Masque to increase the amount of power available to you in it. Effect: Grind your Masque Affinity, improving your transformation time and available power level while in human form. Success in this is guaranteed with any amount of time investment; the only thing in question is how much you'll improve by.
-[ ] By sparring practice.
-[ ] By other means (write-in).

[ ] Out To the Club (2 actions): You're feeling confident enough in your Masque that you can start spending more time among humans. Your school has a bunch of clubs, it occurs. Kid stuff, but it'd help you get introduced to various things early. Which is what it's for... Effects: Propose a type of club to try joining; sports, academic, hobby, etc. Run it by me and I'll tell you if it's plausible for a primary school student. Has social benefits in the form of new contacts and relationship grinding with fellow Misfits in the same clubs, and also grinds related skills.

[ ] Train Maya (1 action): Your father would likely be willing to handle this, but Maya is your friend first. Effects: Continue Maya's ki training instead of handing over to your father.

[ ] Feeling Weird (1 action): Increasingly, you've been experiencing some odd things when under human Masque. You hardly noticed at first, and lately you've been hoping that they'd go away, but if anything they're getting worse. Growth spurts, general moodiness at times. Your body which you've spent so much time getting used to is now changing on you. Boys seem even dumber and yet far more interesting than they used to be. Mom, what the heck is going on?! Effect: Realize that Dad doesn't actually realize that girls start this earlier than boys do. Let your Mom know that it's time for her to start having to deal with the most delightful part of raising a child. Take measures to adjust to the changes occurring to you. Get The Talk.

Spoiler: Saiyan

While the Masquerade is important, you are nobility. You really do need to pay attention to this stuff. And now that you've reached the peak of your power, you have more time than ever.

Spoiler: Training

...but then again...

[ ] Train Transformations (2 actions): It is absolutely, spectacularly illegal. It would make you the most hated villain in your people's history in a heartbeat. It would almost certainly shatter the Masquerade and send the word of your people's presence racing to the Enemy's ears...and put you on the path to regaining your old strength, and possibly defeating it. A small part of you wants to do it. Effects: Success not guaranteed. Starts doomsday timer to the Enemy's arrival on Garenhuld. Survival of immediate Exile reaction not guaranteed. REPRESENTS A PARADIGM SHIFT IN THE TONE AND PACE OF THE QUEST. In secret moments, try to break through your barriers yet again, and achieve the form of Super Saiyan 2.

Spoiler: A Warrior's Path

Being a warrior is about more than brute strength. Master the art of combat to gain your people's respect. Your mindset will hold you back in all aspects, though.

[ ] Train Hand-To-Hand (2 actions): Jaffur showed you exactly how far you have to go. You've learned your lessons from him in dueling, and can't really improve it much farther besides, but you can improve other forms of combat as well. Effect: Train your skill in hand-to-hand combat, and thereby your facility in its involved talents.

[ ] Train Ki Manipulation (2 actions): You already have something of a gift in this, although again Jaffur proved more skilled in the combat applications. Maybe you could close that gap. Effect: Train your skill in ki manipulation, and thereby your facility in its involved talents. You are enough of a prodigy that you would suffer no maluses to improvement here.

[ ] Train Specific Skill (1 action, may be taken multiple times): As you train your skill in an overall field, your skill at individual techniques will rise to match it, but maybe you can focus on something in particular. Effect: Choose a specific Skill you wish to train or learn. Crowd fighting? Fighting in a team? Specific ki projection techniques like the Kikoho? Odder stuff, like the kaio-ken? This would give a higher chance of success than simply training the whole related field.

[ ] Command Training (1 action): War is on the horizon, and you must be prepared to lead your people. You have already gained basic competence in the art of command. Now it's time to buckle down in earnest, and truly learn everything your people know about the art of command! With hard work, in a year's time you can become as skilled a commander as the Exiles are capable of producing! Effects: Train your Command Training to a maximum of "Talented." Realize how long it's been since your people fought an organized conflict.

[ ] Maintain Your Skills (1 action): You're not really focused on training. Why is everybody so obsessed with strength, anyway? Effect: Focus only on maintaining your current standing in Combat and its component skills. Does not need to be taken if any of the above are successfully taken. If you take some of the above but fail all of them, you still risk skill atrophy. I'll cop to it, this is for game balance over realism.

Spoiler: Style Training

The mark of a true warrior is one who unifies their various skills and abilities into a cohesive whole. You're not really suited to fighting, but this could help you. Counts as a "Warrior's Path" action for the purposes of skill degradation.

[ ] Train Style [Variable] (1 action): You've gained a comprehensive library of styles, and can now choose to pick one to begin training in if you please.

[ ] Study Jaffur's Form (1 action): You know the first step here, but more will take time. And with Mato now on the case, you aren't the only one learning. Effect: Spend more time trying to figure out further requirements for Jaffur's form. With your brain and having made a breakthrough, you know progress to be a near-certainty. Mato working on it means somebody else to make progress as well.
-[ ] With Mato. Effects: Social with Mato, two minds working in concert on the problem instead of separately.
-[ ] Without Mato. Effects: Don't bother with it. Your purpose in getting him to work on it is achieved.

[ ] Create Style (2 actions): Your path is your own. You will build a style for yourself. Effect: Invest immense time and energy into building a form from the ground up. It won't be easy, and given your mindset you may fail, but the rewards are potentially enormous. Work closely with your QM to determine the mechanics.

Spoiler: The Mysteries

You are a Seer, an heir to the legacy of Bardock. This alone has radically changed your path in life. Yet despite this, you cannot ignore the impact of Sorcery on your life.

[X] Train With Sensei (1 action, LOCKED): Nothing for it but time. Effect: Grind your talent in Seer abilities. Sensei tells you that this will be gruelingly hard, and take years to master no matter how much of a prodigy you are.
-[X] Train Mind Projection: You have asked Sensei about this, and told him (some of) why it's necessary. It's doubtful you wouldn't train this, but if you for some reason found cause to object, he'll have told your parents exactly why your need this and made them force you to lessons.

[-] Beg Sensei To Teach You [Write-In Specific Technique] (1 action): Waiting is boring. Effect: Make a hard Communication check to convince Sensei to deviate from his plan and then train the skill selected. More likely to succeed if taken with a successful, "Sound Out Sensei," action and you convince him that this skill is useful for the conspiracy. I'll tell you if what you want to learn is not a thing. Sensei is not willing to spend the time it would take to give you accelerated Mind Projection training and continue teaching you something else.

[ ] Study Magic (1 action): You aren't a Sorcerer, and you're slightly relieved about that, to be honest. But it remains significant to you, and you want to study it. Effect: Begin scholarship into the ways of magic.

Spoiler: The Pulse of Life

You are a part of this society, and it's the people who make it tick.

[ ] Socialize! (1 action, may be taken multiple times): These are the only people you can be truly honest with. You want to talk to them! But who...? Effect: Spend large amounts of time with existing friends or acquaintances to improve relationships (specify who at one person per action; Betarel may be included, but all such interactions would involve an Intrigue check with a low chance of failure and therefore discovery by your father).

[ ] Making Friends (1 action): You kind of have a small social circle now. Let's fix that! Effect: Take advantage of social opportunities to meet new people and establish relationships.

[ ] A Scion's Observations (1 action): Now that your education in the Clans is complete, Dad has said it might be valuable for you to start learning the practical applications of rule. He wants you to start sitting in state with him on a limited but regular basis. The goal is to show you some of the internal workings of practical leadership in preparation for your eventual assumption of the role of Lady. He thinks you're ready for this. Effects: continue Intrigue and Communication training in a limited but hands-on setting. Gain some minor input on official Clan policy.

Spoiler: Breaking the Seal

You know some of the details of Jaffur's Seal, and have a group of allies. What else is there to do? YOU MUST TAKE AT LEAST ONE ACTION FROM THIS CATEGORY.
[ ] Set the Record Straight (1 action): The official story is that you helped Seal Jaffur. It'll mean publicly opposing your Dad and making a definite enemy out of Lady Vegeta, but you could come forward and make your stance on the matter clear. Effect: Share the truth of the Sealing with your people. Increases societal unrest and earns you enemies, but may reveal potential supporters for the conspiracy.

[ ] Contacting Jaffur (1 action): Your plan with the Senzus calls for your to find a way to project yourself into Jaffur's mind yet again in order to communicate with him. The last time was purely by accident, so there are no guarantees, but you need to try. Effects: Flying blind, try to project your mind into Jaffur's Seal in order to move the plan forward. Low odds of success. Significantly more likely to succeed if taken with a successful, "Beg Sensei To Teach You [Mind Projection]," action.

[ ] Investigate Clan Vegeta (1 action): You want to know what's going on over there, and that would be a step towards breaking Jaffur's Seal. But you're...not exactly welcome over there, at the moment. Effect: In secret, sneak around Clan and House Vegeta to find out more about the situation there, including specifics about its ruling House. If caught, enormous repercussions would ensue.

[ ] Investigate Clan Goku (1 action): It would be rather easier to sound out your own Clan. Nobody would question that. Effect: Openly and at no risk, poll your Clan to find out the specifics of any tensions regarding Jaffur's Sealing.

[ ] Teach the Senzus Instant Transmission (1 action, may be chosen up to three times): It is so useful. And given how much time you'd need to invest, so risky. Effects: Gamble big and take the time to teach the Senzus how to use Instant Transmission. Each time the action is taken allows you to teach more people in one go; you could probably teach an twentieth of them for every action invested. However, each additional action doubles the chance of discovery, which is already moderate.

[ ] Recruit Sensei Carrick (1 action): Your Sensei is a Seer, like you, and seems sensible. The Conspiracy Council, on your recommendation and his opinions on mind control, decided that he should be brought in to more fully collaborate with you on the matter of breaking the Seal. If you don't do this, one of them will, but you are already there...and he'd probably think better of you if you told him personally, from his ranting on how you should make up for visiting Jaffur's mind. Effect: Bring your Sensei in on the conspiracy personally. Probably has positive effects on your relationship with him in addition to hopefully gaining his full and informed support.

[ ] Set the Record Straight (1 action): The official story is that you helped Seal Jaffur. It'll mean publicly opposing your Dad and making a definite enemy out of Lady Vegeta, but you could come forward and make your stance on the matter clear. Effect: Share the truth of the Sealing with your people. Increases societal unrest and earns you enemies, but may reveal potential supporters for the conspiracy.

[-] Smash the Seal (1 action): You have waited long enough and know all you need to, in your estimation. Go. Gather what you have, and go. Effect: Go with whatever you've accomplished by year's end, and try to break the Seal. Having settled on a concrete plan of action, there needs to be a dire change in circumstances before you can pick this.

Spoiler: Personal

Sometimes, you just want to do things on your own time.

[ ] Ki (1 action, may be taken multiple times): Despite your disinterest in fighting, you really do like using your Ki, and you're good at it! Effect: In your spare time, improve Ki Talents (1 per action).

[ ] New Tricks (1 action): You are a prodigy in ki use. Surely you should be able to figure out some new techniques. Effect: Learn a new Ki Talent and set your starting skill level. Possibly reveal exceptional hidden talents. Write in ideas if you have something in mind (for this option, should be something canonical to Dragon Ball, not speculative; ki healing, hypnosis, and mind delving come to mind as viable options, among others. I reserve veto rights on balance grounds if some minor villain in a video game or the earliest days of Dragon Ball displayed abilities that would be horrifying on a Super Saiyan). If you leave it blank, Kakara will develop whatever talent she has the most native talent in.

[ ] Research Project (1 action): You've been thinking lately, and there are some lost techniques that would be really useful to have. Come to think, you have some ideas for entirely new techniques. Maybe you could look into developing them? Effect: This is your general research option. Use this to conduct experiments into new uses of ki or even entirely new techniques, be they combat-based or not.

[ ] The Examined Life (1 action): You are made up of many small facets. After your revelation with your sense of pacifism, you want to reflect on another, and delve into its secrets. Effect: Select one trait to reflect on and develop, excluding Pacifist and Hopeful, which must be further developed through play.

[ ] Write-In (actions variable): You are Kakara Goku, and you have your own ideas on what to do.

THIS VOTE IS NOW CLOSED

---

Let me know if there's an action that I promised but somehow forgot.

Also in this update: annoying consequences. Kakara usually has a lot of freedom. I figured that in narrative terms, the most irritating thing that could possibly happen to her would be something to circumvent that freedom. Case in point: despite gaining three action slots, the state of emergency ate two, and you gained only one, net. But at least you didn't lose actions.

And furthermore, this year saw you gain new options! Expensive options. So...have fun with that.

As a reminder, Multiform has been moved to Ki Talents. Instant Transmission is staying right where it is under Ki Projection.

And...enjoy puberty from a girl's perspective. It's fun.

AS IS NOW THE STANDARD FOR YEAR POSTS, THERE WILL BE A TWELVE-HOUR MORATORIUM, AND A LONG VOTING PERIOD, TO ENSURE YOU ALL CAN ARRIVE AT A GOOD PLAN​

 

[Erebeal]

I come bearing gifts!

Spoiler: Scion

Alternate titles:

• "Where are you going?"
• No God - Only Kakara
  
• "Your gods cannot save you now "
  
• #LookingDownOnPeopleLikeByakuya

 

[Erebeal]

Compare a Super Saiyan 1/2's eyes to a Super Saiyan 3's eyes. SS3 has irises but SS1/2 don't.

Click to shrink...

My point was more that all the male character's normal eyes are just drawn as little black spots. The art style doesn't seem to bother to discriminate between iris and pupil for them, while female eyes look very different.

Anyway, here's the new, more canon-compliant version:

Spoiler: Super Saiyan Kakara

 

[PoptartProdigy]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[X] Raise Grades (3 actions)
[X] Improve Masque Affinity (1 action)
-[X] Train Maya
--[X] With Dad
[X] Feeling Weird (1 action)
[X] Command Training (1 action)
[X] Train With Sensei (1 action, LOCKED)
[X] A Scion's Observations (1 action)
[X] Ki (1 action, may be taken multiple times)
-[X] Flight
-[X] Multiform (After Flight, so as to benefit from Ki Talents levelling up)
[X] Research Project (1 action)
-[X] Perfect Multiform
[X] Organise the better ki sensors of the two clans into patrols, searching for the enemy scouts - now that they aren't shielded by their ships' armour, hopefully any slipups will be detectable. (2 actions)
-[X] Develop a plan that involves minimal loss of life, for the sake of gaining information (and your personal ethics). You (and Dad) can use Instant Transmission and/or Solar Flare to move in and incapacitate the scouts, while the rest of the group makes sure no one gets away or gets off a message.
--[X] This probably isn't Plan A, especially before you have an idea of how easily the enemy can sense you or send back info. But it's worth having a plan at hand in case the opportunity presents itself. (And boy, do you hope it does.)
---[X]Organise some trained seers as a response to the alien invasion. Initially attempt to scry the past on the ship to gain more information on the aliens and use that information to track them down though both Sight and other plans.
[X] Recruit Sensei Carrick (1 Action)
-[X] Since he's now part of the conspiracy and a much better Seer than us, he should Mind Project into Jaffur!

The New Normal
​

The next few weeks are a flurry of activity. Your Dad spends his time coordinating voluntary mass evacuations to the Training Hall. Nobody is being required to leave -- but nobody outside the Hall is allowed to raise their power level either. If the aliens decide to start blasting things...

Beyond that, Dad puts together your people's strategy.

"The unfortunate thing is that we likely can't count on being able to sense them out," he says, spinning the globe on the table in front of you two and planting another note. "If their ship is ki shielded, the odds are good that they are personally as well, or that they can suppress their power levels. So our strategy is necessarily reactive." He plants another note. "I'm going to send out fast response teams. If the aliens reveal themselves -- and going by your vision, they should -- we can be on the scene in moments, before they can do much damage."

"Why wait?" you ask. "If we wait for them, then even if we react as quick as we can..."

"You and I don't sleep," he points out. "I mean, we do sometimes. But that's voluntary. We can plan around it. We'll be the first ones on the scene. You, most likely. Don't worry; I promise I'll call in to excuse you from school." He winks at you.

You roll your eyes. He chuckles, unrepentant.

"That works then, I guess," you say. "But why even have teams, if we're going to be the ones reacting?"

"We can make mistakes," he says. "Maybe we'll miss somebody. The teams are there to cover for those mistakes. They'll set up a perimeter while you and I take down the enemy."

"But we're still just reacting!" you say.

He shrugs. "There's not much else we can do. We already have some of the best ki sensors from each Clan assigned to the response teams and searching for the scouts that way. Between them, they cover every inch of the planet; we'll catch even a single screw-up. We already have a plan to respond faster than they should hopefully be capable of dealing with. What else can there be?"

You blink and mentally scratch that off of your list of ideas what to do. Granted, you had planned for active patrols, but if your people can search without that, why risk it?

"We could still use the Seers," you say. "Not me, but the others can use pastsight to see the ship's landing. From there we can follow the scouts, wherever they went!"

[Communication-->Pass]

Dad blinks. "Hm. I had had them on prediction duties...but that would actually work. I keep forgetting, sometimes, about the abilities you have access to. I'm used to thinking about your future visions." He turns to smile at you. "Tell you what; we can make this a lesson as well. It's time to get your training to the next level, anyway."

You blink. "Training?"

"Your command training," he says. "We've covered the tactics of leading units. Might as well take the chance to teach you about some broader points of strategy." He spins the globe again and stops it with a finger on the aliens' landing site. "Write me up a proposal for your idea. Focus on implementation and how you would orchestrate the search parties beyond, 'point a Seer at it.' Submit it to me in a week and we'll review it then. I won't have you out looking yourself, but you'll be the one putting it all together." He then reaches over and ruffles your hair, provoking an angry squawk. "Good idea, Kakara."

"Kais on- Dad!"

"No swearing, young lady."

You have successfully organized a hunting team led by a Gokun Seer recommended by Sensei Carrick. The team has determined that the scouts headed west after their landing and is in pursuit. The trail is cold, and the team will need to move slowly to avoid detection by their quarry, but you have people on the trail of the scouts. Every month, the team will roll for progress towards finding the scouts.

Command Training skill improved! [Competent-->Talented] Skill capped except through practical application; this is the limit of Exile military theory.

* * *
​

"It's sort of like using your own ki, but outside you," you say, holding a little ball of ki in your hands. "You can feel your own when it's inside you. You can feel other people's ki when it's somewhere else! But it's easier to start like this."

Maya nods at you, forming her own ball of ki. It's a wavering little thing, yearning to break free from her meager control, but she can at least hold onto it now. When you started training her, she couldn't.

"It also helps if you have a larger power level around to feel," says Dad, off to the side. He powers up. You turn away, hiding a frown.

Dad's been keeping his power level very low around Maya. Only around a million. And you aren't sure why. He dwarfs Maya, sure, but at her rate of improvement she'll overtake him in no time at all.

[Intrigue-->Fail]

It makes no sense to you whatsoever. It's not like she's an enemy that he's trying to draw out.

Meanwhile, Maya perks up. Her ball fizzles out. "Oh-! Darn it! But I felt you!" She grins at your Dad, nervousness forgotten.

You blink, refocusing. "That's great, Maya! Can you feel this?" You release an active sensing pulse and watch it wash over her. It's a lot easier than it used to be; you've been spending a lot of time under Masque lately.

Normally you'd worry about the scouts...but Dad has a Sorcerer nearby maintaining a ward so that the three of you can practice. A bit expensive, but Dad is really banking on Maya. If Garenhulders start producing powerful ki users, then Masqued saiyans would be able to show their power levels as well. It would mean your people could relax the Masquerade a bit.

And you won't lie, being able to raise your power level a bit would be nice.

Maya grins, her hair tossing wildly in the backwash from your pulse. She closes her eyes and hums happily. "I can feel it, yeah!"

You grin back. "Nice."

"It's kinda fuzzy, though," she says.

"You'll get better details with time," says Dad. "Karen could sense you from the other side of the world without even really having to focus that much. She has a real gift for it."

Maya blinks, gaping at you. "You ca- can?"

You tilt your head in a nod. "Yeah. You're really bright. I couldn't miss you if I tried."

She blinks and tucks her head, mumbling something.

"You are very strong for your age," says Dad, sounding amused. "And you're improving all the time. You might get to be stronger than I am, eventually."

Maya looks up at him. "Re- Really?! Me?"

He smiles back. "I think so."

Maya's power level is now 107,894 (not the final figure for the year). Maya's Ki Sense is now at [Unlearned]. Maya's Ki Control improved! [Unlearned-->Competent] Maya's Ki Projection improved! [Poor-->Unpromising] Maya's training is now at a non-terrible level. Further training will need to be more focused in order to further develop skills.

Dad has walked Maya past a Sorcerer. She is not a Masqued saiyan. This, however, only moves the mystery a step further along; with billions-to-one odds against this possibility, what on Earth could it mean for such an unprecedented human ki mutant to show up on Garenhuld, of all places?

Masque Affinity improved! [Competent-->Talented]

* * *
​

As winter comes to a close, you find yourself in the bathroom, frowning at the mirror.

You have a bump. You scowl.

...you poke at it. This does not help.

There's a knock at the door. "Sissy, are you done yet?"

"Not now, Fee!" you say, not looking away from the mirror.

"But I gotta pee!"

Your eye twitches. "So hold it!"

"But it's my turn!"

You growl quietly, ignoring her. After a while, she goes away.

Then there's another knock.

You take a deep breath. "Go away, Fee!"

"Kakara Goku, open the door."

You pale at the sound of your Mom's voice. You decide to open the door.

Please don't notice please don't notice please don't notice-

Mom frowns down at you as the door swings open. "Why are you in Masque? What's going-?" And like a magnet, her eyes track upwards to your forehead, and the bump. "Ah."

"Kala?" says your Dad, coming around the corner. "What's-?" He follows her gaze. "Ah-ha."

"Kakara, come with me," says Mom, dragging you off to your parents' room.

"I'll let you handle this one, Kala," says Dad heading for the stairs.

"Yeah, I'll bet you do. You're still getting Mato!"

"I've got a few years!"

You blink. "Mom, what's-"

"Sit down." Mom gives you a gentle push into the armchair your parents keep in their room and then sits down on the bed. "Kakara, how long have you been getting those?"

You flush, ducking your head. "This is the first one."

She nods. "Kakara, have you noticed your clothes getting too small lately?" She peers at you with a knowing eye.

Truth be told, they have been. The shirts especially. You say so.

Mom nods. "I see. Okay." She stands again and goes over to the end table on her side of the bed. She comes back with a file folder bulging with papers and drops it in your lap with a heavy thump.

You look down. "'Puberty?'"

Mom sits again. "Kakara, it's time that we had a Talk."

* * *
​

You flee the bedroom a couple of hours later, face flaming, the folder and a bag Mom produced a little while into the conversation tucked under your arm. You cross Mato on the way to your own bedroom.

"Hey, Kakara, did you ask Mom where...my...um?" He says, trailing off as you steam directly past him and into your room. The door closes behind you with a final click.

You pretty much stay there for a couple of days, emerging only for meals and otherwise staring in fascinated horror at the reading materials, the diagrams, and the pads that your Mom provided.

Your Mom believes firmly in the educational value of a good visual aid. And a comprehensive lecture. And practical preparation. Suffice to say, you now know and are equipped for exactly what you can expect from puberty. You will not lose yearly actions as a result of going into this half-assed. Kakara is still not-quite-eleven, and thus is not yet at the point of needing to determine preferences on sexual orientation or activity. Please do not ask.

* * *
​

As the months tick over into spring, you head down to Sensei Carrick's house yet again. This time, you're feeling nervous.

It's time to bring your Sensei in on the conspiracy.

With your support, the people in favor of bringing in your Sensei carried the day at the meeting. And once that happened, you volunteered to be the one to tell him.

That said...this promises to be a difficult conversation. Maybe you could just...intend to tell him, really hard, and hope that he picks up on it? Then you could avoid this altogether! You pause on the path up to his house and close your eyes, concentrating.

After a few minutes, you hear the front door to his house slide open. Your heart leaps. Could it-?

"STOP STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF MY YARD AND GET IN HERE! YOU LOOK RIDICULOUS!"

slam

You slowly turn crimson and duck your head down, hurrying to the house. Opening the door, you step inside.

When you get into the house, you see a red-haired young woman hugging Sensei Carrick and then shrugging on a jacket. "See you next week?"

"Of course! You're always welcome here," says your Sensei.

"Thanks, Uncle Carrick," she says, smiling. She glances at you as you come in and suppresses a snicker. You turn even brighter red. "This is your newest apprentice?" she asks, giving you a polite smile. Then she blinks, looking closer. "Wait a minute..."

"That's a secret, Cynthia," says Sensei, flicking her behind her ear.

"Ow! Of course, but why?"

He snorts. "You're smart. You'll figure it out. Now get on out of here! I have work to do!"

"Fine, fine." She gives you a neutral look and nods politely. "Good to meet you, Scion." She steps out of the house, shifting seamlessly into her Masque as she does.

You frown as the door closes behind her. "Who was she?"

"Cynthia, my niece," says Sensei, sitting down. "Bright girl. Comes over for a chat every week."

You sit as well. "She doesn't like me, does she?"

He grumbles to himself. "She doesn't know you. But she's a historian. Particularly enamored of the stories of our family's attempt at a republic, before Lady Garla. She isn't a fan of the system of Lords and Ladies. But no, she has nothing against you in particular."

You frown in worry. "Will she tell anybody?"

He raises an eyebrow. "That you're a Seer? No. I asked her not to. That's enough."

"Um..."

He shakes his head. "It's enough, Kakara. If Cynthia gives her word, she keeps it. Trust me." He settles back in his chair, signalling that he's done with the topic.

You sigh, but nod. Arguing further won't change anything. You tap your fingers together, trying to figure out the best way to bring up what you plan on doing.

Until, of course, Sensei decides to preempt you. "You look like something is on your mind. Spill."

You pout at the interruption. "Don't you know already? I've been thinking about how to tell you for months!"

He cracks a smile at that. "Ah, no. That's not quite how it works. You haven't reached this point in your education yet, but- here." He turns around and roots around in a satchel slung over the back of his chair. He then turns around, holding a sack filled with beads. He dumps it out on his table. "This is a bad metaphor, but it works well enough. Picture that the area filled by these beads is the time space you're trying to scry. You know, the past, the present, or the future. Whichever one of the three you're looking through, this represents it." He lays his fingers on the beads nearest him. "So, you start looking, and these are the things nearest you. That means something different for every type of Sight, but it usually has something to do with relevance. So you need to choose a vision to See. Easy enough; once you learn how, you look around and can grab whichever looks more interesting." He moves his fingers out to the next layer of beads. "But sometimes you don't want one nearest you. Sometimes immediate relevance isn't enough; you need something farther out. So you find the one that you think looks closest, and step past it. Then you have a new set of choices to look through. And you keep doing this until you find your vision. But that can take a long time, and the longer it takes, the more mental energy it requires."

With a wave of his hand, he uses telekinesis to sweep the beads back into the bag. "So, Seers tend not to use the Sight unless it's important. We save our juice for when we need to look for something, since we're always searching essentially blind. And we tend to suppress accidental visions, since they're only reliable or relevant roughly half the time and they bite into our reserves. I've been focusing on the wider galaxy since the Senzus and their scouting ship went into hiding, and more recently on the invaders. So no, I don't automatically know anything that's going to happen to me. I just don't have it in me."

You blink, feeling silly. "Oh. I didn't know that."

"You couldn't have," he points out. "I hadn't taught you yet."

You shrug.

He rolls his shoulders. "Anyway. What was it you wanted to talk about?"

You swallow. "Well...it's about...Jaffur."

He frowns. "What about him? You haven't found your way into his head again, have you?"

You shake your head. "No, not that. It's...it's about the Sealing, too."

He leans forward. "...go on."

You twine your fingers together and swallow nervously. "It...didn't really happen like everybody says it did." You take a breath, and decide to just say it. "I didn't help. I know everybody says that I did, but I didn't. I actually tried to help Jaffur escape, but I wasn't good enough. We lost." You swallow. "But...I haven't given up." You look Sensei in the eye. "Even since the Sealing, I've been trying to find other people who want Jaffur free. And I have. I found a lot of people. I managed to find the Senzus, and they're working with us. My Grandma and Patriarch Yammar are both helping us. They found a bunch of Houses that want to help. Even your House Head is with us! And...we have a plan. I fell into Jaffur's head before. It turns out that Jaffur is a Sorcerer. He wasn't ever trained, but if I can find him, Sorcerer Senzu can have me pass lessons to Jaffur. And then Jaffur can get through the Seal and talk to his uncle. Once that happens, Dandelor can teach Jaffur everything he needs to know to help us break out of the Seal from the inside while Dandelor keeps Jaron safe. That's the real reason I asked to learn about Mind Projection."

Sensei listens to you with an intent look on his face, giving no sign of what he thinks. When you finish talking, he keeps looking at you without speaking for a moment. And then he sighs, closing his sighs.

After a moment, he chuckles. "I suppose that's why my brother was so cagey when I sounded him out on what he really thought about the Sealing. Little fool. He's always trying to protect me." He opens his eyes. "Well. After our chat on the matter, I'm sure you don't need my thoughts on the Sealing." He laughs again. "I think you might be developing a habit for collecting conspiracies, Kakara. I had started talking to some of our fellow Seers myself about the truth of the Sealing after you spoke to me. I think they'd be very happy to learn that most of the nobility actually agrees with us about the matter."

You start to grin. "You mean..."

"You can count on us," he says, smiling back. "We had thought that the official story was the truth -- that Jaffur was ill, and the Sealing was a medical treatment. Distasteful, but necessary. But what you describe...that's a travesty. Whatever the truth about Jaffur, this can't be allowed to stand. I'll spread the word. You'll get your training -- and you'll have our support, when it's time to make your move."

You sit up straight, thrilled. "Then can you be the one to contact Jaffur? He's always awake in there, and if we have to wait for me to do it, it'll take a year or more, and-"

[Communication-->Given no dedicated cookies, a solid failure]

But Sensei shakes his head. "No. That I won't do. Jaffur doesn't know me, Kakara, and given what you've told me, he's a Super Saiyan even within his own mind. He's entirely justified in being paranoid about strangers with odd abilities, and if I were to appear in his mind, a shade with a minuscule fraction of my power level -- which already isn't much...he could vaporize me before I ever got a word out. It's too big of a risk. I'd guide you in, but I'm not letting you near a Sorcerer's mind until you're good and ready. What you plan on doing is dangerous. I'm going to help, but we're going to do this properly. Jaffur will keep. It's cold to say it, but he's lasted this long. Before we can get him out, we need to teach you everything we can about mind projection." He gives you a faint smirk. "Fortunately, you have the best teacher on Garenhuld for the purpose."

He rises, going to his herb jar and drawing forth a handful of spices. "Today, incidentally, is practical work. The smoke from these herbs will put you into a trance that makes it easier to exit your body. When you go under, try to focus on the exercises we've been working on. I don't expect you to succeed today, but you have proven me wrong more than once before." He hesitates and then looks at you. "...and, Kakara. Knowing what you did, it was incredibly brave of you to come clean with me today. Thank you for your trust." He smiles, and then tosses the herbs in, filling the room with smoke. You focus to fleeing scraps of memory, the records of your lessons with Sensei-

[Sight check (DC 75)-->Pass]

The world is grey.

That's the first thing you notice, anyway. The second thing is your body.

You gasp, flinching back at the sight of yourself in a chair, slumped over. And then you hear a slow, echoing clap from behind you.

"Very impressive," says Sensei. You whirl about. You notice that you drift slightly, as if in low gravity. Sensei's shade smiles at you. "I really didn't expect you to succeed. And yet, here we are."

You stare. Sensei's shade, standing without a care over his own body, lying on the ground, looks like a grey, translucent projection. He looks, frankly, like a ghost.

"This is weird," you say, your voice echoing hollowly.

"The first purposeful time is always a hard adjustment," he says, nodding. "So we'll keep it simple for now." He walks over to you. "Technically we can travel like we normally do like this, but there's a more effective way if you're in a hurry. Much like with the Sight, we can draw ourselves to something relevant, and even seek out those relevant things in a chain if we so need. It's even easier like this. This is actually excellent training for normal Sight, in fact. The risk is the only thing keeping us from making it a matter of course." He looks around for a moment and then smiles at you. "I'll let you steer this time. But stay close to me, and hold onto my hand. I'll pull us out if we wind up somewhere dangerous. Do try to avoid anything terribly risky, though; no minds. Beyond that, drift freely. Where to, Scion?"

Sensei Greatly Approves. Acquaintance Relationship Upgraded! [Positive-->Friendly] Sensei and all sympathetic Seers in Exile society are on board with the conspiracy. Sensei will now devote increased time to your training for the duration of the conspiracy, if you can schedule it (you may now double up on Seer Training actions, including specific technique training).

---

Vision quest initiated. Where to?

[ ] Family
[ ] Enemies
[ ] Friends
[ ] Opportunities
[ ] Obstacles
[ ] Write-in (for this vote, must be one word and open to broad interpretation)

THIS VOTE IS NOW CLOSED.

You will get the chance to hunt down more specific destinations in the next update, unless you like where you end up on your first try.

An announcement! The crossover with @The Fourth Monado's RP began at some point within the past ten updates. It's just that nobody save them actually noticed. Toldja it'd be quiet.

Another announcement! I have decided on the bonuses to be granted for @Erebeal's fan art pictures (visible under "Fan Art," in the Lore Screen). Erebeal has earned you all a Greater Bonus towards, "A big reveal," and a lesser bonus towards, "Standing your ground." As a reminder, bonuses are used at my discretion -- which means that they're used on the first situation meeting their description that would meaningfully benefit from them.

And...hoo. This was a monster of an update. I spent most of today getting this thing out. We covered a lot of ground here. This is in part why I had the last bit be the vision quest; doing a bunch of quick, short, low-tension updates will be a nice way to cool down from this giant. Lots of fun doing this, though!

You have not yet seen the results of the d12 roll I requested yet.

Enjoy, everybody!

THE NEXT FEW VOTES WILL PROCEED AT A FASTER PACE THAN THE NORM. THIS ONE WILL BE AT NORMAL PACE, SO THE FASTER TEMPO DOESN'T SURPRISE ANYBODY. TWO HOUR MORATORIUM.​

 

[PoptartProdigy]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[X] Opportunities

Opportunities
​

You nod up at Sensei, close your eyes, and focus.

What do you want? You want a lot of things, really. What do you have? Well, also a lot, if by definition less.

How do you use the one to secure the other? That's what you want to know.

Show me opportunities.

There is a sense of unbearable acceleration -- of the world twisting in space, the only fixed point Sensei's hand clenched in your own -- and then the same echoing stillness as before. You open your eyes again. You blink. "What the heck am I supposed to do with this?!"

You wave your arms at the scout's spaceship in affront. "I already know the scouts are here. We've looked at their ship. If we missed something, I'm not going to find it."

Sensei snickers, stepping towards the ship. "Well, the Sight is odd sometimes. What did you focus on?"

"Opportunities," you say, folding your arms. "And it brought me here. What heck does that even mean? How are the scouts an opportunity?"

"Could mean many things," says Sensei Carrick. "Could mean that the search teams did miss something, and that you stand to gain if you uncover what. Or it could mean that the scouts themselves present an opportunity in some way and this was simply a good conceptual representation of that. Or simply starting here could be the opportunity. I know you have somebody on the job of scrying the scouts out; maybe coming here is your Sight's way of saying that you should do it yourself, starting here." Then he shrugs. "Or it could be all of the above. The Sight's odd that way. But those are all steps you could take from here, and that's just off the top of my head. Be careful if you go haring off after the scouts, though; our Sight comes from aliens originally. These ones might have some abilities or technology that lets them see us." He takes a step back again. "What do you think? You're the one driving. Should we stay here and look around, or do you want to refine your search somewhat? Then again, you could just look for another Opportunity; I doubt the scouts are the only opportunity waiting around."

---

What to do?

[ ] Find another Opportunity.
[ ] Look around; maybe there is something people missed.
[ ] Go after the scouts directly. POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS TO AN UNKNOWN DEGREE.
[ ] Cast yourself after Opportunities springing from the scouts'presence.
[ ] Write-in.

THIS VOTE IS NOW CLOSED.

I did say that these would be short and fast. Once (if) you start turning up results, you'll get more detailed updates. But until then I'm allowing very fine-grained control of this search on your parts. Enjoy, everybody!

AS ANOTHER AND FINAL REMINDER, VOTING FOR THE VISION QUEST WILL BE FAR FASTER-PACED THAN NORMAL. NO MORATORIUMS APPLY.​

 

[PoptartProdigy]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[X] Look around; maybe there is something people missed.

Red Herring?
​

You chew on your cheek for a moment and then look around. "Well...the vision led us here. It couldn't be that hard for somebody to miss something, right?"

Sensei shrugs. "Up to you. I'm just following along."

You pout at him and then square your shoulders. "Okay, then! Time to get to work! Going to find myself some nice, juicy-"

* * *
​

"-STUPID WORTHLESS PIECE OF- OF- OF CRAP!" You scream, borrowing a curse word you heard Fennella use a while ago. "HOW HARD CAN IT BE TO FIND SOMETHING?!"

You hear Sensei snicker behind you and whirl on him with a snarl. He holds his hands up, smirking, and you spin back around, growling in frustration.

"To be honest, I don't think this one is your fault, kid," he says. "I mean, look around. The investigation teams went over this place with a fine-toothed comb. If there was anything obvious out and lying around, they found it. Honestly, if I had to guess, the valuable thing is the tech. Magic ki shielding has hard limits we don't know how to surpass yet, but artificial ki shielding might be something that can be improved. But...you're not exactly the person to look at for that." He raps the bulkhead of the ship. "Neither of us are mechanics. We wouldn't know what to look for. So, while ripping out this ship's guts would probably get us something nice and prestigious, we just aren't equipped to find it." He shrugs. "Too bad. The Sight is potent, but it's not the only thing that matters."

[Tinkering Skill nonexistent. Search roll blown by miles.]

"I thought for sure there would be something, though," you say. "I guess that the Sight is leading me somewhere else."

"Probably," says Sensei. "So, where do you think 'somewhere else' is? Time's a'wasting."

---

I was planning this event all the way back in Character Generation. Does it surprise you all that this vision quest has events that check against each of the skills you chose between, way back then?

[ ] Find another Opportunity.
[ ] NO. YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE. THERE'S SOMETHING HERE AND YOU'RE NOT LEAVING UNTIL YOU FIND IT.
[ ] Go after the scouts directly. POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS TO AN UNKNOWN DEGREE.
[ ] Cast yourself after Opportunities springing from the scouts'presence.
[ ] Write-in.

THIS VOTE IS NOW CLOSED.

FAST-PACED VOTES CONTINUE. NO MORATORIUM. THIS IS MY SECOND UPDATE IN THE PAST TWENTY-FOUR HOURS; MAKE SURE YOU CAUGHT THE LAST ONE.​

 

[PoptartProdigy]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[X] Cast yourself after Opportunities springing from the scouts'presence.

On the Trail
​

You hum to yourself, casting your mind outwards. "I think it's probably something to do with the scouts," you say. "I don't think it really is the scouts, though."

"Doesn't have to be," says Sensei. "Lots of opportunities get turned up in times of turmoil."

"Yeah, I guess," you say, walking over to him. You hold out your hand. "Well? Let's go find one."

He smiles down at you, reaches out, and takes your hand. "Lead on."

* * *
​

Another mind-bending leap through reality later, you let go of Sensei's hand and look around.

"...why are we in Sophie's house?" you say, feeling deeply concerned.

"Who's Sophie?" asks Sensei, inspecting your friend's bedroom.

"My friend from school," you say. Then you snap to attention. "Hey, get out!" You start pushing him towards the door.

"Hey, what are you doing?" he demands as he starts stumbling despite his best efforts.

"You're a boy, you can't be in here!" you say, still pushing him along.

He gives you a look of utter bafflement.

The whole point is rendered moot, however, by the door opening before the two of you get there.

You both freeze as Jenny, Gemma, Sophie, and Jaron pile in, close the door, and sit on the bed. Except for Jaron, who hems and haws, shifting his weight and looking uncomfortable.

"Just sit down, Jaron," says Jenny, rolling her eyes. "We're not gonna eat you."

The boy flushes and climbs up, chin raised defiantly.

Sophie leans forward, fingers steepled. "We are here today to talk about something very important. Something that we all care about. Something that-"

"Maya and Karen have a secret, we know," says Gemma, writing something in her notebook.

Sophie pouts at her. "Hey! I was having fun!"

"We noticed," says Gemma, a faint smile on her face.

Sophie grumbles for a bit, but gets back to business. "Point is, they're hiding something. They spend a lot of time together without us! I don't mind or anything, but they aren't telling us."

"Question," says Jenny, waving her hand. "How do we know? I mean, they don't say, 'Oh, hi everybody, we're spending a lot of time together that we don't tell you about.'" She pauses and then leans forward, grinning. "You aren't spying on them, are you?"

"Oh kais, please no," you say. "Please tell me my human friend didn't manage to sneak up on me."

Sensei chuckles.

...you notice Jaron twitching.

"I'm not spying on them!" says Sophie, crossing her arms. "I just notice that every time Maya's been too busy to play lately, it's when Karen is!"

Silence falls. Then Jenny leans forward. "First of all, that's not really that weird. Karen has the least time of any of us. Even Jaron can play more, and his Mom never lets him out unless it's the weekend."

Jaron ducks his head. "She lets me leave more often than that."

"Whatever. Point is, saying that Karen's not around when Maya's not really isn't saying anything special. I bet you I'm only busy when she is too."

"But you're not," says Sophie. "I mean, usually, yeah, but sometimes no. And Gemma usually is too, but again, she sometimes isn't. Jaron doesn't match up all the time either. Karen's gone a lot, but fits into her absences perfectly. And besides, Maya used to always be ready to come over and play. She never used to say no. But now she does, sometimes, and it's always when Karen's busy too."

And once again, silence. This time, Jaron fills it. "...I think that's still spying, Sophie."

She blushes. "What?! No it's not!"

"I mean, you're not sneaking up on them, but you're still poking around at what they're trying to hide. I'm pretty sure there's more than o- one kind," he says, stammering a bit as her gaze turns a bit heated.

"I think he's right," says Jenny. "Wow, you really do think we're just going to run away on you, don't you, Soph?"

Sophie flinches. Gemma's book snaps shut. "Jenny."

To her credit, the bluenette appears to realize what she said and ducks her head, grimacing. "Sorry, Soph."

Gemma glances at Jaron. He blinks and then points to himself questioningly.

Gemma nods.

Jaron shakes his head, eyes wide.

Gemma frowns.

Jaron looks conflicted.

Gemma's frown deepens.

Jaron looks desperate and lost. He glances at Sophie and then back at Gemma, raising his eyebrows.

Gemma widens her eyes at him, pressing her lips together.

He scowls for a moment and then reaches over, tentatively, to pat Sophie on the shoulder. It is the most awkward thing you've ever witnessed. Gemma rolls her eyes and mouths the word, "Boys," before going back to her notebook.

Sophie smiles at him, though.

Jenny shifts, still looking down. "So. Um. Karen and Maya?"

Sophie nods. "Yeah. Maya's acting different, and I'm sure it's because of Karen. And that's fine, but they're our friends too. I don't know why they're not including us."

"Do you want to talk to them about it?" asks Jaron.

"They'd just deny it," says Jenny.

As your friends start discussing their options, Sensei leans forward and whispers in your ear. "Do we want to stick around for this?"

You turn, frowning in confusion. "Why not?" you whisper back.

"Well, two things," he says. He straightens and returns his voice to normal volume. "First, I don't know if you think this is private. Second..." He nods at Jaron. "Take a look."

You follow the look, and see Jaron, frowning and glancing around the room as if looking for something.

"I guessed that Jaron might be a latent Sorcerer, since Jaffur is, and it looks like I'm right. He can hear us. He doesn't know about his powers, so he'll only hear faint, tiny echoes -- like somebody talking through a wall. But he hears it. And given enough time, he'll start thinking that our corner of the room looks off. No risk to us -- he won't find us -- but I don't know if you want to distress him. Actually, another thing: I'm not really sure what on Earth the Opportunity here would be, so I don't know if you see any value in spending more time comatose on this. So, what do you think?"

---

You're getting the hang of directing yourself in this trance. You should have a bit more control now. You can reliably find things along broad directives such as, "Find me something that would help me politically," or, "Find me something that would help me make more friends."

[ ] Stay here. This is what you're looking for.
[ ] Go elsewhere.
-[ ] The scouts lead is obviously useless. Start from scratch on something else (write-in what).
-[ ] This isn't what you're looking for, but shows promise. Maybe you can follow it to something related that would fit better (write-in what).
[ ] End the trance.
[ ] Write-in.

THIS VOTE IS NOT YET CLOSED

THE FAST PACE CONTINUES; BE SURE YOU'VE MISSED NO UPDATES. NO MORATORIUM TODAY, BUT FOR THIS UPDATE IN PARTICULAR I DO ENCOURAGE DISCUSSION​

 

[PoptartProdigy]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[X] Stay here. This is what you're looking for.

Under Threat
​

You hesitate for a second before shaking your head. "No. I think there's something here for me to find. Yeah, this is what I'm looking for."

"Jaron, are you alright?"

You blink and look up at Sophie's question and see her staring at Jaron. The boy blinks, snapping his gaze over to her. "Huh? Yeah. Do you hear something?"

The girls look at each other in confusion. "...no?" says Jenny.

"Are you sure?" he asks, frowning. "People talking, maybe?"

"Nothing," says Gemma, glancing up from her book.

"Maybe my Mom and Dad are talking," says Sophie, shrugging.

Jaron shrugs slowly. "I guess..."

Sophie turns to Gemma. "Anyway, how'd you know Maya and Karen were keeping secrets, Gemma?"

"It's obvious," says the blond girl, not even bothering to look up.

Sophie rolls her eyes. "I mean, I noticed, but how did you?"

Gemma sighs, pushing her book away. "Come on, Sophie. You don't need to spy to figure out why Maya would want to spend lots of time with Karen."

Sophie giggles. "Okay, yeah, that's fair."

Jaron cocks his head, frowning. "...huh?"

Jenny snorts. "What, you haven't figured it out?"

Jaron's frown deepens into a scowl. "What are you talking about?"

"What are they talking about?" you say, looking at Sensei.

He rolls his eyes and says nothing.

"Boys," says Gemma, going back to her book.

"You'll figure it out, Jaron," says Sophie, still giggling. She pats him on the hand. "Eventually."

Jaron glares at them all. "Come on, what is it? Tell me!"

"Yeah, tell him!" you say. "I wanna know!"

Jaron twitches. "Okay, seriously, you all don't hear that?"

Jenny rolls her eyes. "We don't hear anything, Jar. And we're not telling you why, either. If you can't figure it out, you don't deserve to know."

"Hey! And don't call me that!"

You are struck with an abrupt sense of déjà vu.

"It's just a nickname," says Jenny.

"Just call me Jaron," he says, crossing his arms. "It's my name."

"Fine," says Jenny. "But we're still not telling you."

Jaron opens his mouth to respond-

-and the room shakes, a distant boom echoing through the air.

Your friends all freeze for a second. "Did you hear that?" asks Jaron, his voice sour.

"Scion," says Sensei, his eyes wide.

"I feel it," you say, snatching at his hand.

Bring me to the power levels I'm sensing.

And with a mind-bending twist of reality, you-

-go exactly nowhere.

Sensei frowns at you and looks north.

And twist.

You appear in his home. "Hey!" you say. "What-?"

He flicks you on the forehead, and everything goes dark.

* * *​

You come to back in your chair. Sensei is already hauling himself back up. "You're fragile as a shade, we can't risk you in a fight like that until you're far more experienced. You can teleport, getting there in physical form is just a matter of- sensing- where is the damnable thing-?"

He exclaims in triumph, snatching something up, and hurries over to you. "Senzu bean. You're not hurt, but you're sore and you need to move now. I'll bill your father. Go."

You swallow the bean without complaint, only chewing once or twice. Strength flows through your body, chasing away the stiffness of your body's coma. You lunge into the air, your fingers scrabbling at your forehead-

vip

* * *
​

You appear on a rise overlooking the vast tracts of forest outside your home city, just as a pair of struggling fighters smash through the foliage ahead of you. You lunge back and hide in a bush, suppressing your power level as low as it'll go and taking stock.

Dad, what's happening? you send, staring at the fighters in front of you.

You instantly recognize Cabba, the leader of the hunting patrol you selected, Masqued.

What you don't recognize is the figure he's fighting, but you don't need to; they are definitely an alien.

Kakara! replies your father, relieved. Thank the Ancestors, I couldn't get ahold of you and I was so worried-

Dad, later! you snap, watching the fight. What's going on?

Your hunting party found a scout, he says. It looks like they split up. But their target discovered them, and-

I think I've got it, you say as Cabba unleashes a colossal blast at the alien.

Are you there? asks Dad.

Yards away, you reply. I need to focus, Dad. Cabba's- wait, what is he doing?

Cabba's power level, you know, is seven million in saiyan form. He doesn't have the best practice with his Masque, though, and can only access a little over 2 million units as a human.

None of which explains why he's fighting at a measly eighty thousand.

My doing, says Dad, sounding miserable. All of our warriors are under orders not to break eighty thousand if attacked.

You gape, baffled. Why?!

Maya, he says. It's the same reason I've kept my own power level so low. I'll explain later. You can go as high as you've shown her, maybe twenty thousand over if you think she won't sense it. I have to go now -- coordinating reinforcements. Put an end to this, Kakara.

He cuts out.

You snarl quietly in frustration. As high as you've shown Maya? You've still been trailing her; she's only seen 100,000 from you.

And from what you're sensing, that's nowhere near enough.

You stare at the alien Cabba is fighting. It's covered in scales and has eight arms. Its limbs seem almost spindly, but they move with whip-crack speed and deceptive strength. It has a tail, which it uses to fight just as much as its limbs. Its eyes are set deep back into its skull, and glitter malevolently out at the world. The alien is wearing a sleek, dark green armor that shimmers in the afternoon light and slips in and out of the background, and you see a scouter variant of strange design on its head.

And its power level is sitting squarely at 150,000. It powers straight through Cabba's blast and smashes the warrior to the ground.

Cabba! you send as the Masqued saiyan rolls out of his fall and flies to the side. Are you alright?

Scion! he replies, weaving in between a barrage of blasts. Never better!

Crazy man actually sounds sincere.

Cabba's human form is red-haired, the locks tumbling in smooth, straight lines down to his shoulders. He's built large, muscles bulging on every limb. And he's covered in bruises and scrapes, records of his fight against this alien.

That said, he says, I- oof! A blast impacts on his chest and knocks him out of the sky. ...I may need some help. I'm losing.

You growl to yourself. This is ridiculous. Cabba has enough power to completely trivialize this, and he-

You gasp, looking to the east.

Maya's ki signature snaps onto the edges of your awareness, shrieking in as fast as she can fly.

Your eyes widen, and you whisper, "Crap."

Kakara! says Dad, re-establishing the link. Take him down before she arrives! I don't care how you do it or if you need to show more power than you have before; we need him down and out of sight before she gets here!

You look back and forth, judging your friend's speed. If you keep to 100,000, you have a subjective minute before she arrives. You need to decide, and swiftly.

---

Something, as mentioned, went rightwrong. Your scouts rolled well in finding the scouts' trail, but not well enough to remain undetected themselves. Please note that all of the below votes have Kakara acting with a maximum of non-lethal force; if you wish to use lethal force you will need to write that in at a 0.5x weighting penalty. Vote for all that apply, by plan. Internally-contradictory plans will be struck from the tally.

Maya's power level has grown since your last update on the topic, to 158,384. You are three months into the year.

[ ] (0.7x) Engage immediately.
-[ ] Keep to 100,000.
-[ ] Go to 200,000.
[ ] Intercept Maya and get her to stay away.
-[ ] Write in how (approach and tone).
[ ] Try to talk down the alien (write in approach and tone; may be diplomatic or in the vein of demanding a surrender).
[ ] Or, on the other hand, win immediately. Transform, go straight to full power, and just teleport this alien to the Training Hall. You can deal with it behind the wards. Honestly, you're tempted to do this...but if you're just a hint too slow, you'll be transformed and out from under the wards for just long enough for Maya to sense you at full power. You don't think that's at all likely, the the severity of the problem that that would be gives you pause. It would also show the alien for certain that you're a saiyan, unless you knocked them out immediately. (Make an opposed Ki Control check versus Maya's Ki Sense. You are very likely to succeed, but if you don't...)
-[ ] Select additional options regarding what you'll do once you have the alien there.
[ ] (0.7x) ...sorry, Dad. The time for secrecy has passed. Power up and join the fight. Wait for Maya to catch up, and take down the alien together.
-[ ] At 100,000.
-[ ] At 200,000.
[ ] Order Cabba to retreat. His power level makes him more liability than asset here.
[ ] Order Cabba to stay and assist. Power level or not, a trained eye is always valuable.
[ ] Write-in.

THIS VOTE IS NOW CLOSED.

We are now at HAPCON 2, with the beginning of open combat. If you resolve this before the other scouts show up and intervene, at 2 it will remain, or possibly even drop back to 3. 4 or 5 are quite out of reach, though. I hope you all enjoyed the vision quest, because that question is now tabled.

Have fun with that whiplash, now. Enjoy, everybody! I will.

THE FASTER-PACED VOTING CYCLES HAVE CONCLUDED. I WILL HOLD THIS VOTE AS NORMAL; UNTIL VOTING HAS LARGELY SETTLED.

THREE-HOUR MORATORIUM. I ADVISE CAREFUL DISCUSSION. THIS ENCOUNTER WILL MOST LIKELY HAVE LONG-REACHING CONSEQUENCES.​

 

[PoptartProdigy]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[X] Plan Crapbaskets
-[X] Communicate this plan to Cabba and Dad.
-[X] Get Cabba to get the alien's back towards us. He has at most 10 seconds to do so.
-[X] Power Up to 200k
-[X] SURPRISE SCOUTER/HEADGEAR SMASH FROM BEHIND! (using IT)
--[X] Try to get any headgear or obvious/probable comm gear off of him entirely
---[X] But don't like, take his head off. That'd probably be unhealthy, even for an alien.
--[X] At this point, Cabba disengages if he can safely do so, but stays near.
-[X] Try to grab him and teleport to the Hall.
--[X] If we can't do that in one try, knock the alien out (if our first blow didn't)
---[X] Then IT to the Hall with the knocked-out scout
--[X]i f we can get him to the Hall, knock him out as soon as practical after arrival.

Please refer to the bottom of this update for a word on what exactly happened here.

Consequence
​

You take a step forward, and freeze.

What on Earth are you doing?

Hurting people is wrong -- and what you've come up with is going to hurt this person. Yes, they're fighting, but you haven't exhausted all of your options, not yet. You can still talk, you can still negotiate, you can still fix this. This doesn't have to go wrong. People are reasonable. They don't have to fight. You proved that at the Council; you can do it again now! You-

The scout smashes Cabba into the ground, no longer playing along, and you close your eyes. I'm going to smash its gear and IT it to the Hall, you send to Dad and Cabba. Cabba, keep its back to me.

Yes, Scion- agh...

Cabba rolls aside as the alien tries to finish him and starts madly dancing to evade the incoming fire. He stands in a cage of ki blasts. With every second they come closer. He comes within a heartbeat of death more than once.

But before that happens, you transmit in and kick the scout in the side of the head, smashing his scouter as you power up to 200,000. In the distance, Maya's presence halts in sudden shock.

The alien snarls, and in the half-second you need to readjust to your new position well enough to transmit again, it flips with the momentum of your strike and re-orients mid-spin to face you. It fires off a ki blast that skims perilously close to you, you dodge, and-

You grimace. Combat is joined.

Trait Gained: Cognitive Dissonance.

No matter that you hate the idea, you're good at this. You've always prepared for the day that your strength was needed, even if you were willing-

You shake your head, correcting yourself. Even if you thought you were willing to do whatever it took to avoid violence unless it was completely necessary, you've always prepared for the day that you would be needed to protect your people. And you need to bring all of that to bear right now; you need to fight distracted, and transmit this invader to the Hall before it can escape or Maya can arrive. You lunge forward and snap out of the way of one of the alien's strikes. You hand lands on its shoulder, your fingers come to your fore-

BANG

You choke, gasping for breath as a titanic blow lands on your ribcage and sends you spiraling back. You manage to recover, though, and punt the scout away as it zooms in to take advantage of your momentary incapacitation.

"How did a child get this strong?!" it exclaims, scowling at you. "You must be twice as strong as that so-called 'warrior.'"

You don't reply. You've already made your choice; the time for discussion has passed.

You lunge forward again, aiming for the creature's face. It spins out of the way, and snaps a strike into the back of your skull that makes you see stars. You snap down and away, blinking blearily.

The alien's face twists; if you didn't know better, you'd guess in disdain. "You're no fighter." It lunges forward, trying to engage you in hand-to-hand. You fire off a blast to ward it off, but it does something you don't follow and-

WHAM

You choke as it punches you in the stomach and hop backwards, getting your wind back. You swiftly regain your footing as it presses forward, trying to capitalize on the strike.

"You're just a powerful child," it says, falling back before your superior strength. Listening to its voice, you tentatively decide to characterize it as male. The scout hops back, glaring down at Cabba. "This is how you escape, oh so-called 'warrior?' You send your young to fight me?" Its eyebrows lower in a scowl. "Your cowardice sickens me."

Cabba's eyes widen in rage.

Don't react! you send to him. Stay out of this! Stay in range, but keep back unless I say otherwise!

He grits his teeth, but obeys. The scout snorts, turning back towards you. "You can't win this fight, child," it says. "Turn away. You don't need to stand in for your elders when they fail. Just go home. You don't need to fight today."

But your choice was already made. You glare back at the alien and lunge forward, back to the attack. If he can keep you from transmitting, you'll just have to knock him out first.

You press the alien backwards in earnest now, and the shockwaves from your fight ring out across the landscape. Every punch levels a hundred feet of trees. Each errant blast kicks up an explosion that vaporizes a mile of plant and animal life. You stand at the center of it, slowly pushing the alien back. You sense it trying to do something with its ki -- calling for help, maybe. No matter. You press harder, and keep it from doing so by forcing its attention onto you.

But it's not as easy as it should be. You are coming to realize what it means to face a truly practiced fighter; this feels like Jaffur all over again. No matter what you try, the alien is just better than you -- better at controlling the fight. You think you're the superior hand-to-hand fighter; so it simply doesn't tend to let you close to hand-to-hand. You're the more powerful; so it puts itself in a good position to avoid having to take hits. This, you are coming to understand, is what it means to face a fighter learned in a style.

Despite your years of training, you realize only now how much of an amateur you are. Despite all of your strength, you can't keep in contact with the alien long enough to knock it out.

But ultimately, you are stronger; overwhelmingly so. This scout is fighting masterfully, but you are fast enough to cover your mistakes and his successes. You stay ahead of his ripostes and wear him down bit by bit. Eventually, he'll be weak enough that he won't be able to continue evading. At this intensity, he'll be exhausted in just enough time that you can knock him out and extract him before Maya arrives. You're still winning, if slowly.

And then a sudden, crushing impact sends you spinning to the forest floor.

You wheeze for breath, trying to analyze what just happened. You were lunging him to wind him before slamming your knee into his face, but he twisted around your strike in a move that made your eyes hurt trying to follow it. He nearly broke one of your ribs in the strike he launched off of that.

But you're still ready to go. You climb up, gasping, and look at your opponent.

He stares down at you. "I don't want to hurt you, child. But you're leaving me little choice." It glances off in the distance. "That other signature I recorded before you smashed my scouter will be here soon. I can't keep fighting like this." The reptile looks you in the eye. You start; its eyes have shifted from the black beads they were before. They now glow bright red. "This fight is done."

BANG

There is no windup. No screaming. Just a moment of tensing, and the alien is gone is a surge of glowing red ki. And when it clears, you gasp in horror.

The scout has transformed.

Spikes rise from his shoulders, and he's doubled his mass by bulk. His armor is shattered by the sudden expansion. Most terrifyingly of all, all of the alien's growth is proportional; he hasn't bulked up, he's simply expanded to twice his former size. You don't think this is going to make him any slower.

And his power level is sitting just short of three hundred thousand.

His eyes narrow.

tsew

WHAM

You reel backwards at the strike and frantically look around for where he-

BANG

tsew

Okay, he's definitely faster. How do you get out of-

tsew

SLAM

You land back-first in the dirt, gasping.

The alien hovers above you, wreathed in his aura. He turns to look over his shoulder. You follow his gaze.

Maya rockets into the clearing, surrounded by her aura. She hesitates for the briefest of moments, confusion and horror painting her expression. Then she sees you.

"KAREN!" With a flare of ki, your friend charges the scout head-on, hopelessly outmatched and with restraint thrown to the wind.

Dad... you send. ...I lost.

---

For the first time, I would characterize this as a situation that this hivemind of ours fairly lost via a suboptimal vote as opposed to, "forced into fighting a FPSSJ in hand-to-hand." I'll cover the whys below. First:

A FRIEND OF YOURS IS IN DANGER. "HOT-BLOODED" HAS ACTIVATED. VOTE WEIGHTING IN EFFECT.

[ ] Call for help (write-in who). Unnecessary; handled as part of previous vote.
[ ] 2.0x Get up and fight. Maya can't win this on her own. She needs your help.
-[ ] At your current power level.
-[ ] At 500,000.
-[ ] 2.5x At your Masqued maximum.
[ ] Flee the field with Cabba and Maya in tow. Know when to fold in a fight.

How will you be fighting?

[ ] Continue to try to isolate the scout at the Training Hall. With two targets to watch he should slip up eventually.
[ ] Just take him down.
[ ] Not. We wrote in something not involving fighting for the other vote.

THESE VOTES ARE NOW CLOSED.

Write-ins remain welcome.

Now, what we're all wondering: what just happened?

The core problem with this vote is that, for the first time, you all have smacked into the divide between Kakara and yourselves. Bluntly stated, Kakara isn't a simple thread mouthpiece, or I wouldn't have traits. She has her own opinions and thoughts. The "rules" for how Kakara acts are found in the Traits section of her character sheet, and the "exceptions," when applicable, may be found in other places on the sheet; if something you find contradicts a trait, then it's one of those exceptions. Pacifism vs. your relationship with Dandeer Vegeta is the most notable one. The short version of what went wrong today is that the vote broke a very important "rule" without benefiting from any "exception" at all -- namely, that Kakara does not share your nuanced interpretations of the necessity of violence vs. the virtues of non-violence, as I've said (many times) before. And what happens when somebody acts against a deeply-held belief of theirs without a personally-acceptable reason?

That's the short version. But I like words.

Spoiler: The Long Version

Many members of the thread argued against the non-violent write-in vote. Some argued that its vector for diplomacy -- which did, to be fair, involve some blunt intimidation -- couldn't truly count as pacifism due to the silent threat of force backing it. This was incorrect, but I understood how and why they arrived at that argument. Some people argued that the time for talking had passed; the enemy had engaged, and stopping to chat only endangered your people further. They argued that a truly rational, responsible actor could not ethically halt violence in order to engage in discourse with an uncertain result. There were many arguments. Some rational, some not. Some well-constructed, some relying on unfounded assumptions. Some people argued that this was a (at least marginally) non-violent course of action.

No. That's not how it works. Violence is violence is violence; what matters is if it's needful. We're all mature people. We can accept that uncomfortable truth.

Overall, however, the general reasons for the thread's rejection of non-violent solutions were nuanced, serious, well-articulated, and intelligent arguments for the benefits of swift action, and I applaud their construction even while admitting that I do not find them personally convincing, being privy to all of the information.

They are not how Kakara approaches the problem of violence. The Pacifist Trait is very clear: "Where once you avoided [fighting and violence] out of simple distaste, you now do so out of moral obligation. They aren't unpleasant, they're wrong." I have also gone on-record in the thread as saying that this does not preclude Kakara making violent responses to situations. As ever, the way the thread votes is the way Kakara acts, for one thing. Another example is that traits can occasionally contradict each other. This actively occurring isn't safe, but it's IC for Kakara should it ever arise. But crucially, I've explicitly stated that Kakara may use violence as a last resort without being out of character. I have explicitly characterized the development of traits as the progressive development of gradually-more-nuanced points of view -- and I have specifically called out Gohan-esque, "It is not a sin to fight for the right cause," points of view, over and over again, to some of the same individuals who still based their arguments in this vote on those points of view, as beyond Kakara's ability to reason at this time. This is not how Kakara thinks, and I have made that abundantly apparent.

I know I seem frustrated. I am. I have been anything but evasive on this point. That Kakara doesn't share your points of view yet should not come as a shock given my explicit statements to the contrary. This is why I engage with the thread as much as I do, and...it didn't really seem to stop this from happening.

Kakara's traits are her personality. The thread has the power to effect change on her personality, but changing one's mind is not instant. It is the product of time and experience. You don't lose a trait the instant you act against it. Depending on how you do that, you might gain consequences instead.

Now, as to what your new trait means: Pacifist is a foundational trait. That means it is uniquely significant to Kakara's character in a way that other traits are not. This is one of those things that define her core as a person. In fact, this is a trait you have deliberately developed; it is not only uniquely significant to Kakara, it is a dimension of her personal philosophy that she has invested significant time and mental effort into developing. Contravening that was never going to be pretty; not unless you took the time to lay out the groundwork on Kakara changing her mind, which you haven't had the opportunity to do in earnest. Consider: the only other NPC you know to have serious change upon foundational traits is your father. Does he appear uniquely well-adjusted to you when it comes to the traits in question? I would hope not. He's not an inescapable prophecy of what happens if you go against foundational traits, but he's an example of what happens if you do so in a way that is drastically out of previously-established character. In this case, you have taken a step along his road.

Trait Gained: Cognitive Dissonance. You believe that violence is wrong, no matter what. Sometimes people won't let you act that way, but you know that you should never try to hurt another person unless it's your absolute last resort. When the scouts came to Garenhuld, you had the opportunity to put those beliefs into practice. It was your moment. And when it came down to it...you just couldn't follow through. Effects: lose all effects of "Pacifist" and "Convictions," effective immediately from receipt of this trait. Gain a flat -10 to Willpower. The QM will occasionally force Willpower checks on matters relating to fighting or violence until this mismatch in your beliefs and your actions is resolved, in one direction or another.

In short: yes, you messed up. You know better now. I know you all will rise to the challenge and learn from this.

And if I see one damn comment that looks even remotely like an "I told you so," I'm not going to play nice this time and give my usual three requests for de-escalation. Some of you did, in fact, say so, yes, but pointing that out is not remotely productive or constructive. I want you to sit on that feeling, and realize that the people you'd address it to are already well aware that you did, in fact, say so. We had our first moderator visit thanks to the last update's discussion. I am in no mood to deal with behavior courting a second.

The text of your new trait is the boldtext paragraph in the spoiler box above.

Now, as to why you failed your objectives: you're currently fighting an experienced and excellent fighter, despite his low power level, and you straight-up blew your check to stop him transforming. Cookies weren't enough to stop it. Even before then, he didn't need to fight to win; he just needed to avoid being knocked unconscious outright, and disrupt what attempts at teleportation you made. Once Kakara started wearing him down, I had him transform in response. He then had a massive power level advantage. As for why I didn't break for a new vote? The leading competitor for this vote in favor of fighting called for breaking for a new vote if you were unsuccessful, and the winning plan did not. Ordinarily, my assumption is that I break for votes if something extraordinary occurs, but when one of the plans specifically calls for breaking for a vote in the event of failure and the other declines to add such, I take the omission as deliberate.

The primary factor behind the disparity in performance was his Style. His Style, from what you can see, focuses heavily on battlefield control and maintaining open lines of maneuver. He was able to consistently position himself in a way that he gained environmental bonuses to his rolls atop his usual bonuses from skills and his style. Before the cookies you all donated, this led to him winning handily; after, it led to a near-stalemate that he slowly lost -- before he transformed. Afterwards, he straight-up trashed you.

As for the cookie rolls: bluffing the alien via Cabba did require a Deceit check. If you recall, way back in "Prelude," you bluffed Dad into taking a Solar Flare to the face so that you could abscond with Jaffur. This was a Deceit check. Bluffs in combat do require the Deceit skill, and I presumed this to be evident based on that past experience. I'll try to insert reminders in the future, but I can't promise perfection. The failure of this Deceit check caused you to fail on destroying your opponent's scouter, which allowed him to phone out and get backup. Cookies fixed this. You also, independently, failed a roll to keep him from using his ki signature as a distress signal. That's right -- you originally lost so badly that you couldn't even keep his whole attention on the fight. The two less-critical rolls were just bog-standard exchanges in which he broke your arm. With cookies, none of the above happened.

I imagine that it's too much to hope that you all enjoy this update, but I hope you are engaged by it nonetheless. Once again, be civil, refrain from assigning fault or I-told-you-sos (failure analysis is fine, just don't get personal with it), and figure out the brilliant solution I know you all are capable of. I look forward to seeing your discussion, and remind you once again that it's going to be alright. This one defeat is not a final one. You can still pull this out. I have faith that you will.

Have fun trying.

THERE WILL BE A FOUR-HOUR MORATORIUM ON ACTUAL VOTING, TO ALLOW YOU ALL TO DIGEST AND DISCUSS​