I'm not even bothering with listing all the options out. Plan @KnightDisciple wins, in a landslide.
[X]Attend School (Mandatory): Time-consuming, tiring, and the part that you're most likely to be discovered doing. Unfortunately, you really have no choice. Current grades: trending A-. Effect: Attend school.
-[X] Maintain Grades (2 actions): You're good where you are. Let's just get the effort in to stick it out and then focus on other things. Effect: Maintain grades.
[X] Training (Mandatory, 2 actions): You have a responsibility to master the transformation you unlocked last summer. Dad's going to require you to train hard until you manage that. It might take a while, though.
-[X] Train Base Strength (Mandatory, counts as 1 of Training's 2 actions): You can hardly conceive of being at 375 million units. But if Dad has his way, you'll get there soon. Effect: Raise your base form's strength by conventional training.
-[X] Train Super Saiyan Strength (Mandatory, counts as 1 of Training's 2 actions): If 375 is a big number, try 750. By undergoing the specialist training required to become a Full-Power Super Saiyan, you just might hit it. Effect: Through rigorous meditation and endurance training, increase your Super Saiyan strength.
[X] 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, though.
-[X] Train Your Tail (1 action): It frickin' hurts when somebody grabs that thing. Even Dad was helpless when Jaffur did it. You don't like that. Effect: Train to overcome and work past the sensitivity of your tail, removing a crippling weakness.
-[X] Train Oozaru (1 action): The Giant Ape form is rife with drawbacks, from a complete loss of sanity to a massive growth in size that makes you a huge, slow target. To boot, it doesn't even boost you as much as Super Saiyan at its meanest does. Still, you can't shake the feeling that there's potential there... Effect: once monthly, during the full moon, torture yourself with attempts to bring the Giant Ape form under your full control and to become comfortable in it. You feel like you'd do better with this than most other things in this category.
[X] 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.
-[X] Research Styles (1 action): There are many styles out there for the eager student to learn. Effect: Go searching for a style that suits you, gaining a comprehensive list of known styles and their effects and then having the opportunity to pick one to begin training.[Hidden Effect]
[X] The Mysteries: You have always wondered about the strange abilities your people sometimes possess. Nobody expects either of a Scion, and after this summer you feel uncomfortable with sorcery in particular, but you could choose to study here...
-[X] Test for Seer/Magic Abilities (1 action): Do you even have these? Effect: Discover latent Seer or Sorcery abilities. You don't feel quite comfortable with magic after this summer, but you'd still like to know.
[X] The Pulse of Life: You are a part of this society, and it's the people who make it tick.
-[X] A Meeting (1 action): Dad tells you that Lady Vegeta would like to speak with you in person about what happened last summer. Effect: Meet with Lady Vegeta and find out what she has to say.
-[X] A Scion's Duties (1 action): You'll moderate these fractious, violent people one day...you'd better start practicing. Effect: Learn the art of diplomacy and Clan management at the feet of your father, improving your Communication Skill and learning more about Clan politics.
[X] Personal: Sometimes, you just want to do things on your own time.
-[X] Sound out Apra Goku (1 action): Your grandmother has let her skills slip since your father became Lord, but is still a Super Saiyan. What does she think of recent events? Effect: Sound out your paternal grandmother.
-[X] Gentle Soul (1 action): You don't like fighting, and you don't think you ever will. Effect: As you age and mature, take the time to reflect on your thoughts towards fighting and violence, and what they mean for you and your life. Develop Gentle trait. 15 votes
[X]Attend School (Mandatory): Time-consuming, tiring, and the part that you're most likely to be discovered doing. Unfortunately, you really have no choice. Current grades: trending A-. Effect: Attend school.
-[X] Maintain Grades (2 actions): You're good where you are. Let's just get the effort in to stick it out and then focus on other things. Effect: Maintain grades.
[X] Training (Mandatory, 2 actions): You have a responsibility to master the transformation you unlocked last summer. Dad's going to require you to train hard until you manage that. It might take a while, though.
-[X] Train Base Strength (Mandatory, counts as 1 of Training's 2 actions): You can hardly conceive of being at 375 million units. But if Dad has his way, you'll get there soon. Effect: Raise your base form's strength by conventional training.
-[X] Train Super Saiyan Strength (Mandatory, counts as 1 of Training's 2 actions): If 375 is a big number, try 750. By undergoing the specialist training required to become a Full-Power Super Saiyan, you just might hit it. Effect: Through rigorous meditation and endurance training, increase your Super Saiyan strength.
[X] 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, though.
-[X] Train Your Tail (1 action): It frickin' hurts when somebody grabs that thing. Even Dad was helpless when Jaffur did it. You don't like that. Effect: Train to overcome and work past the sensitivity of your tail, removing a crippling weakness.
-[X] Train Oozaru (1 action): The Giant Ape form is rife with drawbacks, from a complete loss of sanity to a massive growth in size that makes you a huge, slow target. To boot, it doesn't even boost you as much as Super Saiyan at its meanest does. Still, you can't shake the feeling that there's potential there... Effect: once monthly, during the full moon, torture yourself with attempts to bring the Giant Ape form under your full control and to become comfortable in it. You feel like you'd do better with this than most other things in this category.
[X] 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.
-[X] Research Styles (1 action): There are many styles out there for the eager student to learn. Effect: Go searching for a style that suits you, gaining a comprehensive list of known styles and their effects and then having the opportunity to pick one to begin training.[Hidden Effect]
[X] The Mysteries: You have always wondered about the strange abilities your people sometimes possess. Nobody expects either of a Scion, and after this summer you feel uncomfortable with sorcery in particular, but you could choose to study here...
-[X] Test for Seer/Magic Abilities (1 action): Do you even have these? Effect: Discover latent Seer or Sorcery abilities. You don't feel quite comfortable with magic after this summer, but you'd still like to know.
[X] The Pulse of Life: You are a part of this society, and it's the people who make it tick.
-[X] A Meeting (1 action): Dad tells you that Lady Vegeta would like to speak with you in person about what happened last summer. Effect: Meet with Lady Vegeta and find out what she has to say.
-[X] A Scion's Duties (1 action): You'll moderate these fractious, violent people one day...you'd better start practicing. Effect: Learn the art of diplomacy and Clan management at the feet of your father, improving your Communication Skill and learning more about Clan politics.
[X] Personal: Sometimes, you just want to do things on your own time.
-[X] Sound out Apra Goku (1 action): Your grandmother has let her skills slip since your father became Lord, but is still a Super Saiyan. What does she think of recent events? Effect: Sound out your paternal grandmother.
-[X] Gentle Soul (1 action): You don't like fighting, and you don't think you ever will. Effect: As you age and mature, take the time to reflect on your thoughts towards fighting and violence, and what they mean for you and your life. Develop Gentle trait. 15 votes
Eye of the Storm
Every time you've transformed, it has been in grief or anger.
In tears, over the apparent death of your father.
In sheer, frustrated rage over Jaffur's horrifying fate.
And every time, you light the world gold and perform feats of strength fit to tear the earth asunder.
But that is not where true mastery lies.
You sit upon the floor of the Training Hall, right in the center of it all, transformed.
Your eyes are closed and your breathing is slow. Your hands rest on your knees, and your legs are crossed.
Your aura lights the stone around you, and those in the Hall stay well clear.
The secret of mastering the Super Saiyan transformation is not one shared with Saiyan society at large. The risk, should some ambitious House choose to start raising its own Super Saiyans in order to rebel, would be too great. Historically, even the rebellious -- and now quite extinct -- House Talt never learned the secret, only managing to achieve the Ascended and Ultimate variants. Ultimately, these of course were not sufficient to save them against Yammar Vegeta, the then-lord, and his son Vegeta.
But you have the secret.
So you burn brightly, flaring your aura until the most distant walls reflect it back at you -- brightly enough that nobody can see what you're doing.
And at the eye of that storm, you meditate, and feel your power stir and grow.
You have broken through your barriers and become legend. And now, you have mastered that legend.
Ability Lost: Super Saiyan, Basic.
Ability Gained: Super Saiyan, Full-Power.
* * *
Dad tells you to stay transformed for as long as you can in order to let your body grow used to the form.
That extends even to when he trains your base strength.
You zip out of the way of a strike, flashing out of sight for a moment, and charge back in towards him, screaming.
He simply leans back, letting you pass right by him. "Not good enough, Kakara," he says.
Fingers to forehead-
vip
-and swing-
Your fist goes through his afterimage, and a ki blast bursts on the back of your skull. You pinwheel through the air, grumbling to yourself.
You drop your stance and scowl at him. "This is stupid," you say, hands clenched tightly. "I'm not getting any stronger by having you wail on me all day!"
"Sure you are," he says, grinning. "Time-honored training method. I'm told Ancestor Goku himself did the same with Gohan."
You simply deepen your scowl and let the joke fall flat. His smile turns steadily sicklier, and he eventually sighs, looking away. "Target practice. South wall of the Hall. Go." He flies off, something in the set of his shoulders looking profoundly defeated.
You turn south and flare your aura, bringing up your hands.
SKREEEE!
BANG!
You feel oddly better after that. Perhaps a hundred more will help.
Anything to get your mind off of Dad's face just then.
While even the training-averse have reached the zenith of their power in a year's time before, you are not locked up in a training chamber 24/7. While you have made impressive progress, you have nonetheless snagged badly on diminishing returns. Perhaps another year's effort will see your progress done.
Base Power Level: 190 Million. Experiencing diminishing returns.
* * *
That night, you sneak out of the house. With enough focus on your ki, it's not that hard to evade your Dad's notice.
You fly out into the center of the Hall and sit down, your tail curled around you. You've been meaning to do something, lately, so you might as well try.
You remember how Dad just...went limp...when Jaffur grabbed his tail. You hate that. You hate that a lot. You can't abide the thought of somebody doing it to you.
But...they say that in order to fight something, you need to know it.
Before you can think better of it, you reach down and give your tail a good hard squeeze.
* * *
That may not have been the best idea.
* * *
It turns out, there is a reason why few people train the weakness out of their tails. Simply put, being grabbed there is a living agony that completely incapacitates you. Every muscle in your body goes limp, and you are helpless.
Your first step in training yourself out of it is forcing yourself to not let go.
And eventually, you "succeed."
And then come the months and months of lonely nights spent shrieking into the sky as you try to move another muscle – any other muscle – in the face of the sheer, crippling pain. Perhaps an adult – a warrior used to pain – could deal with the agony in silence and with stoicism, but you are a mere child.
On one such night, tears rolling down your face and your voice going hoarse, you finally manage to slowly, horribly, curl the fingers on your other hand into a fist. That is the first step on the road to excising this weakness.
And by the end of the year, the pain is nothing. You have moved beyond it.
That said…you're never going quite going to happily remember the sheer agony you put yourself through to do it. You don't sleep very well anymore. But, hey! Thanks to the Masque, you don't really need to most of the time. So…good?
Somebody could tear your tail clean off without bothering you overly much at this point. Also, you are slightly traumatized.
Ability Gained: Trained Tail.
* * *
It's not all the delightful fun and games of causing yourself crippling agony on a nightly basis, though.
After all, in the daytime you get to be a human.
You've never liked your Masque. It's uncomfortable, your strength is a mere fraction of your true power, and you don't have a tail.
It escapes you entirely how your ancestors once so casually snipped their own children's tails clean off of their spines, but you would fight with everything you had to protect yours. It's one of your limbs. And the hair on it is nice and silky. Like a really smooth teddy bear.
But you don't have one of those in the daytime, because then you aren't Kakara. You're Karen, ordinary starting school student. And you are, quite carefully, a good student.
You've done well enough in class by simple virtue of being very smart. You have good grades, but not the best. You perform as expected, but don't put yourself forward. You make sure that nobody has reason to comment either positively or negatively on the extremes of your performance.
But your heart's not in it. You simply have no passion for school. With everything else going on in your life, you don't have it in you to do anything other than keep yourself where you always have, and then go do what you actually want to do. You show up. You perform. You go home. You do your homework. You forget everything to do with the human world until you're standing at the school's doors again the next morning. You do the bare minimum to be unexceptional either way and simply clock right out of human society. Who has time for it?
But you haven't factored in that that itself might be a little odd to an outsider.
You're in the cafeteria, munching on a sandwich and ignoring everything in favor of focusing on how weird your appetite is as a human. This sandwich would be something you inhaled without thinking about it as a Saiyan, but here it's the biggest share of a meal. In fact, you don't think you're going to finish this one. You set it aside and sigh, slumping down onto your hands.
"Are you alright?"
You jerk, surprised and already spinning to attack the interloper who snuck up on oh wait it's just a human.
You calm down, reminding yourself that your senses are a lot less keen in this form. "Yes," you say, turning back to your food. You grab your sandwich, and then remember that you aren't hungry. You set it aside with an annoyed huff.
"You look angry," says the interloper, sitting down.
You glance stiffly at her. "I'm fine."
"You're always sitting by yourself, though!" She turns to you, reaching out with a hand. "I'm Sophie Schultz."
You eye her, warily extending a hand. "Karen Marsden."
"Hi!" she says, grinning.
You feel vaguely off-balance, and buy time by looking her up and down.
First thing: Sophie is big. Like, five inches on you at least. Fairly solidly-built, too. Not fat or anything, just big. She has long, curly, red hair and blue eyes, and she seems to have a wide, toothy smile plastered onto her face permanently.
You wonder if she intends to eat you.
"…hi." You empathize for a moment, vividly, with Jaffur. Is this what it's like talking to you?
"Why don't you come sit with us?" asks Sophie, pointing over her shoulder to where a cluster of other girls is sitting, unabashedly staring. They all look away when you glance at them, giggling nervously.
You give her a suspicious look. "Why?"
She shrugs. "You're always by yourself. You don't really talk to anybody, and you're always the first one to leave when the day's over. We're not that scary." Her grin widens as if to signify the joke.
You hesitate, scolding yourself. Oh yes, keep your head down. Stupid Kakara, just because Saiyan kids won't talk to you doesn't mean humans won't!
Sophie breaks you out of your self-castigation, nudging you with her shoulder. "Soooooo…gonna come sit with us?"
It would seem you've begun to acquire a reputation as something of a recluse in your human guise. Sophie here has taken notice, and the initiative to break you out of this shell. Allaying her suspicions is only a matter of spending time with her little group, but that has its own risks, if you don't guard your secrets closely enough. It's unlikely, but still.
Problem is…you've already budgeted time for the year. You're such a weirdly organized child that way. And you haven't left any for this. You could always try to make the time…but if you fail, something else would suffer for it.
How do you answer Sophie? THIS VOTE IS NOW CLOSED.
[ ] Yes. (Willpower check with a DC of 60 to successfully make time. If you fail, lose a random action. The actions covered above are mandatory or were rolled as occurring at a higher priority than this, and thus are safe. Cookies for this roll must be declared in advance, as a part of your vote. This will keep you from being such an obtrusive loner, but you'll have to make a very low-difficulty Deceit check to not drop a hint that makes somebody suspicious)
[ ] No. (No risk to your actions and no need for a Deceit check, but only because doing this gives Sophie a hint straight off the bat that something's off with you in the form of you being so determinedly reclusive. It won't give her anything to work with, and if you let your parents know they'll probably handle it fine, but you'll be all the more noticeable for it)
* * *
In which the QM reveals that the Masquerade is directly observable in play.
Yeah, you have to worry about this. Your actions can and do affect the Masquerade. All Saiyans' do. And generally, their Heads or Lords can handle that. In this case, they probably will.
Random events like this will pop up from time to time in order to upset the usual pace of play with some unpredictability. They'll range from the fairly minor, like this, to the potentially disastrous ("The arc villain shows up! You hopes of attending college are scuppered."
No, that wasn't foreshadowing.
Maybe. )
I will say that you shouldn't worry too much over this. Neither choice is going to make or break the quest. But it does define Kakara a bit more as a person, and set up things down the line. Everything does. Have fun!
[X] Yes. (Willpower check with a DC of 60 to successfully make time. If you fail, lose a random action. The actions covered above are mandatory or were rolled as occurring at a higher priority than this, and thus are safe. Cookies for this roll must be declared in advance, as a part of your vote. This will keep you from being such an obtrusive loner, but you'll have to make a very low-difficulty Deceit check to not drop a hint that makes somebody suspicious)
[X] No (No risk to your actions and no need for a Deceit check, but only because doing this gives Sophie a hint straight off the bat that something's off with you in the form of you being so determinedly reclusive. It won't give her anything to work with, and if you let your parents know they'll probably handle it fine, but you'll be all the more noticeable for it)
The less dice rolls we need to make, the less disastrous things will be. Let's not make any, if we can help it.
[X] Yes. (Willpower check with a DC of 60 to successfully make time. If you fail, lose a random action. The actions covered above are mandatory or were rolled as occurring at a higher priority than this, and thus are safe. Cookies for this roll must be declared in advance, as a part of your vote. This will keep you from being such an obtrusive loner, but you'll have to make a very low-difficulty Deceit check to not drop a hint that makes somebody suspicious)
[X] Yes. (Willpower check with a DC of 60 to successfully make time. If you fail, lose a random action. The actions covered above are mandatory or were rolled as occurring at a higher priority than this, and thus are safe. Cookies for this roll must be declared in advance, as a part of your vote. This will keep you from being such an obtrusive loner, but you'll have to make a very low-difficulty Deceit check to not drop a hint that makes somebody suspicious)
It's too attractive a prospect not to socialise.
Also it might be nice for our character to have some friends who aren't bothered by her status, right?
[X] Yes. (Willpower check with a DC of 60 to successfully make time. If you fail, lose a random action. The actions covered above are mandatory or were rolled as occurring at a higher priority than this, and thus are safe. Cookies for this roll must be declared in advance, as a part of your vote. This will keep you from being such an obtrusive loner, but you'll have to make a very low-difficulty Deceit check to not drop a hint that makes somebody suspicious)
[X] Yes. (Willpower check with a DC of 60 to successfully make time. If you fail, lose a random action. The actions covered above are mandatory or were rolled as occurring at a higher priority than this, and thus are safe. Cookies for this roll must be declared in advance, as a part of your vote. This will keep you from being such an obtrusive loner, but you'll have to make a very low-difficulty Deceit check to not drop a hint that makes somebody suspicious)
[X] Yes. (Willpower check with a DC of 60 to successfully make time. If you fail, lose a random action. The actions covered above are mandatory or were rolled as occurring at a higher priority than this, and thus are safe. Cookies for this roll must be declared in advance, as a part of your vote. This will keep you from being such an obtrusive loner, but you'll have to make a very low-difficulty Deceit check to not drop a hint that makes somebody suspicious)
[X] Yes. (Willpower check with a DC of 60 to successfully make time. If you fail, lose a random action. The actions covered above are mandatory or were rolled as occurring at a higher priority than this, and thus are safe. Cookies for this roll must be declared in advance, as a part of your vote. This will keep you from being such an obtrusive loner, but you'll have to make a very low-difficulty Deceit check to not drop a hint that makes somebody suspicious)
I will toss my cookie in this.
[X] No. (No risk to your actions and no need for a Deceit check, but only because doing this gives Sophie a hint straight off the bat that something's off with you in the form of you being so determinedly reclusive. It won't give her anything to work with, and if you let your parents know they'll probably handle it fine, but you'll be all the more noticeable for it)
Even with Dunk's cookie, there's still a 25% chance of losing an action.
[X] No. (No risk to your actions and no need for a Deceit check, but only because doing this gives Sophie a hint straight off the bat that something's off with you in the form of you being so determinedly reclusive. It won't give her anything to work with, and if you let your parents know they'll probably handle it fine, but you'll be all the more noticeable for it)
Even with Dunk's cookie, there's still a 25% chance of losing an action.
[X] No. (No risk to your actions and no need for a Deceit check, but only because doing this gives Sophie a hint straight off the bat that something's off with you in the form of you being so determinedly reclusive. It won't give her anything to work with, and if you let your parents know they'll probably handle it fine, but you'll be all the more noticeable for it)
[X] Yes. (Willpower check with a DC of 60 to successfully make time. If you fail, lose a random action. The actions covered above are mandatory or were rolled as occurring at a higher priority than this, and thus are safe. Cookies for this roll must be declared in advance, as a part of your vote. This will keep you from being such an obtrusive loner, but you'll have to make a very low-difficulty Deceit check to not drop a hint that makes somebody suspicious)
[X] Yes. (Willpower check with a DC of 60 to successfully make time. If you fail, lose a random action. The actions covered above are mandatory or were rolled as occurring at a higher priority than this, and thus are safe. Cookies for this roll must be declared in advance, as a part of your vote. This will keep you from being such an obtrusive loner, but you'll have to make a very low-difficulty Deceit check to not drop a hint that makes somebody suspicious)
[x] Yes. (Willpower check with a DC of 60 to successfully make time. If you fail, lose a random action. The actions covered above are mandatory or were rolled as occurring at a higher priority than this, and thus are safe. Cookies for this roll must be declared in advance, as a part of your vote. This will keep you from being such an obtrusive loner, but you'll have to make a very low-difficulty Deceit check to not drop a hint that makes somebody suspicious)
Hrm.
I'm feeling like I wanna write something badly.
OMAKE TIME!
Kakara had been avoiding Berra, that much was certain, he understood it, to some degree, she didn't know what had happened, and he could see where she took anger, but...
But something had been getting worse, she was more tired, less talkative, more... Angry, it was frightening, seeing someone so young growing up like that, he was scared for his daughter just as much as she seemed to shun him at every opportunity, she was still a child and he knew that Kakara was a very driven girl, once she set her mind on something she'd almost never give up on it, even to the point of insanity, he missed her oddball behavior and boundless energy, so after much deliberation, he decided to meet with her, face-to-face.
The next day, he found her at the training arena, grimly firing blasts at the wall, she glanced over at her father on his entrance, of course she noticed him, she was always a prodigy at sensing energies, clearing his throat, he faced her, "Kakara."
"Dad."
"Kakara, I-I need to speak to you, can you please come down?"
The blasts of energy slow, and eventually stop altogether as she lowers herself down to the ground, facing her father dead on, nearly silent.
"Kakara, I can't say I'm sorry for what I did, but I can't let this keep going on, you're distancing yourself so much, and..."
Berra looked even older now, like his life was leaving him as he spoke.
"And I don't want to lose you like this."
Kakara just sighed, turning around and beginning to float upwards, "I don't expect you to apologise."
"Then what do you want, Kakara? You're so distant and tired and-and sad, why do you need to do this?"
Kakara whirls on her father, she doesn't even start yelling, just speaking in a deathly calm voice that very nearly unnerves Berra, "Why don't I need to do this? I can't let this go, I... I..."
She spins around again, shoulders shaking, "I need to get better, I'm just going to be doing this for a while longer."
"Kakara-"
"Please, just-"
She hisses in pain as a jolt of agony goes through her, she turns her head to see Berra, eyes widened, he hadn't meant to grab on to her tail, but in desperation, trying to keep her with him, he had clasped on to it.
But it wasn't just his accidental grab that had him staring, he saw her still standing, teeth clenched and hands tightly closed, certainly, but without falling, she had endured that pain.
"Kakara..."
"Please leave, dad."
She batted away his limp hand and floated back up, where she resumed blasting the far wall, Berra seemed to try and reach out to her, before his hand dropped to his side again, and walked away.
A bit small, but I found the mood strike me.
Also, Poptart, when you say 'a fraction of your normal power', how much power does Kakara have when in human form? A fraction of her power is still a bunch, after all.
[X] Yes. (Willpower check with a DC of 60 to successfully make time. If you fail, lose a random action. The actions covered above are mandatory or were rolled as occurring at a higher priority than this, and thus are safe. Cookies for this roll must be declared in advance, as a part of your vote. This will keep you from being such an obtrusive loner, but you'll have to make a very low-difficulty Deceit check to not drop a hint that makes somebody suspicious)
While I would normally say the less DC the better, We need a friend to keep us grounded.