In a way, Atelier Alchemy can be argued to be a sort of enlightenment of FMA alchemy because you are going past the physical/material toward metaphysical/spiritual properties. These metaphysical properties show up as traits in the game. At the same time, the actual material used in synthesis is mainly governed by elemental affinities and categories which may contain an umbrella of varied items.
From a story perspective, it would make logical sense too to see us dig deeper into the nature of reality culminating in Paracausality. So clearing Alchemy would lead to some nice bullshit we can do with Paracausality.
Even if another magic system pops up, I'm going to ignore it in favour of going Alchemy -> Paracausality pipeline. That and the Artisan grade items and armaments we make will end up getting infused with paracausal energy leading to further effectiveness and bringing them to greater heights.
Getting the painkillers had been easier than you thought it would be.
You could have just created some on your own, but getting the raw ingredients in the proper state of matter was a bit harder than pickpocketing an asshole off the street. As for how to know if someone was an asshole, it was a gift that you picked up when you were out on the street long enough.
Most people, those that were just trying to get by and did at least feel bad for the homeless, just tried not to make eye contact. Was it cold? Sure, but a lot of people would probably crumble if they did make eye contact and the homeless person asked for money.
Then there were the pricks. The ones that would look a homeless person in the eye and sneer at them. Because how dare a 'parasite' ask them for their hard-earned cash?
Some rich lady in a skirt that looked more expensive than enough food to feed you and Mia for an entire month had done that to you when you had walked past. She'd even wrinkled her nose when you walked by, but to be fair, even if you had taken a shower, Tom's washer and dryer were a bit… broken.
Could you fix it? Sure.
If you knew what part was supposed to do what, and that was going to require a manual or something.
Regardless, you bought some painkillers, rubbing alcohol, needle, thread, and a bunch of other minor medical tools. And you still had plenty of cash left over.
Keith teaching you how to nimbly move your fingers was something that you doubted that you would ever regret that you knew. You just had to be careful who to pickpocket. Didn't want to accidentally do that to a god or something.
Speaking of those assholes.
"I don't understand why you are being so stubborn about this! I promise that Camp is safe! You would be welcome with open arms, I promise." You could hear Pollux say, almost pleadingly, to the unamused Latina girl who was inspecting one hand like she wasn't interested, while she was biting the nails on her opposite hand.
"Simple. If whoever my mother is doesn't care enough to claim me, why the hell would I want to go to a camp 'dedicated' to her and her assholes siblings." Pollux flinched, and you all did the same, freezing in place as thunder roared outside, causing the building to shake.
"Be careful what you say." The slightly chubby teen said, white as a sheet, but noticeably not telling her she was wrong in what she said.
Tom was in the corner of the large room, checking his gun. Or rather… guns.
Turns out there were a lot of surprises in that bag of his, and enough weapons to arm a team and have some left over hadn't been what you had been expecting.
The old man snarled up at the sky, cocking a Desert Eagle with one hand while one of his mice shook her little paw at the ceiling.
An uneasy silence echoed after that, but Mia did not take back what she said, staring angrily at the floor with clenched fists while she let out a breath of rage.
"I'm still not going." She repeated. "Sure, the camp is safe, but that's all it is from what I heard from you. A camp. There is more to life than just a summer camp at Long Island."
Keith listened in from his spot over at the end of the bar, a drink in his hand, interested confusion in his eyes as he listened in while he threw an impressed nod when you placed the wad of cash on the bar.
Pollux laughed, a low, dark thing that… made a part of you hurt for a reason you couldn't quite understand. Like he was far too young to laugh like that.
"Trust me, you aren't saying anything that most of us at camp haven't thought. It's the same reason why a bunch of campers don't stay year round. Because they want to have at least some form of normal life. And every year… some of them don't come back when summer hits. Sometimes they'll even just be gone during summer vacation." Out of the corner of your eye, you could just barely catch Tom twitch, the hands that had been cleaning out his guns freezing in their routine movement as the old man stared at the eighteen-year-old.
You both saw something different in Pollux's eyes, a look that you only saw on Tom or some of the other Homeless vets that… weren't around anymore.
"If that's how you feel then why do you even stick around?" Unasked was the question, 'why do you still do what the gods tell you to do?'
"Because what else can we do?" He asked, a hollow gaze staring back as the pudgy boy seemed to look thinner in that one moment.
A quiet silence took over the room after that, none of you knowing exactly what to say to the dejected eighteen-year-old, the awkwardness of the argument taking over Mia's anger.
Keith decides to be the one to break the hold and clears his throat, gesturing towards the bags in your hands. "We got you some painkillers and other crap that should help with those injuries. Though none of us are doctors so not exactly sure how much help some of this stuff is going to be."
"Bah, that should be 'nuff." Tom said, rising from his seats, cleaning his hands with a rag before he washed his hands over by the bar and he took the bags from you, giving you an appreciative nod. "Alright grape boy, come here."
"I told you not to call me that." Pollux snapped at the old man, doing as instructed while throwing the old man a glare.
"Your daddy is the God of wine and you're allergic to grapes. You have any idea how much of a crime it would be if I didn't call's it how I sees it?" Tom cackled out, taking off the red bandages around Pollux's arms and inspecting them with a critical eye.
Mia, with all the tact that she had thrown away, burst out into laughter, and you were trying your hardest not to do the same behind her.
"Are you for real?" Keith asked, staring at the red-faced Pollux with the grace of a drunk pig. "Dude, that sucks."
"It runs in my mom's side of the family." Pollux muttered through gritted teeth as Tom began to clean some stitches, giving a nod with approval towards some nasty bruises on his back.
"Alright, your wounds are healing up nicely. Bruises are going to take some more time to heal up, but I reckon I can take out some of your stitches soon. You're lucky you didn't get an infection, otherwise stuff would have gotten mightily uglier." Tom said as he finished bandaging Pollux's wounds, the demigod wincing as the white cloth tightened around some of the worst of the wounds.
"Did you find-" Pollux asked, but you spoke over him before he could finish.
"Went by the apartment that you told me to, but I only saw the woman and her husband. No sign of this Percy that you told me to look out for." You said with a shake of your head while you enjoyed a nice sandwich, appreciative for the stockpile of food that Tom had stored away in the back. You reach into your pocket and take out a small bag of shining gold coins, probably the most valuable thing you had ever held in your life, and you fought off the urge to try and transmute them into something different, instead passing them over to Pollux.
Pollux sighed in disappointment, but didn't look surprised, as if he had known that it was a fruitless favor on his part. "Sorry for making you go there, but I had to know."
"This Percy, he someone important?" Pollux nodded at Mia's question.
"If we had a leader, it would probably be him whenever he's around. Camp wouldn't be what it is now if it wasn't for him. He went missing a few months back and we've been trying to find him ever since. Sure, we know that it's probably useless to do it in the first place, but we still have to try." Pollux said tiredly, like an old man who had all but given up hope.
"So, what are you going to use those coins for?" Mia asked, staring at the bag with an almost hungry gaze
"Iris Message." Pollux said simply, closing the bag and putting in his pocket, wincing as he pulled on some of his injuries. "It's a way to create mirages to communicate with people over long distances, though you need a Drachma to do it, and these are only made with gold mined from Olympus. I lost mine along with my weapons when I got ambushed by some monsters."
"Ah, so that's why you looked like some wild animal had managed to get a hold of you." Tom grunted while he stored away all the makeshift medical supplies into a drawer.
"Hey, I got a question, if Olympus is really in the Empire State Building, why didn't you go there in the first place." Keith asked, the red haired former gang member playing with one of the coins that we had swiped from the bedroom that you ha- ah- sorta broken into.
You had to smack Keith when he'd almost stolen a few blue cookies that had been left in the kitchen on the way out.
"Me draggin' a bleeding and torn up teenager into that place would have just brought too much heat. Sides, we sorta had to run using some old alleys my daddy told me about back in the day when those things started chasing. Couldn't see a damn thing, but I heard the scrapin' of metal and thought I smelled some goats. Had my trigger finger twitchy, and I learned long time ago not to shoot in populated areas. Less of a headache that way."
Keith paled a little at Tom's words, his wide brown eyes staring right at you, like you were the only sane person in the room. You conveniently kept your nitroglycerin and napalm notes in your bag where no one could read them.
Along with some other more… esoteric ideas that you'd bounced around in your head.
"And he had no way to keep them down permanently." Pollux added. "Killing a monster either takes a lot more than a few gunshots, or it takes a weapon made of Celestial Bronze. Besides,Olympus has been closed since last year. No one going in, and no one coming out."
A weapon blessed and created specifically for killing monsters. Oh, the little traps that you could make with just a little bit of that metal.
You decide to just ignore the second sentence.
"It is my professional opinion as an old bastard with more experience in staying alive than the whole lot of you that you at least wait until I take those stitches off." Tom said. "So, make whatever call you need to make, and tell whatever other bastards are with you that you can bum around here for a bit longer." The words were harsh, but Tom patted the chubby young man's shoulder as if he was his own grandson.
For a few seconds you thought that Pollux was going to protest, but eventually he gives a nod, the tips of his ears crimson as he looked at you. "You got a hose or something?" Pollux will remain with you for one more week.
Von now has a contact within Camp Half Blood.
Understanding about the world has been revealed. Mia has rejected going to Camp Halfblood.
March 27th Friday
You managing to teach Mia the fundamental basics of the elemental table, along with being able to generously eyeball the exact elemental make up of most mundane objects was a sign that hell had frozen over.
She couldn't do it completely in her head yet, and you didn't expect her to, she did claim that chemistry wasn't her favorite subject.
But now that meant that she was asking you how to make gunpowder, TNT, and 'a bomb big enough to take any fuckers that manage to kill me'.
Were you surprised? No.
Exasperated, but never surprised.
Of course, right now you wished that simply calculating the proper elemental make up to forge a life-sized statue of a dragon like she had wanted to was the least of your problems instead of being on the floor barely able to hold onto your lunch.
"Well, least you only dropped cause your legs gave out, so that's somethin' at least." Tom rumbled above you, bird like legs standing strong as he held onto the staff like cane that you didn't think that he needed. If anything, there was probably a sword or something in that thing. "Get some water, sit down for a bit, and then get to running up those stairs again brats."
Neither you nor Mia complained or whinged, although Keith was muttering some curses under his breath as you did exactly as he said.
During the entire little training course, the old man watched the three of you with an intent gaze, eyes lingering on the movement of your legs and arms, like he was sizing up a new gun that he was going to buy.
It honestly unnerved you in a way that you'd never felt before.
"We are going to have little workouts like this every day starting now, so make sure to eat all your wheeties and cereal, cause you're going to need that energy if you want to pump those legs like you need to." Tom said simply, the rats on his shoulders and head nodding in agreement.
"Every day!?" Mia and Keith cried out. You couldn't, you were too busy wondering if dipping your legs into that magic water that you dreamed about would help ease the pain. Or just boil your legs, but that was a more pleasing outcome than this.
"If you're going to be hunted by some old ass monsters that need to be burned in hellfire, then you sure as hell are going to need to get those damned muscles into shape instead of the little sticks that you got." Tom harrumphed, bug eyes glancing down at his own limbs for a split second before focusing back on Mia. "Especially if you're going to stay with the old Skunk over there instead going into that camp of bastards."
You flipped him off from what would be your dying spot at the little skunk comment. The damned hair growing out of the side of your head had been growing white for a couple of years now, and was slowly getting worse.
"When I think that you can actually throw a punch instead of just ragdolling your ass across the room, then we'll get into just what you can do in a fight." Tom said and went upstairs into your room.
Did he just invite himself into the group?
Tom has 'joined' your group. Body will steadily improve as long as you keep the resources and a stable hideout, culminating in new options opening up, and lowering the dice pool on certain rolls.
Mia has mastered Comprehension. Will now provide a +2 towards Alchemy related activities, not to Magic Learning rolls.
Learned Pickpocketing from Keith. New Avenues open to you.
March 28th Sunday 2010
You ignore the old man on the roof a street away from you, the glint of a scope intentionally shining at you before it and the strange old man disappeared like a ghost in a concrete maze.
Mia and Keith were both back at the speakeasy with Pollux, ready to head out to look for you if neither of you returned.
Most of the day had been spent exploring different areas of the city, those specifically away from Brooklyn where Francis and his crew operated out of. Queens had been a bust, while you weren't allowed in Harlem anymore.
There had been an… altercation with a certain squirrel brained kid who'd happened to be the son of someone that it was best not to have beef with. Sure, they let you leave, and passed it off as kids being kids, but that didn't mean that the brat didn't keep a grudge and was now an adult.
So Harlem was a no go, leaving just the Bronx and Manhattan.
Being near the Empire State had… its own issues, one of them being that Mia wanting nothing to do with that building, and you very much felt the same way. You'd read enough mythology in the library on rainy days to understand that becoming involved with the Greek pantheon was about as good for your health as doing large scale alchemy in the middle of Brooklyn.
Thing is, when you started to travel through some of the old backstreets and alleys of the Big Apple… shit had gotten weird.
As in, there were signs and shops that hadn't been there just a few weeks ago that looked like they had been there from the very beginning. Where there had been an old shoe shop in one place, now it had been replaced by a ratty old sports shop, the man inside staring at you through the window with a raised eyebrow as you stared flabbergasted at the strange scenery.
The streets were still the same, but different and bigger somehow?
Was it something that the gods did to New York? A sort of cover to keep parts of it hidden that you hadn't noticed before?
No, your gut was telling you that wasn't it. You had long since been able to see beyond the Mist, and it had become permanent since you ran away, no way that you would have missed this before unless it was a particularly powerful shield.
So, what better place to find a hideout than a place that was unfamiliar?
Unfortunately, time wasn't on your side and you had to make your way to the meeting spot at Central Park with the notes in your hand.
"Well, color me surprised, I wasn't expecting you to come here in the first place." The man said as he took a seat next to you, wearing the same jacket, but wearing a bright blue shirt underneath, the same watch on his wrist. "Surprised that you came here without your friend though. I understand that people in your circumstance tend to stick together if they manage to find someone to watch their back."
"Yes, but how do you know that I don't have someone with me?" You asked, leaning back in your seat, tapping the arm of the bench in Central Park in an attempt to alleviate the nervousness rumbling around in your chest.
The man laughs at that, unsurprised at your words. "That is a very good point lad. I don't. But the same applies to you. Now, let's get down to business shall we? Did you get it done?" He asked, looking at you with his green eyes over the rim of his glasses.
You nodded, passing him the sheet of notes that you had meticulously organized into something that didn't look like a madman's murder journal. He took the sheet of paper, and read through the contents, his face passive without a single ounce of emotion.
When he finished, the mask of stone gave way to a smile, and he reached into his pocket retrieving an envelope. You had to raise your hand towards your chest, pretending to scratch it, hoping that it was enough to keep Tom from turning the grass around you red.
Thankfully, you didn't get some brain in your eyes, instead taking the envelope that the man handed you and almost choking at the bills inside. How many hundreds were those?
"But the research isn't complete?" You said with confusion, knowing that while most of the elemental make up was properly jotted down, there were simply some avenues of science and chemistry that you weren't properly knowledgeable of.
"What you have written is more than enough for us to understand this, have no worries about that. This was more of a test than anything else." He said, taking out a cigarette from his pocket and lighting it with… the tip of his finger.
What.
Not a single person around you seemed to mind as they continued on their way. No one stopped to stare, no one took out a cellphone to record. Everyone just kept going about their day as if the man in front of you had just used a lighter instead of what looked like magic.
The man inhaled from his cigarette watching your reaction with no little amount of amusement, like this was a little joke that he loved to play, and nodded at you.
"I always love seeing the look on new kids like you."
"New kids for what? I'm not joining whatever little club you might have going on, I got enough crap going on as is." You said, really wanting to just dive into the nearest sewer manhole and disappear into the tunnels underneath the city.
"Hm, you haven't even heard what I can offer. But before we get to that, I did promise you answers." He tapped his watch, and a little blue light in the center of the circle glowed momentarily before disappearing. "This little thing is a tool that me and a group of colleagues whipped up. Needed some work, along with some more esoteric materials, but we got it to detect any divine blood that might approach." He stopped, as if for dramatic effect, and you thought about playing along at first before deciding that you didn't care enough to do so.
And now, it was your turn to smile as he stared at you with befuddlement.
"Cat's already out of the bag on that front. Let's just say that we… have some more friends that we didn't before." You said.
"Oh really?" He asked, taking another drag of his cigarette before speaking up again. "I work as a recruiter for a group of friends that you might be interested in joining. We have some of… your friends people in our ranks."
That dragged the carpet from underneath your feet. According to Pollux, the only place with demigods was Camp Half Blood.
As far as they knew. But the world was a big place, and even Pollux said that until a year or so ago, demigods were lucky if they got found by a Satyr or were claimed by their parent.
"I already said that I'm not joining whatever group you're a part of." You quickly said.
"Ah, but that doesn't mean that we have to cut ties, does it?" He asked, a smile on his bearded face as he retrieved a card from his pocket and passed it over.
Roger Resnick
Programmer Industries Recruiter
Underneath that was a phone number and email address that you could contact him with.
"Can I ask what exactly that alloy is? It looks like electrum, but there were some things inside of it that I couldn't decipher." You asked, standing up.
"A tool that we could use to defend ourselves from… parties that would wish us harm."Roger took of his glasses, staring at you right in the eye, all form of playfulness gone as if it had never been there in the first place. "Listen, honestly kid? If you don't join up with us, fine. I understand. You don't know us from any other random prick on the street, but this place just isn't safe for your friend. There's… something going on in New York that we don't understand. Something wicked that has caused other people like her to disappear. Not die, just… disappear. As if they never existed in the first place. Either find somewhere safe, or get out of town before she gets snatched up. It's a miracle she hasn't been found out yet."
With those words of warning, he finished his cig, stomped it on the floor, and stood up, beginning to turn away.
"This group of yours… what are you?" You asked.
"Simple. We're just a group of dudes that like magic and want to learn to use it. Nothing more nothing less. Kinda like you. I recognized some of those circles that you used, and while they were different… alchemy is always a fun hobby. Though, yours seemed… different than what I've seen before." Without another word, he left the park, unknowing that Tom's rifle followed him all the way until he disappeared into the crowds of people.
[ ] Urban Exploration 28/30: So far you have just been looking around the normal spots that you've learned were good hiding spots over the past few years since you became homeless. But there's only so much you can do moving from spot to spot of places that other people know about. With your injuries healed, you can take it a step further and start looking for someplace that no one has found, or has been forgotten about. Will remove having to look for a new hideout every other week.
[ ]Find A New Hiding Spot 0/15: For now, you're hanging out in an abandoned house, a hiding spot that you and others have used before. Due to having found a temporary home in Tom's dad's old speakeasy, you do not need to worry about finding a new hideout for two weeks.
[ ]Check in on Rosa: Your former foster mother was… a monster to be sure. But you had lived with her for two years and in that time, she had shown you nothing but love and affection as if you were her own. Why she suddenly turned on Mia you don't know, but you suspect that there is something deeper to it with what the stranger said, along with constantly running from monsters for the past few years.
[ ]Begin Teaching Mia Alchemy:Reconstruction 0/60: While it might not seem like something important, maybe teaching your friend how to at least start to learn alchemy would help you alone. Two people means double the workload after all!
Due to Teaching Perk, every dice used on teaching will receive a +5 bonus.
[ ]Map Out the Sewers 0/75: You have discovered the art of sewer travel. It sucks, and will never be ok. But it's safer traveling NYC through here than above ground where any monsters can find you. Maybe after you map out most of the routes you'll be able to fix some of the older destroyed tunnels. Going to need to get better at Alchemy however.
Will Provide a +5 bonus to all activities in NYC.
[ ]Not So Legal Means: Keith might be an unexpected tagalong, but he is also an accomplished thief. Maybe he could help you in some of the not so legal arts? DC 20 Will learn a Thievery related skill. Will reduce rolls for certain actions.
[ ]Steal a Car: You still have to find whatever this pulling sensation is, but the problem is that it's definitely not in New York City. Which means that you need some wheels to get there. With Tom in the group, now you don't have to worry about Mia getting pulled over and getting arrested for running you two into a tree or something. DC15
[ ]Buy a Car: Or you could do something that won't get you on the news and buy one the legal way. You don't have that much money on you right now, and need a place to crash first, but nothing says you can't buy a beat up old clunker in Tom or Keith's name and fix up the old thing. After all… what else is alchemy good for? DC10
[ ]Pickpocket: You have money, but no source of income. And there are plenty of people in New York that don't really deserve the cash that they have. DC15
[ ]Contact Roger: You aren't joining with Roger, but nothing says that you can't keep in contact with him. After all… what other avenues of magic might he know? There was always work to be done. DC 10
[ ]Investigate Disappearances: Requires Contacting Roger: Roger mentioned how there were people disappearing in New York, not just demigods dying to monsters, but just disappearing into thin air. Maybe you could try to look into it? DC25
[ ]Rendezvous with Camp Half Blood: Pollux's injuries should be healed, and he would need to be escorted and protected for his Camp to come and pick him up. Guide him and protect him during his retrieval. Will unlock relations and a good reputation with Camp Half-blood. DC15
Synthesis(0/50): The chief ability that all alchemists share. Creation through combination and synthesizing something new, greater than what was used in its creation.
Light Categories
Light Control 0/40: The ability to control the Light, the spark and growth of life with a path towards cooperation between diverse forms of life. Through trial and error, you will learn to harness the physical aspect of paracausality in the ability to cultivate life and creation.
Will unlock the ability to use the Light in your own body for physical enhancements, minor they might be. Unlocks further abilities down the path of Light.
Darkness Categories
Darkness Control 0/40: The Ability to control the Darkness, the realm of consciousness and dreams of oneself. Where the Light is in the realm of the physical, the Darkness is the other half of life. After all, where would we be without our thoughts, dreams, and the memories of those that came before?
Unlocks the ability to use the Darkness and expand one's own mind, intuition, and supernatural sensitivity. Further options down the path of Darkness will be unlocked.
Comprehension Mastered: A general understanding of chemistry and the application of said chemistry towards alchemical circles.
Deconstruction Mastered The Alchemical Practice of breaking down materials and matter before applying reconstruction. Mastering this aspect gives you greater proficiency at disassembling materials, even able to completely disintegrate items with the proper knowledge and transmutation circles.
Reconstruction Mastered: The second process of alchemy, reassembling broken down materials into a new shape or form. Can also be used to simply change the shape of something, along with being able to complete more complicated forms of transmutation.
[ ]Alkehestry 19/25: An Eastern branch of alchemy known for it's healing properties and ability to link separate transmutation circles.
[ ]Portable Transmutation Circles 0/40: This skill to simplify and miniaturize alchemy circles, allowing you to draw or engrave transmutation circles into portable objects.
Another week down, and a lot of activities going on here.
Pollux trying to sell CHB is not surprising, but what is is Mia turning it down…and seeing that Tom seems to be supernatural aware is another thing. May want to look into that later.
Roger being who he is, as part of an unaligned faction, is a huge deal: having a truely neutral, or at least non-antagonistic faction we can call upon for aid or at least advice is a major deal, and I strongly suggest we try and cultivate this in the future so as to not lose access to a potentially powerful contact.
Anyway, Option Writeup time, you know the drill.
[ ] Urban Exploration 28/30: So far you have just been looking around the normal spots that you've learned were good hiding spots over the past few years since you became homeless. But there's only so much you can do moving from spot to spot of places that other people know about. With your injuries healed, you can take it a step further and start looking for someplace that no one has found, or has been forgotten about. Will remove having to look for a new hideout every other week.
Automatic die here, just to finish it up. Do remember that Tom's safehouse expires this week, so it's best to get this done now and be finished with it. Yes, that means we technically only have six dice to work with, but it's a price I am willing tp pay.
[ ]Find A New Hiding Spot 0/15: For now, you're hanging out in an abandoned house, a hiding spot that you and others have used before. Due to having found a temporary home in Tom's dad's old speakeasy, you do not need to worry about finding a new hideout for two weeks.
Unneeded for now, and hopefully not needed again later. Come back to it next week if needed.
[ ]Check in on Rosa: Your former foster mother was… a monster to be sure. But you had lived with her for two years and in that time, she had shown you nothing but love and affection as if you were her own. Why she suddenly turned on Mia you don't know, but you suspect that there is something deeper to it with what the stranger said, along with constantly running from monsters for the past few years.
Okay, I still wanna do this, no cap, and I deferred on it last week, so I am suggesting we put a die here just to go for it. Besides, the connection may be more important than we think.
[ ]Begin Teaching Mia Alchemy:Reconstruction 0/60: While it might not seem like something important, maybe teaching your friend how to at least start to learn alchemy would help you alone. Two people means double the workload after all!
Due to Teaching Perk, every dice used on teaching will receive a +5 bonus.
Do not let the DC fool you, Mia seems to be very invested in alchemy just on her own, so I say drop a die here at a minimum. Maybe more if others desire it.
[ ]Map Out the Sewers 0/75: You have discovered the art of sewer travel. It sucks, and will never be ok. But it's safer traveling NYC through here than above ground where any monsters can find you. Maybe after you map out most of the routes you'll be able to fix some of the older destroyed tunnels. Going to need to get better at Alchemy however.
Will Provide a +5 bonus to all activities in NYC.
We're not ready for this yet. Sorry, but it's true. I wanna wait on this one until after we finish up Portable Transmutation Circles, but after that go ham. My opinion is skip for now.
[ ]Not So Legal Means: Keith might be an unexpected tagalong, but he is also an accomplished thief. Maybe he could help you in some of the not so legal arts? DC 20 Will learn a Thievery related skill. Will reduce rolls for certain actions.
This got us a good skill in Pickpocketing last time, so I am suggesting at least one die here again like last week. Hopefully this gives us something good, again?
[ ]Steal a Car: You still have to find whatever this pulling sensation is, but the problem is that it's definitely not in New York City. Which means that you need some wheels to get there. With Tom in the group, now you don't have to worry about Mia getting pulled over and getting arrested for running you two into a tree or something. DC15
Ignored due to better option available.
[ ]Buy a Car: Or you could do something that won't get you on the news and buy one the legal way. You don't have that much money on you right now, and need a place to crash first, but nothing says you can't buy a beat up old clunker in Tom or Keith's name and fix up the old thing. After all… what else is alchemy good for? DC10
The only issue we have here is that we don't have a place to put the car one we have one, which is kind of a big deal. Skip for this week or until we get a better hiding spot, but after that? Top Priority.
[ ]Pickpocket: You have money, but no source of income. And there are plenty of people in New York that don't really deserve the cash that they have. DC15
I am…torn here. On the one hand, this is actual hard cash to use for food and supplies. On the other hand, this is also a Die away from things we can do elsewhere, and this week has a lot of good options. I wanna say pass for now, but this is tenuous and not set in stone.
[ ]Contact Roger: You aren't joining with Roger, but nothing says that you can't keep in contact with him. After all… what other avenues of magic might he know? There was always work to be done. DC 10
Roger is an interesting fellow, and very likely can be a strong ally if we cultivate him as one. I'm all for trying to work up a solid business relationship with the man, and one die is a small price to pay for gaining at least a working contact if not an outright ally.
[ ]Investigate Disappearances: Requires Contacting Roger: Roger mentioned how there were people disappearing in New York, not just demigods dying to monsters, but just disappearing into thin air. Maybe you could try to look into it? DC25
This one, on the other hand, is a bit rougher to go for, as it requires a minimum two die investment, and more appropriately three if we want to guarantee success. This likely opens up a plot line that we can explore, as well, so there is that to consider.
[ ]Rendezvous with Camp Half Blood: Pollux's injuries should be healed, and he would need to be escorted and protected for his Camp to come and pick him up. Guide him and protect him during his retrieval. Will unlock relations and a good reputation with Camp Half-blood. DC15
So, on the one hand, this is an ally option, and those are always good. On the other hand, Mia does not want to go to Camp Half-Blood, and I am inclined to agree. That being said, dumping on allies leaves a bad taste in my mouth, so I recommend going in on it. Two dice if we go for it, though, which limits options elsewhere.
The number of good or potentially good options this week means I may have to write up more than one plan to consider. Stay tuned for after I gather my thoughts on the subject.
Due to Teaching Perk, every dice used on teaching will receive a +5 bonus.
Do not let the DC fool you, Mia seems to be very invested in alchemy just on her own, so I say drop a die here at a minimum. Maybe more if others desire it.
To be fair, our teaching perk incentives us to drop more dice rather than less. That +5 is near free progress. I figure we want 2 dice here for a solid +10 progress.
in, there were signs and shops that hadn't been there just a few weeks ago that looked like they had been there from the very beginning. Where there had been an old shoe shop in one place, now it had been replaced by a ratty old sports shop, the man inside staring at you through the window with a raised eyebrow
it would probably be him whenever he's around. Camp wouldn't be what it is now if it wasn't for him. He went missing a few months back and we've been trying to find him ever since.
Three tentative plans on deck, mostly shuffling around stuff to see what we want to do. As always, these are subject to change, and unlike prior weeks, are intentionally not all-inclusive, see below.
The three plans are, basically, deciding on whether or not we want to jump into certain things right off.
First plan benches Roger for a week to help Pollux while he is here, and uses remaining dice to take care of other things.
Second Plan is a remix of the first, just replacing Rosa's action with Contacting Roger.
Third plan is the most divergent, as it drops Pollux in favor of starting on investigation, with the absolute minimum dice amount needed for success.
A potential fourth has us going all in on both the investigating and Pollux, at the cost of losing the skill training from Keith, and a possible alteration to all of these is dropping Rosa entirely and using her die for something else (Rook suggested Mia's teaching as I was writing this up) Either way, we have a ton of options to work with for whatever we want to work with, and the plans I posted above are intentionally not all-inclusive as a result. So, the real question is, what do we actually want to do?
I am suspicious of this guy, didnt we pick a cult option, so potential a front for them.
if it is hermetic wizards or whatever then we should keep in contact but my concern is that they might steal or kidnap us for our magic if they are evil.
Another potential opportunity is we need to talk to our good foster mom. She can be chained and exolained that friends are not for being eating.
Obviously we need to finish alkehestry, but after that? I think we should put a die into both light and darkness before we try to upgrade to combat viable alchemy, if only so we can get a glimpse of what, exactly, both of those will offer/do to us. Darkness sounds more useful immediately, but we also don't want to get eaten by evil worms so…
Edit: ninja'd apparently.
Of those three plans, I prefer the one where we let Roger cool it for a week before we dive into potential infinite order cultists. Which, aren't necessarily evil, but aren't prone to being nice either from what I remember.
I like the plan: "to help an ally" the most but for magic i think it would be better if we started on light and darkness. It's better if we start branching out now so we can start mixing aspects of different magics and getting used to that.
Well that revealed a lot of interesting information.
[ ] Plan Learning Light
-[] Urban Exploration 1 activity die 28/30
-[] Begin Teaching Mia Alchemy:Reconstruction 2 activity dice 0/60
-[] Map Out the Sewers 1 activity die 0/75
-[] Rendezvous with Camp Half Blood 2 activity dice DC 15
-[] Light Control 2 magic die, 1 activity die 0/40
-[] Alkehestry 1 magic die 19/25
With +4 to alchemy learning 1 die is a 50% to finish Alkehestry. Getting started on light magic to give us more knowledge. Working with Mia on teaching at 2d20+10, Urban exploration to finish that off and start mapping the sewers to give us better opportunity to move.
Technically, not a cult so much as Infinite Order Enthusiasts. Also, he seems like he's with a Corporate Start-Up that made breakthroughs; I.e. he's from the Magi-Tech Perk as opposed to Infinite Order Perk.
[x] Plan: To help an Ally & light
-[x] Urban Exploration 1d20
-[x] Rendezvous with Camp Half Blood 2d20
-[x] Check in on Rosa 1d20
-[x] Teach Mia Reconstruction 1d20
-[x] Not-so Legal Means 2d20
-[x] Alkehestry 1d4
-[x] Light control 2d4
[ ] Plan Learning Light
-[] Urban Exploration 1 activity die 28/30
-[] Begin Teaching Mia Alchemy:Reconstruction 2 activity dice 0/60
-[] Map Out the Sewers 1 activity die 0/75
-[] Rendezvous with Camp Half Blood 2 activity dice DC 15
-[] Light Control 2 magic die, 1 activity die 0/40
-[] Alkehestry 1 magic die 19/25
With +4 to alchemy learning 1 die is a 50% to finish Alkehestry. Getting started on light magic to give us more knowledge. Working with Mia on teaching at 2d20+10, Urban exploration to finish that off and start mapping the sewers to give us better opportunity to move.
[X] Plan Learning Light
-[X] Urban Exploration 1 activity die 28/30
-[X] Begin Teaching Mia Alchemy:Reconstruction 2 activity dice 0/60
-[X] Map Out the Sewers 1 activity die 0/75
-[X] Rendezvous with Camp Half Blood 2 activity dice DC 15
-[X] Light Control 2 magic die, 1 activity die 0/40
-[X] Alkehestry 1 magic die 19/25
Honestly, I would prefer 2 dice on teaching Mia, and I feel like we'll get a temp buff from urban exploration which will be applicable to Sewer Exploration. Moreover, I think we'll be reasonably equipped to go as we are into the Deeps.
Obviously we need to finish alkehestry, but after that? I think we should put a die into both light and darkness before we try to upgrade to combat viable alchemy, if only so we can get a glimpse of what, exactly, both of those will offer/do to us. Darkness sounds more useful immediately, but we also don't want to get eaten by evil worms so…
Edit: ninja'd apparently.
Of those three plans, I prefer the one where we let Roger cool it for a week before we dive into potential infinite order cultists. Which, aren't necessarily evil, but aren't prone to being nice either from what I remember.
Again, going for Paracausality is a mistake, due to the amounts of attention it draws. Also, and I find it weird that I need to point this out, but Portable Alchemy Circles allows for levels of battlefield control that can be described as "absolute". Remember Major Armstrong? PAC lets us do that, though without the awesome Muscle.
As for the fear of the Infinite Order, I should point out that even in the source material the Infinite Order was only worth mentioning because they were the backstory of the setting, not because they were evil or anything. Most of the sins of the order had more to do with them being a group of mad scientists than anything else, and the ones that weren't were quick to put a stop to that mess when they got the chance.
I am thinking that Roger is more exactly what he says he is: a representative of a neutral faction that sees the dangers for those like him and his, those that can see through the mist, and is extending a hand to someone who may need it. Being paranoid here only hurts us.
Well that revealed a lot of interesting information.
[ ] Plan Learning Light
-[] Urban Exploration 1 activity die 28/30
-[] Begin Teaching Mia Alchemy:Reconstruction 2 activity dice 0/60
-[] Map Out the Sewers 1 activity die 0/75
-[] Rendezvous with Camp Half Blood 2 activity dice DC 15
-[] Light Control 2 magic die, 1 activity die 0/40
-[] Alkehestry 1 magic die 19/25
With +4 to alchemy learning 1 die is a 50% to finish Alkehestry. Getting started on light magic to give us more knowledge. Working with Mia on teaching at 2d20+10, Urban exploration to finish that off and start mapping the sewers to give us better opportunity to move.
Okay, this plan is not good. I mentioned before that we are not ready for the sewers yet by any means because we aren't done with alchemy, and you are trying to jump in just outright which makes no sense.
As for the magic die...look, I get it, You want to get into Paracausality. You know what it does, how it works, and it is cool.
It also comes with the drawback of being extremely blatant and noticeable to the very beings that we are trying to avoid, and whether you like it or not, no amount of light (or darkness) training we can do right now is worth gaining the attention of the Greek Pantheon. We would not survive it.
As for the other stuff, you are not only missing an activity die, but are leaving out a potential bonding contact as well.
As for the single die to Alkahestry, I will freely admit to having forgot about the bonus being bumped up to +4, but even with that in mind the overflow we have on dice for that means that the leftovers spill on to PAC anyway, so it works out regardless.
This next part is not strictly aimed at anyone, but I would like to note that chasing shinies is not the best idea at the moment. lets actually build up what we can do without going loud before we get into trying to play to the "cool" stuff, please.
And for those of you who are looking at Atelier alchemy with disdain, just remember that it has the ability to create extremely effective healing potions and such with otherwise mundane materials and a little bit of mixing. the true value of it cannot be overstated because the true extent of its power is infinite.
EDIT: actually voting on one of my own plans because I might as well now:
Obviously we need to finish alkehestry, but after that? I think we should put a die into both light and darkness before we try to upgrade to combat viable alchemy, if only so we can get a glimpse of what, exactly, both of those will offer/do to us. Darkness sounds more useful immediately, but we also don't want to get eaten by evil worms so…
Edit: ninja'd apparently.
Of those three plans, I prefer the one where we let Roger cool it for a week before we dive into potential infinite order cultists. Which, aren't necessarily evil, but aren't prone to being nice either from what I remember.
Again, "Fuel Air Explosion" Mustang and "Field of Spears" Armstrong used the Portable Circles. Scar(Well, his brother) combined Alkahestry and the portable circles to straight up Delete anything he punched.
Step One of any experiment is "Prevent The Science From Killing You". If you want to try something new, at least go for Synthesis, a magic system where "Poisons strong enough to kill a fully grown dragon" are common enough that country bumpkin manages to brew one from memory in more or less a rush.
I like the plan: "to help an ally" the most but for magic i think it would be better if we started on light and darkness. It's better if we start branching out now so we can start mixing aspects of different magics and getting used to that.
With +4 to alchemy learning 1 die is a 50% to finish Alkehestry. Getting started on light magic to give us more knowledge. Working with Mia on teaching at 2d20+10, Urban exploration to finish that off and start mapping the sewers to give us better opportunity to move.
Do you guys Really want to set off another Titanomachy? Without Von being able to defend himself? Paracausality is, as far as PJO is concerned, Titan Power. It actively defies Fate and Reason, is self perpetuating, and more or less Will alert Apollo, The Fates, and so on. The Light is the safer of the two, I'll give you that.
The Darkness? That's going to get, at a minimum Hecate(Who's got something to prove), Phobos, Mnemosyne, and Morpheus's attention. Maybe not right away, but it will happen.
And for all the folks going "What about Alchemy and Hermes?" Hermes is a god of commerce and mischief, the worst he's going to do is commission Von because he's not a power hungry idiot or fear driven. (Editing to Clarify: Ya'll are suggesting birthing a brand new Titan right outside Olympus's front door. All I want is a nice weapon or for Von to get someplace out of Eyeshot of them first. )
Anyway.
[x] Plan: To help an Ally
-[x] Urban Exploration 1d20
-[x] Rendezvous with Camp Half Blood 2d20
-[x] Check in on Rosa 1d20
-[x] Teach Mia Reconstruction 1d20
-[x] Not-so Legal Means 2d20
-[x] Alkahestry 2d4
-[x] Portable Transmutation Circles 1d4
Again, "Fuel Air Explosion" Mustang and "Field of Spears" Armstrong used the Portable Circles. Scar(Well, his brother) combined Alkahestry and the portable circles to straight up Delete anything he punched.
Step One of any experiment is "Prevent The Science From Killing You". If you want to try something new, at least go for Synthesis, a magic system where "Poisons strong enough to kill a fully grown dragon" are common enough that country bumpkin manages to brew one from memory in more or less a rush.
Do you guys Really want to set off another Titanomachy? Without Von being able to defend himself? Paracausality is, as far as PJO is concerned, Titan Power. It actively defies Fate and Reason, is self perpetuating, and more or less Will alert Apollo, The Fates, and so on. The Light is the safer of the two, I'll give you that.
oh? i didn't know that. That makes some sort of sense actually, so it would be better if we saved that for when we can actually defend ourselves. Thanks for the info.
[x] Plan: To help an Ally
-[x] Urban Exploration 1d20
-[x] Rendezvous with Camp Half Blood 2d20
-[x] Check in on Rosa 1d20
-[x] Teach Mia Reconstruction 1d20
-[x] Not-so Legal Means 2d20
-[x] Alkahestry 2d4
-[x] Portable Transmutation Circles 1d4
Technically, not a cult so much as Infinite Order Enthusiasts. Also, he seems like he's with a Corporate Start-Up that made breakthroughs; I.e. he's from the Magi-Tech Perk as opposed to Infinite Order Perk.
Do you guys Really want to set off another Titanomachy? Without Von being able to defend himself? Paracausality is, as far as PJO is concerned, Titan Power. It actively defies Fate and Reason, is self perpetuating, and more or less Will alert Apollo, The Fates, and so on. The Light is the safer of the two, I'll give you that
Fma alchemy is probably the best to work on right now since it'll open healing and a lot of combat options with portable circles especially if the light and dark things are as bad as people who know the source says plus who knows if we fully finish it it might open us up to rolling to unlock another system.
[x] Plan: To help an Ally
-[x] Urban Exploration 1d20
-[x] Rendezvous with Camp Half Blood 2d20
-[x] Check in on Rosa 1d20
-[x] Teach Mia Reconstruction 1d20
-[x] Not-so Legal Means 2d20
-[x] Alkahestry 2d4
-[x] Portable Transmutation Circles 1d4
Not fully on board with the activities as I'd rather build up before committing to anything large especially since we're after Percy's disappearance which is alarming since it means HOO will be starting fairly soon which going to feature a lot of big threats especially once Thanatos gets captured so the monsters basically get high speed regeneration until you splatter them and even then you have to do something like sweep the dust into a river to stop it reassembling. Still this avoids Roger who may even be part of Triumvirate Holdings and the light/dark thing while probably not committing too deep.
The problem here is knowing we exist and are a threat to them, I don't think you know what the Greeks are if us having zero defense and being a potential problem for them means they won't do something about us, they WILL at least kill us, and that is the best case, cause the Greeks are outright horrible and greedy most of the time, we do not want their attention, anonymity is our sole protection, we lose that and suddenly us getting smoted at a random point will be a thing to constantly worry about.
The problem here is knowing we exist and are a threat to them, I don't think you know what the Greeks are if us having zero defense and being a potential problem for them means they won't do something about us, they WILL at least kill us, and that is the best case, cause the Greeks are outright horrible and greedy most of the time, we do not want their attention, anonymity is our sole protection, we lose that and suddenly us getting smoted at a random point will be a thing to constantly worry about.
they might do that in the myths. in the books they are a lot more passive, like egregiously so. They are competing with fucking ostriches in who can put their heads in the sand more.
Most of their victory comes from their children being a thousand times more comptent and just better than them, and I doubt we have to worry about demigod, they are good kids.
they might do that in the myths. in the books they are a lot more passive, like egregiously so. They are competing with fucking ostriches in who can put their heads in the sand more.
Most of their victory comes from their children being a thousand times more comptent and just better than them, and I doubt we have to worry about demigod, they are good kids.
The problem here is that the Greek Pantheon...well, calling them dicks is putting it lightly. And they are deathly afraid of anyone being able to usurp their position, because they usurped their way into the top slot themselves. Of the Olympians, only three would actually not be complete asshats who would snip a potential threat in the bud just because they could: Hestia, due to being Hestia (yes, even in myth she is still Bestia) Hades, because he is entirely too busy to deal with that shit, and honestly doesn't give a fuck anyway, and depending on who you ask either Hermes or Hephaestus, and the latter is more questionable than the former.
Remember, this is a pantheon that literally had members curse people to horrific fates simply because they happened to be vaguely near the skill level of a God in their chosen crafts. Greek Myth is filled with multiple tales of those who aspired to reach the plateau of the Gods, and were struck down in cruel and unusual ways for their "hubris". You sure you want to add us to that list?
The problem here is that the Greek Pantheon...well, calling them dicks is putting it lightly. And they are deathly afraid of anyone being able to usurp their position, because they usurped their way into the top slot themselves. Of the Olympians, only three would actually not be complete asshats who would snip a potential threat in the bud just because they could: Hestia, due to being Hestia (yes, even in myth she is still Bestia) Hades, because he is entirely too busy to deal with that shit, and honestly doesn't give a fuck anyway, and depending on who you ask either Hermes or Hephaestus, and the latter is more questionable than the former.
Remember, this is a pantheon that literally had members curse people to horrific fates simply because they happened to be vaguely near the skill level of a God in their chosen crafts. Greek Myth is filled with multiple tales of those who aspired to reach the plateau of the Gods, and were struck down in cruel and unusual ways for their "hubris". You sure you want to add us to that list?
I am doubting their proactiveness, but due the nature of the books as teen books, they usually don't proactively destroy their enemies. They sealed Olympus in when the giants came, the titans basically did whatever they wanted and no god directly fought them, python and the three stupid roman emprors broke fates and the gods don't do anything.
Its a problem of the narrative so that percy and other have to go out and do things instead of gods solving it. I doubt zeus will do it for us, we aren't in his doman and we aren't from his mythology so i doubt he has jurisdiction.
I think it is a risk but more in the form of the gods sending monsters after us and or a Prophecy coming out against us. More indirect things than just blasting us with lightning.
The only thing they ever directly fight was typhoon and the giants at the end when the demigods basically needed them to be there for a second to do the killing blows.
[x] Plan: To help an Ally
-[x] Urban Exploration 1d20
-[x] Rendezvous with Camp Half Blood 2d20
-[x] Check in on Rosa 1d20
-[x] Teach Mia Reconstruction 1d20
-[x] Not-so Legal Means 2d20
-[x] Alkahestry 2d4
-[x] Portable Transmutation Circles 1d4
