It's a Girl's World -- And Lilly wants Adventure

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[x] Harmuph must be alerted. They are the only ones with the manpower to encircle and subdue such a horde. Take Chariot on an endless Natural Energy maintained sprint the whole way.
[X] If it really must come to violence, I will protect those I love.
[X] [Dream within the Forest]
- [x] Continue trying to gain some control over the hardness of your body.
[X] [Cleaver of Fortune]
- [X] The words of guidance are fickle and seemingly random. Try to get a handle on how to control or at least steer them.
[X] [Brave Blood]
- [X] The Pithe Resonance might one day be used to predict your opponents motions with split second precision and perhaps even more, work towards that lofty goal.
[X] Keep focusing on Mace/Shield training.
[X] Defensive

Seems good for now, though when we get better martial abilities I'll want to go for more aggressive tactics
 
[x] Harmuph must be alerted. They are the only ones with the manpower to encircle and subdue such a horde. Take Chariot on an endless Natural Energy maintained sprint the whole way.
[X] If it really must come to violence, I will protect those I love.
[X] [Dream within the Forest]
- [x] Continue trying to gain some control over the hardness of your body.
[X] [Cleaver of Fortune]
- [X] The words of guidance are fickle and seemingly random. Try to get a handle on how to control or at least steer them.
[X] [Brave Blood]
- [X] The Pithe Resonance might one day be used to predict your opponents motions with split second precision and perhaps even more, work towards that lofty goal.
[X] Keep focusing on Mace/Shield training.
[X] Defensive
 
[x] Even barricaded and prepared, it's too risky to leave. You will continue to prioritise your own family; others will have to fend for themselves unwarned.
[x] Animals understand danger. Aim to kill any Alphas immediately and cow the rest into retreat.
[x] [Dream within the Forest]
- [x] Continue trying to gain some control over the hardness of your body.
[x] [Cleaver of Fortune]
- [x] The words of guidance are fickle and seemingly random. Try to get a handle on how to control or at least steer them.
[x] [Brave Blood]
- [x] Keep working on your coordination with the downbeats if {Pulse Surge}
[x] Hand-to-Hand. You don't know what Ethea will come in the future, but the one thing you'll never be without are your feet and fists.
[x] Pragmatically Brutal
 
Hey! Looks like we've got a respectable enough build for something assembled mostly blind, got a real nice "Green Paladin" vibe going here, which we can hopefully tune up further should events and dice be willing!

I'll have some votes after sleeping I think.
 
[X] Something wrong festers in the forest, driving animals beyond natural hunger. Use Wood Memory to track down and end this disaster at its source.
[X] If it really must come to violence, I will protect those I love.
[X] [Dream within the Forest]
- [X] Continue trying to gain some control over the hardness of your body.
[X] [Cleaver of Fortune]
- [X] The 'Weight' you can throw around is minuscule, but maybe it can be grown?
[X] [Brave Blood]
- [X] Keep working on your coordination with the downbeats of {Pulse Surge}.
[X] Keep focusing on Mace/Shield training.
[X] Defensive

This connection to the woods is very much shaping our path, even though Brave Blood and Cleaver allow us to see other routes along it. The forest has brought us much and correcting this madness will aid more then running to others. We were ignored in our walk back home before. We should be able to follow Fortunes guidance safely to the source in the Forest.

As for powers, Brave and Dream are both things that have proven able to inadvertently harm our family and/or ourselves. Controlling them is paramount so our family is safe from us.
For fighting, we have a teacher for a reason. Listening to their advice to become competent in combat before trying to learn fist fighting seems prudent. Power or not we don't have much weight to throw around and a smashing board is a versatile tool. While we are not passive we are not that aggressive. We didn't punch that girl in the face back in town after all.
 
[X] Even barricaded and prepared, it's too risky to leave. You will continue to prioritise your own family; others will have to fend for themselves unwarned.
[X] Something wrong festers in the forest, driving animals beyond natural hunger. Use Wood Memory to track down and end this disaster at its source

[X] Try to calm and divert with Natural Energy. Whatever's spooked them to come here, these animals don't deserve to die.
[X] If it really must come to violence, I will protect those I love.
[X] Animals understand danger. Aim to kill any Alphas immediately and cow the rest into retreat.

[X] [Dream within the Forest]
- [X] Continue trying to gain some control over the hardness of your body.
- [X] Return to the site of your first awakening. Try to reconnect with the serenity and peace of the Dream.
[X] [Cleaver of Fortune]
- [X] You've cracked the mystery on how to {Ply the Line} of Fate. But there is so much more scope to explore.
- [X] The 'Weight' you can throw around is minuscule, but maybe it can be grown?
[X] [Brave Blood]
- [X] The Pithe Resonance might one day be used to predict your opponents motions with split second precision and perhaps even more, work towards that lofty goal.

[X] Defensive
 
[x] Harmuph must be alerted. They are the only ones with the manpower to encircle and subdue such a horde. Take Chariot on an endless Natural Energy maintained sprint the whole way.

[x] Animals understand danger. Aim to kill any Alphas immediately and cow the rest into retreat.

[X] [Dream within the Forest]
- [X] Continue trying to gain some control over the hardness of your body.
[x] [Cleaver of Fortune]
- [x] You've cracked the mystery on how to {Ply the Line} of Fate. But there is so much more scope to explore.
[X] [Brave Blood]
- [X] The Pithe Resonance might one day be used to predict your opponents motions with split second precision and perhaps even more, work towards that lofty goal.
[x] Keep focusing on Mace/Shield training.

[x] Defensive

We'll protect our own, but its not necessary to do more than the minimum harm possible to divert them. We don't have enough of a grasp to brute force through whatever drives them so without going into untested territory, but we could help natural instinct along
 
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Slyvena said:
You know the {True Song}. You are a singer, the greatest there has ever been, able to turn to any note into the most majestic symphony. You can call the hearts of men to rise to unseen heights, inspire the most craven wretch to-

With a cough, Mathew tries to recentre himself, "Well, you certainly do not need lessons in singing n-now," he stutters for a moment, wistfully returning to the memory of the song again. The {True Song} connects people to who they really are on some profound level, lets you draw out pieces of that truth. Mathew is probably feeling quite introspective from the experience. "-now, we still have the better part of an hour left. A bit of extra practice is the least I could do for you."


But... maybe there is a way without having to find the words? With nothing to lose, you {Sing}.

It begins as a hum, a low ebbing note to match the slow strokes of the brush through your hair. Soon the song grows more full and you feel it want to expand outward. There is a moment of resistance as the song asks you to release your feelings without restraint... finding the courage, you rise into a higher pitch, a haunting melody born of a daughter's lament she could not be the child her mother wished for but instead a thorn in her side. The music sinks into the walls and floor, echoing back a lifetime of memories. Within the Song you feel the unspoken response, your own mother's laments. The truth of the Song flows between mother and daughter, you feel the concerns of her own heart toward her daughter poured out onto you. There is no judgement or condemnation within your mother, merely a deep concern that your wanderlust shall end not in fulfilment but the certainty of tragedy and despair.

Your laments are revealed to be as false and fleeting as the darkness of a shadow cast from a leaf on the wind; your shame born only by and within yourself with no origin nor reason to be. Though you know not what, you sense some wrong idea of your own feelings to your mother be similarly crushed within her by the song. Perhaps if one of you choose to resist, it could not be, but against the fundamental banishing certainty that unites the pair of you inside the {True Song}, no falsehood can hide.

Comfort, Communication, Encouragement and Belonging always no more than a single note away. The impossible, the power to never be misunderstood. You've had it for hours and only now realise the monumental shift this represents for every relationship you'll ever have. You wondered if you'd ever gain a power to mend the distance between you and others, not yet realising it was already yours.
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This is really incredibly powerful, I wonder if it can counter crazy lady's mindbending to some extent. It's sad that it didn't quite work per se, Lilly and her mother are just too different. At least there's some potential for progress on our namesake.

Ahem. I said there is something complicated that I don't have the solution for… … …useless power.
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😛

Marcus recoils in painful confusion, not quite understanding but still connecting the dots on what this means. "Y-You're stupid. I hate you!" He yells as he steps further away from you, his tone raspy from some pain. He quickly banks a retreat, running into the bedroom to hide and of course slamming the door as he does so.

"Marcus! Honestly you children and doors this week!" Your mother heads in after him, shooting you a concerned glance as she passes out of sight.

You want to follow Marcus. You knew he wouldn't handle things well, he only just got you back and now you've taken away something special almost as quickly. Even though you had little control over the process, you can't help but feel a little responsible.

Zach approaches you while you're busy furrowing your brows in helpless frustration. He takes your hand in his, squeezing it at the wrist to feel how hard and unmoving the flesh now is.

"You're okay?" He asks with uncertainty, his fingers sliding over rather than kneading into your skin.

Are you okay? Maybe? Mostly. Not having to face this question immediately this morning has given you some time and distance to consider your feelings. You're not happy that these sorts of changes will just kind of happen from now on, but you have somewhat accepted they might be something very helpful one day. You are ready to make the best of something you can't change.

"Yeah," you reply somewhat lamely. The two of you haven't been that emotionally close for a number of years and things are still extra strained right now. A more in-depth talk about your complicated feelings toward your power and its impact on your future is a conversation you're barely prepared to have with your parents; definitely not Zachariah.

"Okay, good," he replies, releasing the concern in his posture. Not that you doubted him, but it is a comfort to see Zach worry after you.
Poor Marcus. At least Zach was understanding, maybe things will get better there.

You however face a new dilemma, that your Words of Guidance might be more manipulative than first thought. You sit back at the table, now alone. Right when you'd hit an obstacle that would make you want to stop speaking with mother for a time, the Words of Guidance provide a reason and incentive to come right back to her. You are confident the wisdom is offered in good faith, but how far can the words go to push you toward your best interest? Can they distort phrasing? Outright lie? The idea of anything, meta-physical or otherwise, 'handling' you for your own good hits a little close to home. The implications are troubling and even with your longer nights you are not sure when you'll find the time to seek out the answers.
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Nothing can ever be simple can it.

You are closer to the house than last time, so you whisper triumphantly, "I am Lilly Silas, Master of Ant's Destinies, Queen of the Falling Rocks, tremble before me." Not an actual laugh, but you still make yourself smile with good humour. There are certainly worse ways to track your progress than with a silly epithet. Perhaps you can consider yourself a true hero the day that people respectfully nod rather than laugh when you say it, wouldn't that be a fantastic sight!
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Well it made me laugh. Lilly's titles are honestly the best parts of the updates. And it's nice to have an option not a lot of things will be able to defend against, much less comprehensively.

How are the cows doing?
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I feel like the Ladder is a bit of a troll.

Slyvena said:
Ya'll reading too much into this haha

I just thought the original title might put new readers off. Since while the looming threat is ever present, its not really going to be the actual tone of Lilly's experience until she becomes aware of at least a few of the malignant terrors. (The disclaimer at the top of 1.1 still clearly states its a major factor in the story, so no-one is going to be ambushed by a tonal shift later on.)
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Though they are many, the land they cover is vast. Perhaps only a handful are headed your way; no larger specimens among them save the one already here and gorging on its second meal. Your searching senses find a mad lusting hunger wafting along the strands of Natural Energy from the south, changed and perverted in some unrecognisable way.
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You were saying?

It's showtime folks. Such a shame you failed the supplementary roll to detect something wrong influencing that wolf back in 1.3
Three weeks is a long time to be out of the game on a ticking clock.
Well the dice have been pretty good to us in general, it's inevitable they would also be cruel. Betting it's crazy lady and her friend.

[X] Something wrong festers in the forest, driving animals beyond natural hunger. Use Wood Memory to track down and end this disaster at its source.
End it before it begins.
[X] Wanton slaughter. Use your {True Song} to give yourself the Will to do what must be done.
Quickly.
[X] [Dream within the Forest]
- [X] Return to the site of your first awakening. Try to reconnect with the serenity and peace of the Dream.
This is our first Ethos, and it has proven both powerful and wide ranging. This will help us better understand it.
[X] [Cleaver of Fortune]
- [X] The 'Weight' you can throw around is minuscule, but maybe it can be grown?
Being Master of Ants and Queen of Rocks is great, but if we want to be able to use this without exhausting or making ourselves vulnerable we need to get stronger.
[X] [Brave Blood]
- [X] You have no idea where exploring the {True Song} will lead, but there are unplumbed depths there.
This seems to be an extremely powerful and flexible ability, we need to explore it.
[X] You could try to convince Mathew finding a mage to help train you is worthwhile. Good luck coming up with an explanation why.
Not going to lie, I love casters. We just need to find to way to flex the abilities already revealed in a way that might justify it. Probably Natural Energy. Between Dream Within The Forest and Brave Blood, not to mention future Ethea we might choose, we already have the toughness, speed and strength to compensate for any disadvantages.
[X] Pragmatically Brutal
Rip and tear until it's done.

Was honestly going for the pacifist path here, but I voted for the grim option last time, and there are hard and terrible times ahead. We're going to be facing things so horrible "nice" isn't remotely an option. It's going to change Lilly one way or the other. And the Forest was our first ethos and where we're strongest with all the Natural Energy. We'll have to best chance there.
- Great rolls for talking with Mathew, you totally retook command of the situation and set firm boundaries without looking like you can be easily pushed.
- Rolling the specific outward expression of your level up choice had a 7% chance of giving you Directed Pithe Shaping. You made the cut. Enjoy one of the most dangerous and easiest to kill yourself with abilities there is :). This carries over to any Pithe ability you ever gain from here on out, including those it's really not intended to function with. I'd say about one tenth of the people that can use it end up killing themselves with it.
- #hugfail2020. At least Marcus was comforted by the {True Song}, I was very happy things didn't get left hanging badly this chapter.
- Speaking of which, this wasn't really a hard roll to pass, but you picked the perfect combination of speaking with your mother and taking an interpersonal power right when Lilly's been spending tons of time thinking about her family issues, pretty much nearly guaranteed the expression of your power would directly address the situation. (Of course, now a new threat is here, and no you cannot sing them into death or retreat. You guys have gone quite heavy on family bonding and on utility powers; I hope you're prepared.).
- Middling rolls on your power experiments. Both of them were already on the cusp of improvement so you edged out some success in each.
- So, the wolves. Yeah. Notable Roll. Are you ready?
- You failed your spot check hard, thank {The Ladder} that your first warning wasn't being pounced by Mr 'Wolf who has never skipped leg day'.
Well then.



Reinholdt said:
As for powers, Brave and Dream are both things that have proven able to inadvertently harm our family and/or ourselves. Controlling them is paramount so our family is safe from us.
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Forest has caused some awkwardness, but hasn't actually put them in any danger. Brave Blood had a scary moment, but only the first time. We do need to continue to explore and develop them but I don't feel like our family is in danger from us, at least not directly. The things hunting us are another matter.
 
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I feel heading into the forest is... Probably not a good idea.

Not alone. Whatever this threat is it's had a long time to spool up, and we need more hands.

Don't really have time for deeper meditations though while I'm at work, so...

[X] Harmuph must be alerted. They are the only ones with the manpower to encircle and subdue such a horde. Take Chariot on an endless Natural Energy maintained sprint the whole way.
 
[X] Something wrong festers in the forest, driving animals beyond natural hunger. Use Wood Memory to track down and end this disaster at its source.
I TRUST THE FOREST, FOREST IS LILY'S FRIEND AND ALLY
[x] Animals understand danger. Aim to kill any Alphas immediately and cow the rest into retreat.
Diverting natural energy and trying to heal\help the wolves sounds like high risk\high reward.
Violence for the sake of loved ones is reasonable but will lead to a strong us against them mindset. It is something we see a lot in fiction, so personally I am a bit bored with it. Also maybe the wolves will become part of our loved ones in the future?
Killing the alphas is a seems like a rather tactical move so the area will still have wolves (super important for local ecology), rather than some invasive monster species. Makes me a bit sad since in natural packs the alphas are usually the pack's parents, but I am also not certain how much those packs are natural.
Slaughter is big NO from me.

[X] [Dream within the Forest]
-[x] Try to improve your ability to heal. Restoring sliced fingers isn't really gonna cut it.
This one was difficult, I love every tree option, I want every tree skill.
Voting for hardness will help both Lily's defense and social (hugs :cry:). But it seems like she is already well armored so she herself isn't in much physical danger, can't say that about anybody else. Since we don't have any barrier option, healing might be our main way to protect the family and gather allies (unfortunately it would also encourage people to stick her in the middle of a city).

[x] [Cleaver of Fortune]
- [x] The words of guidance are fickle and seemingly random. Try to get a handle on how to control or at least steer them.
[X] [Brave Blood]
- [X] The Pithe Resonance might one day be used to predict your opponents motions with split second precision and perhaps even more, work towards that lofty goal.

[x] Keep focusing on Mace/Shield training.
Already part of the build and Lily can probably make a decent mace and shield as long as there is wood around.

[x] Defensive
Pacifist is too much of a hard mode for my heart to bear with Lily as a protagonist, so my dreams of well written pacifist story will wait.

Thank you for the great update!

Edit: Sorry, messed up with copy paste
 
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[X] Harmuph must be alerted. They are the only ones with the manpower to encircle and subdue such a horde. Take Chariot on an endless Natural Energy maintained sprint the whole way.

Im not confident in Lilly's ability to deal with several of these cow-sized (or bigger) wolves at once, which is probably the minimum we'd have to go through to even approach the source, given the sheer number of them. Remember, we're 3 weeks behind in terms of time we had to train / develop.

Lilly's wood skin is tough, but given one of the 'normal' wolves (non-alpha) wolves was munching through bone like nothing, I don't like our chances.

[X] Animals understand danger. Aim to kill any Alphas immediately and cow the rest into retreat.
[X] If it really must come to violence, I will protect those I love.

[X] [Dream within the Forest]
- [X] Continue trying to gain some control over the hardness of your body.
[X] [Cleaver of Fortune]
- [X] The words of guidance are fickle and seemingly random. Try to get a handle on how to control or at least steer them.
[X] [Brave Blood]
- [X] The Pithe Resonance might one day be used to predict your opponents motions with split second precision and perhaps even more, work towards that lofty goal.
[X] Keep focusing on Mace/Shield training.
[X] Defensive

Words of guidance will be immensely useful in dealing with the aftermath of this, with all the attention Lilly is likely to get for tackling this crisis.
 
Slyvena said:
"This feels like a big one, a Milestone expansion? Have many times have you- nevermind, focus on coordination Lilly, finesse, guidance, control-"
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"How"
Slyvena said:
A Dynamic Shift as your 2nd? 3rd? expansion, some never get something like at all across forty or more."
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"something like that"?
Slyvena said:
The [Blessed Armsman] is coming back and from the sound of things has no intention of this being a sort term arrangement
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"short"
Slyvena said:
It is with some sadness you consider that the growing warmth of your own relationship with your father is reflected in an equal coolness settling between your parent's.
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"parents"?

[x] Even barricaded and prepared, it's too risky to leave. You will continue to prioritise your own family; others will have to fend for themselves unwarned.

Leaving the village for several hours (and that is what it takes for the Watch to arrive) is how you get the backstory of an orphan. If Lilly with her training can't protect the family, they certainly won't be able to defend themselves. The rest of the village will have to hope for the best. Maybe we could set things on fire and hope it would alert the villagers / scare off animals.

After investing in family bonds to the detriment of our combat ability I don't want to abandon them in favor of a town we've only seen on-screen once. The town has the Watch, unprepared though they may be. This place only has Lilly.

[x] Animals understand danger. Aim to kill any Alphas immediately and cow the rest into retreat.

Wolves prey on the weak. We should make a bigger nuisance of ourselves than they are willing to deal with.

[x] Keep focusing on Mace/Shield training.
[x] Defensive

No opinion on Ethos level-ups.
 
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veekie said:
I believe the idea was to leverage the wolves lack of hands or intellect and use a wooden barricade to prevent them from physically reaching anyone
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If anyone is capable of making a barricade that can withstand a wolf barrage, the town carpenter is a safe bet.

At any rate, after looking over some of the discussion, I think I'm going to add an approval vote of killing the Alphas. I think that the Alphas are more the instigators (or at least the agents of the instigators) of this corruption, and if there's a chance that taking one out will cause some of the pseudo-pack to disperse, it may help save more lives in the long run.
 
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Silverking said:
If anyone is capable of making a barricade that can withstand a wolf barrage, the town carpenter is a safe bet.

At any rate, after looking over some of the discussion, I think I'm going to add an approval vote of:
[X] Animals understand danger. Aim to kill any Alphas immediately and cow the rest into retreat.

I think that the Alphas are more the instigators (or at least the agents of the instigators) of this corruption, and if there's a chance that taking one out will cause some of the pseudo-pack to disperse, it may help save more lives in the long run.
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Note that this post invalidated all your other votes.
 
Whoops, thanks for the heads-up, veekie. Let's try this one more time.

[X] Harmuph must be alerted. They are the only ones with the manpower to encircle and subdue such a horde. Take Chariot on an endless Natural Energy maintained sprint the whole way.
[X] Animals understand danger. Aim to kill any Alphas immediately and cow the rest into retreat.
[X] If it really must come to violence, I will protect those I love.
[X] [Dream within the Forest]
- [X] Try to improve your ability to heal. Restoring sliced fingers isn't really gonna cut it.
[X] [Cleaver of Fortune]
- [X] The words of guidance are fickle and seemingly random. Try to get a handle on how to control or at least steer them.
[X] [Brave Blood]
- [X] The Pithe Resonance might one day be used to predict your opponents motions with split second precision and perhaps even more, work towards that lofty goal.
[X] Keep focusing on Mace/Shield training.
[X] Defensive

Edit: Dangit, it kept my Alpha vote but didn't include any of the others. Any tips on how to get back in the tally?
 
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[X] Harmuph must be alerted. They are the only ones with the manpower to encircle and subdue such a horde. Take Chariot on an endless Natural Energy maintained sprint the whole way.

[X] Animals understand danger. Aim to kill any Alphas immediately and cow the rest into retreat.
[X] If it really must come to violence, I will protect those I love.

[X] [Dream within the Forest]
- [X] Continue trying to gain some control over the hardness of your body.
[X] [Cleaver of Fortune]
- [X] The words of guidance are fickle and seemingly random. Try to get a handle on how to control or at least steer them.
[X] [Brave Blood]
- [X] The Pithe Resonance might one day be used to predict your opponents motions with split second precision and perhaps even more, work towards that lofty goal.
[X] Keep focusing on Mace/Shield training.
[X] Defensive
 
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