Let's Jump to It! [Jumpchain Quest]

[Jack of Olives]

Lyrical Nanoha(?) 42
Composure: 78+15+20=113; ???: 75 (Interrupt!)
Doing your best to keep your composure, you give the powerful leader a nod. "Um, thank you."

"Ohmygoodness!" You nearly flinch as Alisa squeals in excitement. "You're Serafall Leviathan!"

"Wait, the one from that picture you showed us earlier?" Hayate perks up.

"That's me!" The devil in question says as she strikes a pose. "Magical Girl Levia-tan! Warrior of truth and justice!"

From his position behind her, Azazel pulls out a sign reading 'Not actually a magical girl.' with an arrow pointing to the Satan. She either ignores him or doesn't notice. You're betting the former.

The earth-girls seem to be unable to decide between being awed and amused at the scene in front of them; the others are just amused. Despite the situation, you can't help but smile at their response.

Then again; as powerful as they are, they're also among the most benign beings of that power-level. You're not worried about them so much as the trouble they'll likely bring.

"So~," Azazel speaks up again as he returns the sign to hammer-space. "What are a group of powerful magicians with off-world devices doing here?"

"'Powerful', Lord Azazel?" A feminine voice calls from behind them.

As the three move out of the way, you see a young woman dressed in what you can only describe as a female stage magician who decided to go all-in with a casino-motif.

"That's right." He answers cheerfully. "Almost every one of them is powerful enough to take on a 8-wing angel or fallen. Heck, the one in the wheelchair is at our level of power."

Alisa, Suzuka, and Sakura (the secretary) stare at your group in shock, and the apparent leader of the local magical girls has an impressed look on her face. Hayate just looks embarrassed.

"Interesting. Perhaps we should have this conversation in my office." She says with a gesture towards the door.

"That may be for the best." Gabriel says, finally speaking up. She then turns to your group and takes a quick headcount. "Hm... Actually, the Conference Room might be a wiser choice."

A quick look into the office, followed by another look at the size of your group, and the conference room was agreed on by all.

---

A few minutes later finds everyone seated around the Conference Room's elliptical table.

"So, Introductions." The casino-themed magical-girl starts from her seat at the end of the table. "I'm Lucky Charm (no jokes, please; I've already heard them all), the head of the regional branch of the Magical Girl Coalition. You can just call me Miss Lucky, if you want." She then turns and introduces the three faction-leaders.

Incidentally, you were right; the woman is Gabriel.

After everyone has been introduced, Lucky speaks up once again. "So, now that we have that out of the way. How can we help you ladies?"
Alisa: 82+30: 112
Almost immediately, Alisa speaks up. "First of all, the Bannings vampire clan requests asylum for their heir and her attendant." She says gesturing to herself and Suzuka respectively.
???: 93
"Granted." Miss Lucky says simply.

Alisa blinks. "Really? That easy?"

"Yup. We've been getting a lot of refugees from the war. We've got a whole system set up and everything."

The vampire slides back against her seat in relief.

"And the rest of you?"

You briefly share a look with your fellow device-users before turning back to her.

[] "We were interested in learning about the supernatural community, as it were. We only recently learned that there was one, so we really don't know much." (the technical truth)
[] "Greetings people of Earth. We come in peace." (joking)
[] (Write-In)
[] Let someone else respond. (???)

---

GM's Notes: This one is a bit short, but I was worried about stretching it out too much.

Anyway: Voting will be open until Mar 8, 2019 at 7:00 PM .

Edit: fixed an issue and clarified another.

 

[Jack of Olives]

Lyrical Nanoha(?) 43
Manipulation+Socialize: 65+25= 90; Req: 40/80/120; Result: lvl-2 success.
You can't resist. "Greetings people of Earth. We come in peace."
'Troll' Achievement Progress: 3/10
Out of the corner of your eye, you catch a brief glimpse of your group's reactions. While those from off-world are just looking at you strangely, Nanoha and Alisa have slammed their heads into the table, Suzuka is doing her best not to laugh, and Hayate-

"Bwahahaha!" is cackling like a loon.

"Vivian, why?" Nanoha groans at you through the table.

You can only shrug. "It was too good of an opportunity to pass up."

Alisa manages to raise her head in order to glare at you. "Aren't you from Earth?"

"Details, Details." You wave off.

Judging by the smiles on the ones outside your friends, you'd say that you succeeded in breaking the proverbial ice.

[Manipulation UP: C+ -> B-]
[Charisma UP: C -> C+]

"If nothing else," You hear Gabriel speak up. Amusement still on her face. "I'm glad that you're intentions are peaceful."

"Yeah, The last time we had a bunch of Belkans visit, it lead to quite the skirmish." Serafall adds, a mischievous grin on her face.

"None of our factions were happy about an outside group trying to take control, you see." Azazel finishes. The implied threat in his words obvious.
Charisma+Socialize: 86+25= 111; Req: 60/100/140; Result: Lvl-2 success.
"Honestly, aside from helping those two." You explain as you motion to the two vampires. "We mostly just wanted to learn more about Earth's supernatural community, as it were."
Perception Check: 2+35= 37 (Botch!); GM's note: WTF is up with failing Perception Checks?
"Especially since, until recently, we didn't know that Earth had one."

"That's somewhat intentional on our factions' parts." Gabriel says with a nod. At your inquisitive looks she shrugs. "We all have our reasons for wanting to keep up the 'masquerade', as it were."

You can't help but blink in surprise at her statement. Was that a Vampire: the Masquerade reference? From the Seraph? Is that even a thing on this world?
Perception+Social Check: 43+35= 78
As Serafall leans forward to speak, and everyone's eyes turn to her, you swear that you see Gabriel wink at you from the corner of your eye.

Turning your attention back to the Devil-lord, you can't help but muse how 'It's always the quiet ones that surprise you'.

"-use bounded-fields to keep any conflicts and blatant displays of magic out of sight."

"That sounds a lot like what they use on Midchilda." You hear Fate muse out-loud. "Although they tend to use it more as a way to limit collateral damage than any form of secrecy."

"Is that the name of your home-world?" Azazel asks curiously.

She gives a hum of agreement. "It's the center of the Time-Space Administration Bureau."

Anticipating what the next question would be, you decide to step in. "The Belkan Empire fell a little over half a century ago." You explain. "The TSAB was formed shortly after on Midchilda to help promote peace and contain any out-of-control magical remnants, known as Lost Logia, from the Belkan wars. I'm not sure on the latest count," You never bothered to look up the exact number. "But since it's creation, dozens of planets have joined."
Perception+Social Check: 79+35= 113
"And you work for them?" Gabriel inquires. You can't help but notice a spark of interest in her eyes as she asks.

You give a shrug before motioning to your miniature partner (who was currently sitting on your shoulder). "Eliza and I have done some freelance work for them, but we're actually an independents. I've just been on Midchilda to study magic."

"And really, most of our 'freelance work' is because she's a trouble magnet." The unison device adds in a false-whisper. Either she's following your lead on acting non-threatening, or doesn't want anyone to be too surprised when your drawbacks kick in.

Playing along, you turn your head slightly and stick your tongue out at her; much to everyone else's amusement.

At this point Suzuka speaks up for the first time. "Before we go any further," She turns to look at the faction leaders "I have a question."

"Ask away. Anything for a fan." Serafall replies with a cutesy wink.

"I thought your factions were at war again. Why are you all here together?"

Tension slowly creeped back into the room as the the devil, angel, and fallen looked at each-other for a minute.

After coming to some unheard agreement, Gabriel sighed and leaned forward in her chair. "I'm afraid it's a bit more complicated than that. The war isn't actually between our factions, so much as it's a civil-war spanning all three factions."

Huh, looks like the Chaos Brigade's plan is a bit different this time around.

"How does that work?" Alisa pipes up again. "I thought you were in some kind of centuries-long cold war."

The seraph sighs again as she leans back in her chair. "It's a bit of a long story, I'm afraid." Looking around at your expectant looks, the elegant woman turns to look at her two counterparts.

They nod.

She turns back to you before taking a deep breath. "It all started when a man claiming to be the 'New God of this world' connected himself to the Divine Network, to a position which had been left open since God died in the last great war."

Do you say anything?
[] Ask a question.
-[] (Write-In)
[] Keep quiet.
[] Other (Write-In)

---

GM's Notes: Cliffhanger!

Voting will be open until Mar 10, 2019 at 7:00 PM .

Edit: Fixed some sections that I accidentally cut out during editing.

 

[Jack of Olives]

Lyrical Nanoha(?) 44

Although you have questions, you decide to keep quiet for now.

"To this day, we're still not sure how they managed to connect to the System, let alone how they got into Heaven in the first place." As she says this, the look on the seraph's face changes to what can only be described as 'grumpy'. Something you're honestly a bit surprised at.

Gabriel wasn't seen much in DxD, but she's generally considered to be on the same level as AMG's Belldandy or Ranma 1/2's Kasumi. If she's acting like this, then you're either way off of baseline (which you're not ruling out) or something horrible must have happened.

At this point, Azazel decides to speak up. "After gain he did two things. First," He says, ticking off fingers as he continues. "he announced himself to all of heaven's forces, demanding that they serve him or be branded traitors."

Gabriel continues. "Those of us who didn't agree... well..." There's a rustling of feathers as twelve wings appeared behind her. Twelve black wings.
Composure check: 99+35= 134 (Crit!)
Oh.

Ohhhhhh...

Thankfully, you'd already braced yourself for a shock, so you were able to screw your face into a confused expression.

Not that you really needed it, as the screams of shock from the two vampire girls seem to have gathered most of the attention from the room.

"You fell!? But you're one of the 4 Great Seraphs!" Alisa exclaims in surprise.

"I'm far from the only one who did."

"But wouldn't that severely weaken Heaven's forces?" Suzuka speaks up.

The other fallen angel in the room decides to chime in. "Except for what he did next, namely come to my faction and agree to reinstate any fallen who were willing to swear loyalty to him. A lot of my people were eager to be connected to the System again, and many of those considered a new 'God' in charge to only be a good thing."

"...Which explains what you meant about civil wars." You add while massaging your temples. "I can only imagine how badly that kind of thing would divide you."

"Thankfully," Azazel comments with an amused grin. "Nearly all of the Seraphs were united in opposing him, so amost two-thirds of the angels followed their lead and fell."

"Unfortunately, when we tried to retake Heaven by force, he'd apparently already made new Seraphs to replace us." Gabriel's hands clench into a fist as she says this. "Between them, those strange beasts, the remaining angels, and Heaven's in-built defenses, the attack was a disaster." You're kind of worried that her nails are going to draw blood at this point. "We've been on the defensive ever since then."

"Where did this jerk even come from, anyway?" Alisa asks with a confused

The three leaders once again share a look. Azazel sighs, and leans back in his chair. "We can't say his name or the Divine System will tell him where we are."

"And give us a massive headache in the process." Serafall grumbles.

"What I can say," He continues. "is that his name starts with a 'J' and rhymes with 'bail', and that his last name sounds Italian. Heck if we know more than that, though."

'Jail', and an Italian-sounding last name? Oh, hey; the sinking feeling's back. It's practically an old friend at this point.

Well, on the plus side; at least there isn't another cross-over to worry about.

Gabriel nods. "He wasn't on any record that we could find, and we lost several agents who tried to look into it. Our best guess is that he's increased the Divine System's sensitivity and is using it to keep an eye out for any 'dissidents'." Her expression on that last word looks like she swallowed something nasty. "It doesn't help that most of our human-based organizations that we could have used to help look are now backing him."
Intelligence: 78+15=93
"Because your wings are black now, while his agents have white ones." You say softly. You get a weary nod in reply.

"We thought that pretending that Father was still alive would keep there from being mas chaos." She sighs as she leans back in her chair again. "We never imagined that someone could take over the Divine System." The other two leaders seem to be biting their tongue. Probably trying to avoid any 'I told yous'. "Anyway, most of us have taken refuge in the Fallen section of the Underworld, where the System's influnce is minimal."

"Which brings us to my people." Says the pseudo-magical girl. "While we didn't find out about what was going on until after the failed assault on heaven. When we made it known that we were planning on supporting the fallen in a war against the False God, a group calling themselves the 'Old Satan Faction'" Here her face twists like Gabriel's had. "lead by the descendants of the original Satans, appeared and declared that we were traitors to our people; claiming that we were weak-willed leaders that were weakening our bloodlines with the blood of 'lesser races'." Now it was her turn to put on a grumpy expression. "At any other time, they would have been ignored at-worst, but there were a lot of Devils who were still bitter about the last war, and we'd just declared that we were going to ally with their old enemy. Now instead of helping to depose that madman before he can finish consolidating his power, we're fighting among ourselves."

Suzuka decides to speak up, here. "What about all the Hunters that have appeared? What's going on there?"

Here, the Leader of the magical girls speaks up. "I can answer that one. They call themselves the Hero Alliance." She practically sneers at the name. "They're a group of human-centric thugs, fanatics, and vigilantes. Officially they claim that all the 'monstrous' races should be eliminated due to their preying on humans. In reality, they either tend to be zealots who kill anything that isn't 'pure human' enough for them, or thrill seekers who want an excuse to get away with murder." Wow, strong feelings there. Then again, if you'd spent years trying to keep the peace and some group of idiots came around to mess things up, you'd be pretty annoyed yourself. "Thankfully, most of my girls were too smart to fall for their party-line, but they've been causing us no end of headaches since they appeared."

Even with your upgrade biology and enhanced mental faculties, you swear can feel a headache coming on. This situation is all kinds of messed up.

"And that's not even counting all the various government-run factions over the world who are trying to keep things under wraps and/or take advantage of the situation." Lucky Charm (you don't think you'll ever be able to take that name seriously) finishes. "Thankfully, Japan's government has been fairly reasonable, but this whole thing is just so f-" She pauses briefly as her eyes flicker to the young girls in the room. "Messed up."

You'd bet money that Nanoha's family is involved with one the Japanese Government's teams dealing with this mess.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Everyone turns to look at Nanoha as she speaks. "I know I'm young, but I can't stand by while awful things like that are happening."

For a moment, as you look at the determined expression on her face, you suddenly understand why the nickname of White Devil stuck.
???: 69 (this isn't QQ!)
And then Serafall reaches over the table to rub the girls hair. "Sorry sweetie, but you're a little too young for us to recruit." The girl's determination quickly changes to embarrassment at the treatment. "We may not have many standards, but do require people who fight for us to at least be in their teens."

This naturally gets pouts from Fate and Hayate as well.

Vita raises her hand. "I'm actually over a hundred years old. Does that count?" This gets various degrees of looks from those not in the know. "What? I am! It's not my fault my body has stopped aging!"

"Actually," The tiny form of Reinforce interjects thoughtfully. "now that the Defense Program isn't interfering with my control anymore, I probably could make adjustments to your physical forms."

"Wait what?" Lucky decides to express her confusion.

Azazel decides to speak up. "Those four," he says pointing at the Wolkenritter. "and the one on her shoulder are all Spirit-based beings, kind of like us. They all seem to be bound to that girl and her book."

"That's right, we're Mistress Hayate's loyal knights." Signum agrees.

"Anyway, if it makes you feel any better, We'd be happy to have you join us." The magical girl leader says after shrugging off the strange revelation. "Most magical girls come into their power at a young age, so it's something we have experience with."

Hayate and Nanoha perk up at this, and Fate seem somewhat mollified.

"What about you two?" Azazel asks as he turns to you and Eliza. "Interested in signing up with us?"

"Yeah!" Serafall cheers. "The offer come with a free reincarnation into a Devil, if you want."

"Or Fallen, now that we've got the Brave Saint project finished." Gabriel finishes.

[] Express interest in joining the 'Underworld Alliance'. It's probably where you'll be able to do the most good.
-Note: you don't have to decide on a reincarnation-option now, but feel free to debate pros and cons.
[] See about joining the Magical Girl Coalition. You'll get to keep an eye on the girls, and remain relatively neutral.
-Note: you'll miss out on a lot of the 'main-plot' with this option, although probably not all of it.
[] Pass on their offers. You'll stick with being Mercena- I mean: Freelancer.
-Note: later offers to join will almost certainly not be as favorable as what you'll get here.

---

GM's Notes: Whew, it's been a long couple of days. Sorry this was so late, folks.

As a note: being 'reincarnated' doesn't fail your Jump since it doesn't actually kill you. Dying does, however; so don't try to pass up on reincarnation in the hopes of getting an 'extra life' later, it won't work.

Anyway, voting will be open until Mar 13, 2019 at 7:00 PM .

 

[Jack of Olives]

Lyrical Nanoha/DxD 45

As tempting as the offer from the leaders of the Underworld is, you're honestly more interested in the Magical Girl faction. Aside from being able to keep an eye on the girls in a much more dangerous world than you'd expected, you're honestly curious about the magical-girl scene here.

Besides, even with your outside 'knowledge' of the setting, you don't know nearly enough about the situation here to feel comfortable with joining a war.

The two Fallen seem to accept your decision with an understanding nod. Serafall sends an impressive pout your way, but you have more than enough experience with such things to resist.

Shortly thereafter the meeting adjourns. The various leaders give all of you their contact information, before heading on their way. The rest of you are expected back at the Coalition headquarters tomorrow afternoon to see about signing up, but for now it looks like everyone's ready to call it a day.

Not that you're complaining, mind you. You think to yourself as everyone settles into their evening routine.

You have a certain cosmic-being to ask some very pointed questions too.

---

Stepping into your Warehouse, you and your partner find yourselves freezing in place due to an unexpected sight.

There, laying on the ground and hog-tied tied with rope, is a girl you don't recognize. You idly note that she's also gagged.

As your brains try to process the strange sight before you, a translucent screen appears in front of you. One exactly like the ones Jump-chan uses to let you make your choices.

"Dear valued Jumper," Eliza reads out loud

"We of the Council of Jump-chans wish to offer our sincerest apologies about the issues with your Jumpchain experience so-far. The Jump-chan responsible for your 'Chain' up until this point has been removed from her position due to multiple counts of gross negligence on their part in regards to the running of your Jumpchain adventure. She has been replaced with one with more competence.

While the current Jump can not be aborted without the standard forfeiture from a Jump-fail, we are prepared to provide you with the High School DxD Jump Document.

Unfortunately, due to the previous Jump-chan's screw-ups, you are still unable to purchase Perks or other supernatural powers for yourself, or change your species. Also, due to the Jump already being underway, you will be unable to purchase drawbacks from the document. As an apology (and thanks to the mess-ups of the previous Jump-chan) We are able to offer you 400 Choice Points in addition the standard 1000 Point stipend, for a total of 1400 CP to use on the document.

We are also allowing you to use the document's 'Import' option to enhance up to six (6) Companion recruits you find in your jump by bringing them into your Warehouse and having them fill out their own form. Please note that any Companions who agree to this must also agree to sign-on as your companion for a minimum three (3) full and complete jumps. Companion options other than 'A Club, All In One' are also disabled due to you already being in a Jump at this time.

As an additional apology for the inconvenience, we're granting you this brand new Companion to help you out on your adventures. Her new Job is to do her best to protect and serve you until such a time as you activate your Spark or choose to settle down."

At the 'new companion' part, a thought (perhaps more of a hunch) occurs. Reaching down, you begin to undue the girl's gag.

Eliza continues reading out-load as you do. "She is currently without a name, so feel free to call her whatever name comes to mind."

"*phtooie* What!? Of course I have a name! I'm Jump-GAH!" She finishes with a scream of pain. "I'm Jum-Ack!" A yelp this time. "I'm Jay Yu Em P-Grk! Seriously!? I can't even spell it?"

You thought so. She must have really ticked-off her superiors for this kind of treatment.

"While she is currently a baseline human," That gets a strangled noise out of the girl. "she can benefit from any selections from Jump-documents as-normal, unless said selections would negatively affect yourself or your companions."

"Oh, come on! What kind of asshole do they think I am?"

"I don't know," You comment wryly as you finish untying the knots holding her. "What kind are you?"

"The lazy-minx kind!" She declares proudly. Then seemingly realizing what she said, she hurriedly slaps her one free hand over her mouth. "Wha da hek?"

"We should also note that she's also incapable of deceiving you by any means barring extenuating circumstances." This gets a whimper out of her. "In addition, upon being killed she will respawn after three days have passed; assuming she is not brought back to life before then. Feel free to assign her whatever name you wish.

We apologize once again for the inconvenience and hope that the rest of your Jumpchain will be to your satisfaction,

The Council of Jump-Chans." Eliza finishes, as the former cosmic being finishes removing the ropes from her body.

"P.S.: Due to the Jump already being underway; any one-of-a-kind Sacred Gears from the setting that are purchased from the Jump-doc will be copies made for the recipient by us.

You take a moment to examine the new girl. The first thing that strikes you about her is the long-ish bright blue hair that extends down to her back; the twin ahoge are an interesting touch. The second is that the girl herself is a bit on the short side, the top of her head only coming up to about the bottom of your nose. Third, her cute facial features appear to be mostly Japanese, although there's an oddness to them that you can't quite place.

And lastly, you note that she appears to be dressed in a french-maid outfit.
Perception check: 24+15= 39 (XD)
The three of you stare at each-other for a moment. You find yourself idly wondering if the strange look on Eliza's face is mirrored on your own.
Achievement Progress: Clueless Protagonist 6/10
"So~..." The newly incarnated being starts awkwardly, before being interrupted by a roaring sound coming from her stomach. "Oh, right~." She comments after a brief moment of confusion. "I need to eat food like a mortal, now."

You sigh. You honestly don't know how to feel about all of this. "Well, let's get some food in you." You say as you grab the floating panel out of the air and start walking toward the residential section of the Warehouse.

"Um," Eliza decides to speak up. "Shouldn't we name her first?"

"Oh, just call me *Gack!*" She attempts to say nonchalantly, before grabbing her head in pain. "Oh, come-on! I wasn't even going to say 'Jump-chan'!" She complains. She then freezes in shock for a moment when she realizes what she just said.

"I think you're only barred from calling yourself Jump-chan." Eliza comments dryly. "Also, I think that Vivian needs to be the one to name you."

[] Ask her if she has any preferences. That should bypass the pain thing, Right?
[] Ask Eliza if she has any suggestions.
[] Come up with something yourself [Write-In]

---

Don't forget to vote on the DxD Jump Selections.

As with before: the Perkless Challenge rules apply for your selections.
-Note: Sacred Gears count as an Item, not a Power.
-Edit: As a reminder, you can't select any Companion options aside from the Import one.
-Edit 2: Taking 'Evil Pieces on a Board' will grant you a set of Evil Pieces, but they require a King to use & you need to be a Devil yourself if you want to be the King.
-Edit 3: Due to the jump having already started, any 'unique' Sacred Gears you purchase that are currently active in the setting, are copies of the original. Example: a Longinus.

[] (Write-In Build)

---

GM's Notes: Let the fun begin!

Also, the voting period will more flexible than usual to give you guys time to debate the pros and cons of different 'builds'.

Basically, the voting will be open until Saturday, barring an overwhelming consensus on what you guys would like to do. I'll pop-in every now and then to answer questions and add my comments. If you're trying to get my attention @ -ing me helps get my attention. Although I may not answer right away due to RL, I'll do my best to check in regularly.

 

[Jack of Olives]

Lyrical Nanoha/DxD 46

"A name?" She seems almost perplexed by this. Closing her eyes, she spends a moment in concentration, looking almost comically serious. "How about 'Beatrice'?
Memory Check: 46+15+50=110
"Beatrice." You muse to yourself. "Italian form of the Latin name Beatrix; meaning 'voyager' or 'traveler'." You look up at your new companion. "Rather apt."

"Is that a 'yes'?"

You pause to think of any potential issues with the name. Nothing comes to mind. "Alright; 'Beatrice' it is, then."
Beatrice's Dex: 72
"Yes!" She cheers as she jumps to he feet; managing to not slip on the coils of rope on the ground while doing so. "I can do this!" She appears to be talking to herself. "It'll be just like one of those Gauntlets. Just a bit longer."

You pause as you mentally go over what you know about Gauntlets. You guess from her perspective, that isn't far off.

Your mental musings are interrupted as you feel Eliza land on your shoulder. "Should I get her set up with a room, while you're working on the Jump-doc?"

You make an affirmative hum. "Give her a vial of the linker-core serum, also. We can work on getting her a device later." At the sound of a loud growl, you look to your new Companion, who had frozen while attempting to psyche-herself up. Her hands move to her stomach with a look of confusion. "Maybe show her to the kitchen, first."

"Sure thing." Your companion acknowledges, an amused tone in her voice.

As the tiny girl flies over to your new companion, you turn your attention to the floating panel that has appeared in front of you.

---

Spoiler: Chosen Build

[x] Plan I Have No Better Ideas
-[X] Human[Free]{1400}
-[X] Independent
-[X] Neophyte[Drop In]
-[x] Sacred Gear - Nemesis Ether[350, 1st & Drop In]{1150}
-[X] Sacred Gear - Cassandra Calling [600]{550}
-[X] Renewable Demonic Contract [Free, Neophyte]{550}
-[X] Tattered Journal[300, Neophyte]{250}
-[x] A Club, All In One[250, Import 5]{0}

You're pretty happy with how it looks.

You were tempted to pick up a copy of Sephiroth Graal instead of a custom Longinus, but you were worried that having a powerful, well-known Gear like that would bring too much attention your way.

The Journal? One that helps you learn how to make Artificial Sacred Gears? Why wouldn't you take that?

As for Cassandra Calling; being able to see a few moments into the future is handy, but you're really more interested in it's ability to slow down your perception of time while accelerating your thought-processes. The Belkan and Midchildan systems of magic are mostly mental in nature, so having more time to cast spells in a pinch will be incredibly useful.

The Renewable Demonic Contract is free with the Neophyte background, and you don't see a reason not to take it. Plus, this way you have free maid-service.

After giving it one last glance, You hit the 'accept' button and the window closes with a flash of light.
???: 4
You feel a strange surge of energy rush through you, and feel a slight weight around your head.

Reaching up, you realize that you appear to be wearing some sort of circlet; which (upon trying to take it off to get a good look at it) doesn't seem to want to leave your head. A quick trip to the residential section for a mirror shows it to be seemingly made of some kind of dark metal, with a large opal set in the middle.

Acting on a hunch, you focus some magic your eyes while looking in the mirror. You watch in amazement as the purple irises of your eyes begin to glow, and your pupils take on shapes reminiscent of a camera's shutter; before the world (or your perception of it anyway) seems to slow down to a crawl. The sensation is almost dream-like; like your underwater, but more so. You can move, but all your actions seem to take forever in comparison to your thought process. In addition, you can see an 'echo' of where you're planning on moving your body, that makes things seem even more surreal.

It's about this time, that you realize that your magical reserves are emptying rather quickly. Nothing too worrying, mind you, but the equivalent of spamming shooter-type spells in the equivalent (subjective) amount of time. You quickly de-activate Cassandra Calling, and the drain on your reserves stops.

As useful as that was, you mentally file that away as more of a trump-card than something to use casually.

You're tempted to give Nemesis Ether a try, while you're at it, but promptly squash that urge. Cassandra Calling was one thing, but your pseudo-Longingus was something that you should mess with in a less fragile place; preferably in a lab.

Still, you're quite happy with how everything has turned out.

As you're heading back out, you can't help but give an amused grin as you pass by the kitchen area. Beatrice and Eliza are sitting next to a small pile of used plates, and are currently working on some kind of ice-cream confectionery with a surprising amount of gusto (considering the number of dishes that they appear to have cleaned out).

Technically speaking, Eliza doesn't need to eat, but she enjoys doing so at times. She's also become a surprisingly good chef considering her size, now that she's gotten some practice in. She seems to especially favor making desserts. Not that you're complaining, mind you; what with your body's supernaturally-perfect metabolism letting you enjoy it guilt-free.

Still, when making things for herself, she tends to make her creations almost sickeningly sweet.

Personally, you've always been more of a fan of:
[] Fruit-based desserts. They remind you of happy times when you were younger.
[] Chocolate. Everyone likes chocolate, it's the food of the gods!
[] Pastries. Fluffy and rich with some sweetness to add flavor.
[] (Write-In)
[] Why are you having us vote on this?
Anyway, you throw them a cheerful wave (while snagging a spoonful of ice-cream), before heading back out.

As you arrive into the outer-Warehouse, you notice something on one of the shelves that wasn't there before.

Strike that; two things: a large notebook that looks like it's seen a lot of use, and a professional-looking folder sitting underneath it. Likely your other purchases.

Picking up the Tattered Journal, you begin to flip through it. Unsurprisingly (considering that the description stated 'It's written in both an old language and in code'), you can't read a word of it.

Still, it should make for an interesting and useful long-term project.

Hm... actually that reminds you; you still need to decipher the code on the linker-core serum that you got from the Nanoha Jump-doc.

Granted, all it does grant people a functioning linker-core, as opposed to the journal's ability to make Sacred Gears. That said, It looks to be much simpler to decrypt, and making Belkan/Midchildan devices and new doses of the formula will almost certainly be easier than making new Sacred Gears from scratch.

Hm... What should you focus on first?

[] Sacred Gear Creation.
-Unpredictable and seem to break conventional rules of magic.
-Looks to be a long-term project.
-Finding materials might be difficult.
[] Linker Core Serum.
-Linker-cores are a known quantity.
-Once the cypher is broken, you should be able to start pumping them out.
-Relatively easy to find/make devices for people
[] Wait on any projects.
-You'll have a bit more time to spend with the others.
-You'll (hopefully) be able to get a better feel of the situation.
-Will have to rely on your limited supply of linker-core serum if you want to empower anyone.
[] (Write-In)

---

GM's Notes: I'm really sorry about how long it took to get this out. RL... yeah.

Anyway, voting will be open until Mar 21, 2019 at 7:00 PM .

EDIT: Changed how your Sacred Gears expressed themselves and added a bit to that section. Sorry about that guys, I don't know what I was thinking for the original version.

 

[Jack of Olives]

Lyrical Nanoha/DxD 47a

You give a mental shrug. As nice as being able to make Sacred Gears would be, it's more of a long-term goal than something that you'll be able to make use of in this war.

The ability to give people Linker-Cores, on the other hand, seems much more immediately useful.

[Decryption check: 69(roll) + 15(Intelligence) + 25(Perfect Memory) = 104; Req: 100 (Success?)]
lew- er... romance?: 15 (nope)
A couple hours pass before you have a breakthrough, of a sort.

The cypher seems to require information from several minor landmarks from an old Belkan world.

The good news is that you know (due to your super-recall) that the planet in question is a world under the TSAB's umbrella. Making visiting it a proverbial cake-walk.

The bad is that it was a world that was badly ravaged during the Belkan wars; so there's a good chance that many of the markers will have been destroyed.

You suppose that you can check the Infinity Library on Midchilda, but the landmarks are pretty obscure, so there's a chance you may not be able to find what you're looking for.

You could also ask Reinforce if she has any memories of the relevant areas. She was there when they were still in one piece, after all; and as a Device, her memory is comparable with your own. The only real problem with doing this, is that there's a decent chance that she'll let Hayate know. While you're sure that the girl wouldn't want to cause you problems, she is nine years old; not exactly an age known for discretion.

Alternatively, since you've gotten to the point where you just need the cypher, you can create a program to attempt to brute-force the solution. It would take about a month to complete, but you wouldn't have to run around looking for answers.

Hm...
[] Visit the planet directly and sift through the ruins.
[] Visit the Infinity Library and attempt to search through their records.
[] Ask Reinforce and chance getting Hayate involved.
[] Make a program to crack the cypher.

But that will have to wait for now. It's almost midnight, and you promised to go with the girls to sign up for the Coalition, tomorrow.

---

GM's Notes: Sorry that this one is so short.

Apparently I've been pushing myself too much this week, because the cold I had has decided to relapse on me. Unfortunately, when I'm running a fever, I tend to stare at the screen blankly instead of write.

Thankfully, I already had this written before it hit me. I'll try to make the rest up to you guys later.

Anyway: Voting will be open until Mar 23, 2019 at 7:00 PM .

 

[Jack of Olives]

Interlude 1: Midchildan History & Advanced Magical Theory

Spoiler

Perception check: 14(roll) +15(Wits) =29; Req: 30/50/70; Result: Fail (so close!)
Composure check: 6(roll) +15(Composure =21; Req: 30/50/70; Result: Fail (and almost a minor botch)

You were at your desk, deep into researching your Unified Magical Theory of Arcane Magic when it happens.

"What'cha doing~?" A voice calls out from behind you.

... You definitely did not just squeak, and you certainly didn't nearly fall off of your chair. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar.

Spinning around in your lab-desk's chair (after regaining your balance), you come face to face with a certain trio of prepubescent, high-powered, mages.

Hayate is trying (and failing) to hide her amusement at your reaction, while Fate appears embarrassed by her friend's action. Nanoha seems to have missed the whole thing entirely, too busy staring curiously at your current project.

"Hello, girls." You say while trying to restore your cool. "Did you need something?"

"Do we need a reason to visit?" Hayate asks angelicly.

Spoiler

Sense Motive: 50(roll) +15(Wits) +20 (social) =85; Req: 50/70/90; Result: Level-2 Success!

"... Reinforce and Jasmine, wanted you to take a break, didn't they?" It turned out that Radiant Jasmine (the girl who escorted your group to Lucky's office), was in charge of combat and tactics training for the region. She's also one of the few people in the organization that could keep up with Nanoha and crew's power-level (your scans register her as a low 'A' on the Midchilda-scale for magical power); so she's been the one who's been training the girls in magical girl procedures and tactics.

By the pout you receive, that was a bullseye. "She said that we can't just spend all day training our magic, and that we should 'go out and enjoy our time as kids.'"

"I still don't get that!" Fate complains, suddenly. "On Midchilda, it was common, for people over 9 to have jobs, even working for the military. Why is everyone so against it here?"

Spoiler

Midchildian History(?): (1d4 roll)
1: just what you know from the anime/manga
2: you remember some stuff from the books you've read.
3: you remember reading about this!
4: ???
Roll: 3

Int Check: 81(roll) +15(Int)
Social Check: 96(roll) +5(charisma) +25(presence = 125; Req: 60/90/120; result: Level-3 Success & Minor Crit!

Gained Teaching D+

"That's because of the Belkan Wars, Fate-chan." You explain softly. This gets you curious looks from all of them.

Taking a deep breath, you begin to explain.

During the last years of the Belkan wars, the various warlords were begining to run out of manpower. Rather than doing the smart thing of calling a truce and negotiating an end to the war, most of them took to 'recruiting' every able-bodied person from every world they could find. This left many worlds' population gutted, leaving only children and the very old behind to look after things. In addition to that, these worlds would often have to pay 'tributes' of food and supplies to their overlords. By necessity, the children left behind took up the jobs that the adults, with the elderly teaching them how to do so.

Eventually the war came to an end, and what few survivors were left returned to their homeworlds. Unfortunately, by that time their numbers were devastated and many of them had injuries that prevented them from working. So, alongside the few adults that were still capable of it, the younger generation continued to work to support everyone.

"By the time Midchilda had rebuilt, and began to form the TSAB, children working with adults had been ingrained in the culture." You explain. "From what I've read, there have been a few petitions from the older adults who remember what it was like before, but they were all shot down."

"Wow... I never realized..." Fate trails off, her mind visibly boggled what you'd described. The other girls seemed equally speachless.

Spoiler

Social Awareness Check: 48(roll) +15(Wits) +20(Social) = 83; Req: 30/60/90; Result: Level-2 Success

Might be better if you took their minds off of things. "Anyway Hayate-chan, to answer your earlier question; I'm studying the nature of different types of magic."

Spoiler

Hayate's Knowledge Check: 15(roll) +25(Int) +5(magic knowledge) =45
Fate's: 54(roll) +30(Int) +20(magic knowledge) =104
Nanoha's: 87(roll) +30(Int) +10(magic knowledge) =122

"Different types? I thought all magic was just based on math?"

"I think he means like my electric affinity." Fate offered, still a bit distracted.

"Oh!" Nanoha exclaims after a moment. "You mean like how magic has different characteristics depending on the person that have to be accounted for when using magic." At the others sudden looks she nervously scratches her head. "I had to do some research with those books Fate-chan brought with her so I could make my Starlight Breaker work."

Ah, that would explain how she did it without Raising Heart to help. Have you mentioned lately how terrifying the adorable nine-year-old is?

Still, you nod at them. "That's because every mage's linker-core is slightly different. Because of that, the nature of the magical energy is never quite the same, and almost always needs to be tweaked."

Nanoha seems to be following what you're saying, but you seem to be losing Fate, & Hayate seems completely lost.

"Let me put it this way," You try and explain. "You know how magic can let you travel to different dimensions, right?" Fate nods, but Hayate...

Spoiler

Hayate's Knowledge 2: 19(roll) +25(Int) +5(physics) =49

???: 1d6: 6
Who: 1d2: 2 (Fate)

Vivian's Awareness: 7(roll) +15(Wits) +20(Awareness) =42

Fate's Knowledge 2: 98(roll +30(Int) +20(K: Magic) =148 {... oh dear}

"That's actually another thing I don't get." The wheelchair-bound girl complains. "I understand the concept of alternate worlds, but how does traveling through dimensions let you go to completely different worlds?"

"Alternate Earths are only one form parallel dimensions." You explain patiently. "It's like the differences between moving forward, sideways, or up

"Ooh!" Nanoha exclaims excitedly. "Or how time is said to be a dimension since it travels in a mostly linear fashion, but one that we can observe. And how an object's mass distorts local space-time, due to-"

Seeing her friend's eyes begin to glaze over, you decide to interrupt the terrifyingly brilliant 9-year old. "That's right Nanoha-chan, but I think Hayate-chan is starting to get confused again." You turn to look at the girl in question (who's doing her best not to pout). "Suffice to say, there are a lot more... dimensional directions than people realize. Magic comes from what's known as a 'higher dimension' where the laws of physics are different. By using our linker cores and the appropriate math, we can tap into the energies of these dimensions to let us affect our own."

"...I think I get it." She nods slowly. You can see her mentally putting the pieces together. "And since everyone's linker core is different, the dimension they access is always slighly different. Which means they work on slightly different laws, right?"

You can't help but smile and ruffle the girl's hair. "You've got it, Hayate-chan!"

Before the girl can do more than bat your hand away, another voice attracts your attention. "So, what do these strange notes mean?"

Turning, you see that, while you were explaining things to Hayate, Fate has been amusing herself by looking through the data, you were studying. Specifically, you were comparing your home universe's magic system to the local multiverse's.

Before you can reply she continues. "It looks like a completely different system of magic, using completely different principles."

As you try to think of how to handle this, you can't help but wonder if this is how your parents felt when they were raising you.

How do you respond:
[]Deflect: Shoo them out without telling them anything. (I'm sure curious 9 year-olds will respect your privacy)
[]Lie: Claim that it's a theoretical new source of magic that you've discovered. (who says honesty is the best policy?)
[]Truth: Explain about the Jumpchain and your extra-multiversal nature. (what can go wrong?)
[]Write-In: (you know the drill)

---

GM's Note: So, it only took being stuck at home for a few weeks to make me feel like writing again. If I knew it was that easy, I would have quit my job and become a shut-in way sooner.

Anyway, no set deadline for voting, this time.

Let's see if anyone's still interested in this thing.

Edit: don't know how that got cut out, but it's fixed now.