I wasn't really expecting to run into anyone before we got to do more, but that would be the cost of rushing through the entire tutorial
[x] Plan: Housekeeping and a neighborly visit!
-[x] Create an Asset: The Undertaker: Seeker, Burrowing
-[x] Expect Sabrina's Visit with Super-Spy!
--[x] Have Super-Spy carry the doll and charm necklace
-[x] The Undertaker DESTROYS the Enemy Poster! No Holding Back!
We haven't gotten to the roof yet, so getting a plant asset isn't going to be majorly helpful at the moment. And I don't think that Sabrina is going to be quite happy to see Super Spy suddenly become more physically more human immediately after she brings it up
I wasn't really expecting to run into anyone before we got to do more, but that would be the cost of rushing through the entire tutorial
[x] Plan: Housekeeping and a neighborly visit!
-[x] Create an Asset: The Undertaker: Seeker, Burrowing
-[x] Expect Sabrina's Visit with Super-Spy!
--[x] Have Super-Spy carry the doll and charm necklace
-[x] The Undertaker DESTROYS the Enemy Poster! No Holding Back!
We haven't gotten to the roof yet, so getting a plant asset isn't going to be majorly helpful at the moment. And I don't think that Sabrina is going to be quite happy to see Super Spy suddenly become more physically more human immediately after she brings it up
Maybe? I don't think that was really captured in the conversation, she mentioned either wearing the necklace or putting it on our body, but it didn't really seem like she quite got that. If it was gone over it was in the nondescriptive section where we told her what happened, and I have to assume we haven't told her everything, like us having eaten our Donor.
Maybe? I don't think that was really captured in the conversation, she mentioned either wearing the necklace or putting it on our body, but it didn't really seem like she quite got that. If it was gone over it was in the nondescriptive section where we told her what happened, and I have to assume we haven't told her everything, like us having eaten our Donor.
She knows that you're some kind of…weird multi-bodied thing? The actual extent of it…(and anything to do with your Donor) has not been fully disclosed. Plus, no matter what you could tell her, you doubt it'd really fully prepare her for your full body, hah.
[x] Plan: Housekeeping and a neighborly visit!
-[x] Create an Asset: The Undertaker: Seeker, Burrowing
-[X]Expect Sabrina's visit with Super-Spy
--[x] Have Super-Spy carry the doll and charm necklace
-[x] The Undertaker DESTROYS the Enemy Poster! No Holding Back!
[X] plan growing friendly
-[X] modify Super-spy with false humanoid
-[X]Expect Sabrina's visit with Super-Spy
-[X] Create Asset: Kudzu, Photosynthetic, Growing, Refresh from snakeskin
Your time before Sabrina's arrival is spent in a whirl of flesh sculpting. The alterations you intend to make to Super Spy are quite simple, but you get caught up in them - The doll is just so intricate! And if you want to keep Super Spy's capabilities intact, you'll need to change your design quite a bit. In the end, you wind up taking advantage of the unique structure of the doll - Super Spy is more wrapped around the internal workings, and all that wonderful muscle is, rather than put to use to propel Super Spy, put to use in ensuring the doll body can function perfectly. It'll probably be faster than a human, just because you've removed so many of the unnecessary systems that humans have to support, as well as the overall lightness of the structure. As for the 'spy' parts, well, you were a bit stuck on those. Of course, you put eyes and ears in the gaps, to ensure that Super Spy could still see in every direction and hear a lot better then your average person, but disguising seemed pointless with the new body!
But then you realized that it was the perfect tool to make up for the weaknesses of the doll itself! You had to fully absorb the doll into yourself for a bit to make sure your work was perfect, but by the time you were done, there was a solid layer of Super Spy over every visible seam, joint, and such - And in such a manner that it didn't impede their functioning! It was even capable of mimicking the flush of human skin and indenting and such when you experimented with it! This'll make it a lot harder to tell that Super Spy isn't really human…from a visual inspection. When you're standing still. And if you don't wind up spotting any of the eyes. And if the tentacles don't come out-Look, it'll pass a brief visual inspection, and really, isn't that what disguising is all about?
Creation Report Updated
Name: Super Spy!
Keywords: Disguise, Fast, Perceptive, False Humanoid
Description: Super Spy's gotten an upgrade! Now, those wonderful tentacles are put to use in manipulating the internals of the doll body you've taken for yourself, and your disguising abilities have been put to use in camouflaging the doll-like aspects of it! Of course, this doesn't mean you aren't just as perceptive - Super Spy can still see, hear, smell, and taste from every angle, due to your very well-disguised sensory organs implanted in the false skin. Plus, you're still as fast as you ever were, able to ignore such pesky human limitations as 'muscle strain' and 'being unable to detach your limbs and reattach them'. At the core of your wonderful new body remains the same old tentacled Super Spy, of course, and those tentacles can serve as extenders for your new appendages! Never worry about reaching the top shelf again!
Of course, after that, your mind wanders a bit…that mossbed looks really comfortable! And of course, you're always so hungry…so some farming might be a good idea! The moss isn't going to grow anywhere near fast enough for your tastes, of course, so you decide to tinker a bit with creating your own little variant that'll grow a lot faster (and probably taste better, too). As much as you hate to admit it, out of the few things you've tasted in your life thus far, the best you've had yet was the flesh of your DONOR, but basing it off of that is probably a bad idea, you think…so you base it off the taste of the rats, instead! Now, of course, you know enough about plants to make it feed off the sunlight and rainwater, and keep growing. But you're worried about sustainability…You don't want to damage the moss already growing there, after all! That'd be so rude, after they fed you so nicely, too. Looking over your little collection of items, you pick out the one that seems most fitting - The shed snakeskin you found! You build it into the mixture of your new plant, and it works like a charm - It'll ensure that your little garden won't wind up making the mossbed uninhabitable while it does its work.
Creation Report
Name: Kudzu
Keywords: Photosynthetic, Growing, Refresh
Description: Kudzu is a wonderful little you that you've whipped up. Integrating nicely into the Mossbed, you're already starting to flower, petals of flesh and fur opening up ever so-nicely. The sun shines on you. Wind blows through your home, whistling through the soft rat fur you've grown. You can feel yourself spreading, slowly, entwining roots with the other plants and exchanging your delicious lifeblood for their nutrients. It feels so nice. Part of you will be here, from now on. Sipping in the water from the roots of your fellow plants. Feeling the warmth of the sun, and the coolness of the night. It's so nice to be a plant. It makes you want to take your time with things. You wonder if the rats would have enjoyed it, being a plant with you. You hope they would've.
Once you're done planting yourself into the Mossbed, you take a second to relax and enjoy it. A second turns into a minute. A minute turns into an hour. By the time you snap out of it, it's nighttime. Being a plant is nice, but you take care not to turn your full attention to it, from now on - They operate on a different timescale from what you're used to, and you might've wound up missing Sabrina's visit! That would've been sad. Speaking of, you spend the rest of your time before her arrival cleaning up a bit around the place with Super Spy…nothing fancy, but the dust does taste different from what you're used to. Dissolves all the same, of course, but it's not even useful biomass, which dampers the fun a bit. Still, by the time of her expected arrival tomorrow, you've gotten the place a fair bit cleaner than it used to be! Except the dirt and dust on the glass of the poster. You didn't dare touch that thing yet.
—Cut would be here—
You're waiting patiently on top of the rooftop when Sabrina arrives, and, oh boy, she's bringing another person with her! You focus your hearing on them from the rooftop away, and you can just make out their conversation…
"...What're you…about…is that…just a…"
"...Promise…look…I dunno…we'll…"
And then Sabrina hops over the gap, easy as can be! You really envy her fearlessness - That's quite a drop, after all! Her guest is a bit more dignified, taking a second to look down, adjust their posture, and hike up their skirt slightly to make a proper leap, though Sabrina is waiting on the other side to catch them if they misjudge the distance. You get a better look at them, now that they're at the edge of your rooftop. They're a seemingly quite normal human, looking to be about middle-aged, who seems to be presenting fairly feminine, wearing a pleated skirt, jumper, and a cardigan. You don't really sense the same sort of power you get off of Sabrina from her…could it be that she isn't a mage? Sabrina jogs over to you, with the other person brushing off their skirt and stepping down from the ledge to walk at a more leisurely pace. "Uh, hi, kid…" She seems to be searching for a name, only to realize you never gave her one. "You look different! A lot more…" She narrows her eyes slightly, flicking her tongue out. "...That's the doll you were hauling around the other day, isn't it?" You nod, excitedly. "I'm so glad you noticed, bud! I took your reaction to heart, and decided to try out a more suitable appearance!" The person finally reaches you and Sabrina. "Sabrina, honey, is this your friend? She looks…" Sabrina interjects. "This is my, uh, mother. She's the host I was talking about. I mentioned you to her and she, uh, decided to come along." Sabrina coughs, slightly, her tongue flickering in and out several times. Perhaps she's nervous?
"No worries, bud! I'm so glad to meet more people." You offer your hand to Ms. Slick. "It's so nice to meet you, Ms. Slick!" She whirls to glare at Sabrina. "Sabrina Johnson! You're introducing yourself using your street name? You know that I forbid that while you were staying in my home, and you go behind my back when-" You decide to interrupt whatever's going on here by leaning forward and taking Ms. Slick's hand to shake it. "As I said, it's so nice to meet you, Ms. Johnson." She turns back towards you, an apologetic smile on her face. "I'm so sorry about my daughter. Just leaving you alone in here-" She freezes slightly, and you tilt your head. "What is it, Ms. Johnson?" Her tone is slightly strangled as she pulls her hand back slightly. "I-Your, uh, your, uh, hand, it's just…" She inclines her head down to it, and you and Sabrina both look. Nothing unusual to your eyes…Oh, maybe she's feeling the difference between the flesh and the wood? Or maybe she spotted one of the eyes…you can't really tell.
Sabrina flicks her tongue out. "...I told you, you know, mother. She's an abhuman like me. Last time I saw her, she was all…tentacles. You just didn't want to believe me." You nod. "It's true! This used to be a doll, but now part of me's inside it, and it's much better for talking to people. Sabrina pulled a knife on me because she thought I was evil! But I'm not evil, so we talked it out, and now we're buds! And now I look a lot less evil, I bet." Ms. Johnson's smile is definitely a bit strained. "Well! Uh. You, uh, invited Sabrina over, and I was wondering what sort of friends Sabrina had made, so…I was just figuring I'd come along, but…you know…I'll just…wait up here." She coughs, and you shrug. "If you say so, Ms. Johnson! Mind the parts of the roof over there, and there, and there - They've got some cracks on them! And, of course, the holes." She nods faintly, and retreats towards the ledge. You clap your hands together, creating a clacking sound, and turn towards Sabrina. "So, bud! Let me show you around my home!"
What follows is a guided tour of mostly empty apartments and the Mossbed. Sabrina seems to be politely following along, though she does apologize for her mother (and why would she do that?). When you reach the Mossbed, she seems to react with a mixture of shock and…well, she didn't admit it to your face, but you know hunger when you see it. Snakes eat rats, don't they? Well, you're sure your bud would never eat you, especially after you waved at her from within the Mossbed, with one of your flowers. After that, there's not really anything interesting, though, except the Lobby…and the Basement. And you're not showing her the Lobby, not until that thing is gone. So, you decide to show her the basement, instead!
"So…this is where you, uh, woke up, kid? And where your…" "My main body is!" You nod, glad she's getting it so well, as you descend down the stairwell. In a flash, you're by the door leading into the basement, pulling it open. Sabrina takes the final step down and freezes, staring into the basement, even as song pours out from within - Nothing with words, just the tune you've got in your head that you've been singing. Her mouth opens slightly, fangs protruding, and her tongue is flickering in and out very quickly. "...Hey, kid?" "Yes, Sabrina?" A dozen replies come forth from a dozen mouths. "...Please close the door." "Of course!" You do, cutting off the chorus. She turns to face you, as Super Spy, and puts a hand on your shoulder.
"Kid. I'm going to be very very frank with you. Never show that to anyone who you don't trust with your life. I would never, ever, do anything to you - But that is…there are…" She struggles to find the words, and you can feel her grip increase! It's not uncomfortable, but she clearly seems to be a bit stressed. "That is…some people would not like what I just saw in there. They would not like you. And, uh, though, there's only some of them here, in the FRA, but they know a lot of very powerful people." You tilt your head, and she lets go, leaning against the wall and hugging herself with her hands. "Fuck-Sorry! Sorry, I didn't mean to curse. I, just, I didn't think I'd have to explain, uh, politics to like, a child." You tilt your head back and forth. You wouldn't know if you'd call yourself a child. You're aware of what one is, but your scale of maturity seems to be…different from a human. And of course, there's the matter of your DONOR. But you don't think that's what she's concerned about.
"So…let's start from the beginning, I guess."
QM's Note: And that's where we'll cut it! Rest of the update coming soon.
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Prologue - Part Five: Sabrina's Story of How the World Came to Be
Once upon a time, there was the Old World. The Old World was full of nations who varied greatly in strength, size, and governance. Most of them didn't like each other very much, and so there were a lot of wars all the time. Then came the First Evil. Nobody knows his name, now, because it was expunged from history. He came to destroy the Old World, in a tide borne of flesh and bone, to remake it in an image of his liking. Armies of the undead marched at his command, led by soul-bound evils, versions of himself, and horrors beyond measure. The nations of the Old World united to stop him in the First Crusade. That was centuries and centuries ago - It's what we count years from. Ever since then, there's been…a sort of convention against all the magic that the First Evil used, and it's prohibited by the international order laid down by those nations, who formed a sort of organization - The United Crusader Nations of Virtue. Now, uh, a lot of that's bull-a lot of that's not necessarily true. But it is what they believe, and they used to enforce it all over the world. Now, as time went on, the UCNV kept expanding, but the core members sorta…stayed the same, because they were expanding into the New World, you know? They formed big ol' companies, Corporations, to manage their 'vassals' in the New World - Their colonies. And every so often, they did a great big purge of a bunch of people, another Crusade, to get rid of all the magic they don't like, or if any nation decided to adopt it as standard practice. Didn't matter if they'd never even heard of the UCNV, or their laws, if they used it, they got put to the sword and put under the management of 'benevolent Corporate guidance'. The big ones were called Grand Crusades, and they only happened every few centuries, and the small ones were just, you know, Crusades.
And then, during one of those small Crusades, something happened. One of the big core members, Runval, had its entire royal family killed. They fell apart, into a civil war - And look, I don't know everything, I was just a kid when that happened, but what came from that were the Necromancer Cadres. An underground group of revolutionary necromancers who wound up winning the Civil War. The UCNV freaked out, obviously - The Necromancer Cadres hadn't come out of nowhere, but nobody had thought they'd win, and the, like, Runval remnants didn't want their buddies stealing a bunch of land and, like, 'status' from them, so they kinda tried to keep it quiet, you know? So, they declared another Crusade. I think it was…the Eighth Grand Crusade? Nobody calls it that anymore, because, well, you'll see. So, uh, the UCNV declared war on Runval.
And Runval didn't lose, which was big. The civil war had given the necromancers a lot of corpses, and they weren't idiots on the political front, either. They got a lotta people onboard, promised them way better lives, espoused this whole theory called 'necrocracy', where the undead worked for the good of the people and enabled them to live lives of leisure, instead of, you know, working. I dunno much about that. Plus, they had all the benefits of being, you know, part of the UCNV's core, and all the technology and industrial stuff that comes with it. So, Runval's fighting the UCNV to a standstill, and they start leaning on the Corporations real hard to give them more manpower and resources - And the Corporations don't like that. So, they all get together, and decide now's a great time to exercise some autonomy. Get some independence going, you know? Since, when's a chance like this going to come again? So, they make an offer to Runval - And Runval says yes, because not losing isn't the same as winning, you know? And they declare war on the UCNV, under the banner of the Federal Republic, you know, what we're in today.
And that's really when things kicked off. The Great Crusade. The worst war in history. Lasted eight years. And, uh, to make a really long story short - Runval and the FRA didn't win, nobody won, really. But they didn't lose, either. Runval developed something, some kind of…soul bomb, that's what all the papers said. They tested it, and they sent the results of that test to the UCNV, and the UCNV suddenly decided that they'd had enough of this whole 'war' business. They came to terms. The Treaty of Runval. Independence and open markets for the FRA. Peace and open borders for Runval. The UCNV stays as it is. This was…five years ago or so.
And I'm…pretty sure that, whatever you are, kid? Whatever's going on down in that basement? The UCNV would not like it. And most other places would probably want to get your hands on you because the UCNV doesn't like what you're doing. So. Be careful, alright? Don't show it to anyone you don't trust.
—
After that, you have a lot to think about. Sabrina says her goodbyes, and takes her mother back to her place…but she does give you instructions on how to get there, if you ever want to drop by, now that you're…well, now that you have a body that won't instantly identify you as being too abhuman. Are you even abhuman? You're not sure. You had a DONOR. But...you aren't her, you're fairly sure. You're not sure what you are, or why you're here. You want to be a magical girl. You want to help people, and save people. But what does that mean?
You think the only way to figure it out is by doing. And that means getting out into the world, and finding people who need help, and helping them! And maybe learning some more about the world, while you're at it.
It is March 22nd, 1923. You gain 1 Biomass per Week. Your current goal is to find someone who needs help, and help them! Your current Available Biomass is 0.
Your Current Assets Are: 1x Super Spy
1x Kudzu
Your Current Resources Are:
1x Broken Toy (Keyword: Split)
1x Rat Poison (Keyword: Poison)
1x Charm Necklace (Keyword: Shield)
Your fully explored areas: Your Home!
(Sub-Areas of Interest: The Lobby, Empty Apartments, Mossbed, Roof)
You know of the following unexplored areas: The Street Outside
(Sub-Areas: ???) The Rooftops
(Sub-Areas: ???)
Asset Situations
Explore [Area] with [Asset]
Explore a location! Make sure to specify which asset is exploring - This will have an impact on what may or may not be discovered! Feel free to include write-in instructions if you so desire.
Visit Sabrina
You can visit Sabrina whenever you want, if you need her help with something, or if you just want to hang out! Make sure to write-in what you're visiting her about if you so desire.
Deal With The Poster
You need to investigate the Poster. That thing is evil, and you're not going to tolerate evil in your home. Maybe brute force will get rid of it? Or maybe a lighter touch would help…
Biomass Options
Create an Asset.
Create an asset and pick as many keywords as you'd like for them, so long as you have the Biomass!
Recycle An Asset
Recyle an asset or parts of an asset. Make sure to specify which asset and/or which keywords. Important Note: This can be done in the same 'turn' in which you create a new asset with the biomass from the old asset!
Modify Yourself
You currently have the Immutable Keywords of Magical Biohorror, Broadcaster, Immobile, and Idealist. You may add keywords to this, which will not be immutable and can be recycled and changed as you wish!
QM's Note: Got this out a lot faster than I hoped, but I think the split works anyways!
Alright, I think we need to go hard on camouflaging our flesh assets. Improve on the kudzu and garden ideas and try to appear as plant-like as possible, that's a step up suspicion wise.
[] Plan: Plantify
-[] Modify Kudzu: split
-[] Modify Super Spy: shield
-[] Search the immediate surroundings for plant life to examine.
Can we just add random keywords to assets? Like, plant?
Anyway, my idea is to gather whatever plants are nearby as examples to imitate for camouflage. If we get it right we could spread out like actual kudzu and cover the area.
You can! But be aware of the fact that you're making those things part of your collective consciousness. Plants, as mentioned above, operate on a different timescale - Things you take into yourself and make a part of you can affect you! In terms of 'just adding stuff' - Genuinely, I want you all as players to be able to experiment with keywords. Do not worry about needing samples or needing to find things out for things that you, as players, already know. Experiment. Get as wild as you want to go. If there is a concept in-game that is not real and is important, I will introduce it. The only exception I'm going to make is proper nouns, since I hope I've established that 'this is not our world' enough, so those will get weird if you include them.
I am also going to note that you have searched Your Home. You know what's in it (mostly moss, lichen, and a few weeds). If you want some actual plant life as Resources (as mentioned above, you can just include stuff as keywords), you're going to have to go further afield - Either out onto the Rooftops, or out onto the Street. Though, frankly, it'll probably just wind up being biomass! Resources are things of...importance, as I mentioned. Plants can be important. But if they aren't, they're a good source of ethical biomass.
Anyway, my idea is to gather whatever plants are nearby as examples to imitate for camouflage. If we get it right we could spread out like actual kudzu and cover the area.
Now, what you'd want to do for this is to Modify Yourself with, say, Growing or Spreading or Roots or Camouflage or Hidden or Invisible or- You get the gist.
[X] Plan: Plantify
-[X] Modify yourself: Roots
-[X] Modify Kudzu: Split
-[X] Modify Super Spy: Shield
-[X] Search the streets immediately around your home with Super Spy.
Okay, I changed my plan based on TMRs feedback.
Actually, @TheMaskedReader how does modifying yourself interact with modifying an asset? I mean, we already made kudzu, I figured it would be the kudzu we'd spread around, but do you mean we should spread our main body like kudzu?
Should we just recycle the kudzus keywords back into ourself and start over?
Do not worry about needing samples or needing to find things out for things that you, as players, already know. Experiment. Get as wild as you want to go.
Actually, @TheMaskedReader how does modifying yourself interact with modifying an asset? I mean, we already made kudzu, I figured it would be the kudzu we'd spread around, but do you mean we should spread our main body like kudzu?
Should we just recycle the kudzus keywords back into ourself and start over?
Like I said in an earlier post, think of your main body like an RTS base, and your Assets like RTS units.
When you apply 'Growing' or 'Photosynthetic' to yourself, you're...upgrading your RTS base. Maybe you spread your influence faster. Maybe you see further. Maybe you generate biomass a bit passively, when you're exposed to the sun (and how do you do that without risking exposure? Risk v. Reward). Things like that. Maybe you gain some new perceptions, or new skills, or whatever - It's within the context of your immobile body, which acts as a broadcaster for all your assets. Things you apply via 'Modify Yourself' are going to apply to the system as a whole. Right now, your Immutable Keywords are: Magical Biohorror (All of your assets are flesh-themed and work via magic), Broadcaster (You can control your assets at range), Immobile (Your primary body can't move), and Idealist (Self-evident, I hope). See how they all impact things about how your overall system works?
Your assets are your units. To use the Kudzu as an example - It's like a resource generator unit. It goes out, and it generates a resource for you. 1 Biomass every Week. Simple as, that's what the keywords you gave it do. Over time, it'll grow, and grow, and refresh itself, and grow some more. If you didn't have those keywords on it, I'd make it grow slower, you'd get biomass less quickly. If you want to recycle it, because it's not doing what you want - That's fine! If you add more keywords about growing etc etc, it'll grow faster! Assets are the tools you utilize for your system to interact with things outside of itself, like the sun, or other people.
Let's say you add 'Growing' to your Keywords, your primary self, your RTS base, will start to grow. This can be good (more influence over your local area, more defenses, etc) and bad (more likely to be detected, more vulnerabilities, etc)! But the key thing about it is that it changes the system of your primary self. When you make Kudzu as an asset, it's a unit. It's not your overall system changing, it's just you making something specifically for a purpose. If Super Spy just vanished because of magic, you'd be surprised, sure, and probably annoyed at the loss of resources, but it's like losing a tool in your hand. Your 'body' is unaffected, and the way your system operates is unaffected.
You can do a lot of things! Some of them would be very bad ideas. If you make a bad decision, I'm not going to stop you! I will impose consequences for such bad ideas, instead.
It would probably be a very bad idea to make something Radioactive without ensuring everything else in the area (and itself) are Radiation Resistant, and probably also Radiotrophic.
Simpler sources of energy might have their uses, but I'd avoid anything... volatile... until we're much better established and can afford the risk.
Right now, we probably want to go out and get some easy Biomass by hunting for plants and small animals in our immediate vicinity, so we have more resources to work with. Fancy ideas do no good if you can't implement them.
Right now, your Immutable Keywords are: Magical Biohorror (All of your assets are flesh-themed and work via magic), Broadcaster (You can control your assets at range), Immobile (Your primary body can't move), and Idealist (Self-evident, I hope). See how they all impact things about how your overall system works?
I really hope we can either added magical girl at some point, or change magical biohorror to magical biohorror girl, making the whole magical girl thing "official" lol.
Sewers would technically work, but it'd be more because food sometimes gets washed down there, and rats propagate there, rather than sewage being inherently good biomass. The efficiency ratio would also be awful. Sewers could be more useful for other reasons, though - Talk about an easy way to get around unseen!