Rule 3: Be Civil
Go read the rules and come back when you can tell me what's wrong with this
Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest
- Thread starter eaglejarl
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- naruto rational rationalist romance armageddon is looking better and better damn you kishimoto explosions everywhere explosives solve everyone if in doubt surrender to the mercy of zabuza it seemed like a good idea at the time looks like a really bad case of being a jōnin my god. where does the lore end? precommitting is the winning plan screaming in kagome screw the rules i have explosives something bad might still happen sometimes you gotta sociopath stabby zabby subsection c of paragraph 9 should include we can weaponize this so hard
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No.
It provides tags on an aspect that she can use on her RW or athletics roll. You can learn about tags here.
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Buffs use the skill's AB unless explicitly stated otherwise. For example, Earth Pillar Jump uses that jutsu's AB, but CotWG uses ATH or RW AB, depending on what roll you're making.
Oh. Its not like Flame Aura in that regard. That does make it better...
I know what a tag is, I just thought its like FA where it uses the ninjutsu's AB rather than that of the skill its buffing.
Cariyaga
Handsome Gentleperson
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Also supplemental! That's a big advantage it has over flame aura.
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Flame Aura is a special exception to normal tag bonuses.
You can read more about how Flame Aura works here.
And its not even that really because ordinarily Kei would need to use a Supplemental to draw a ranged weapon and CoTWG allows her to do that with its own so really its free but for the chakra which she has aplenty.
Still, we will probably want to get it to 50 asap once she has Ath 59.
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Cariyaga
Handsome Gentleperson
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No disagreements here! CotWG is an incredible jutsu for her.
We are really at quite the crucial period where being a team of strong jounin with an S-rank leader is just half a year away but we are nowhere near close that until we get that last stretch of XP, aren't we?
We really shouldn't take risks...
RW 69 is quite far away - I doubt we will want to commit the 60 slot to RW over Athletics. But yeah, rolling over 100 is really good, in any case.
Its good as a damage boost but where it really shines is it makes her extremely hard to hit when combined with Substitution.
Athletics : 59 + 18 (CoTWG 20) + 13 (Sub 25) + 7 (Boost) + 0 = 97 eff. evasion, without Frozen Skein.
105+339 = 444 XP away (CoTWG 20 + Ath 53->59)
The kiting/escape potential is also exciting.
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Have to take risk though cause if we just set at home we'll never get enough XP
Sure, there are risks and risks, though.
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Blast from the past, the impacts significantly altered by context...
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Wait until you see the math on Mari, who got two separate and stackable Athletics buffs from my request.
Athletics 69 + 28 (Strength of the Storm) + 21 (Cloak of the Wind God) + 11 (RRB) + 9 (Chakra Boost) + 0 = effATH 138
And this is without spending action economy on a Substitution.
Mostly this has three issues, one in the action economy needed to do this, another in exposing the user to Elemental Disadvantage against both Fire and Wind (these can be as much as +32 if up against an Elemental Master with a Ninjutsu 70) and the third is multiple enemies and/or multi-attack techniques like Water Dragon Bullet, which roll 7+ times at Jounin level and bypass all bonuses like SoTS, CoTWG and Substitution through sheer supplemental/tag fatigue.
We do have Whirlwind Barrier to deal with such effects but it both needs a Standard just like SoTS (the action economy, fools!) and a high level to be effective. Basically what I'm saying is defensive effects that consume Supplementals or are limited use per Round should not be excessively relied upon. Thankfully, both Combat Frozen Skein and RRBs (effectively) don't but the same cannot be said about the three techniques.
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I assume these problems become much easier to deal with if we only speed up time by a factor of 2 or less.
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Oh look, another effect that can turn into a nuke! Well, lets add it to the list. We're up to something like half a dozen at this point, right?
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I'm not sure this has been said explicitly but I don't think you add Elemental superiority bonuses unless it's a contested roll between two jutsu that actually use the level of the jutsu, e.g. Geode Coffin vs. Water Dragon Bullet. So if Yuno with Thunderburst active were attacked by a Wind jutsu I don't think you'd add the bonus. Similarly I don't think you gain the bonus when e.g. your buff to TJ is superior to the element they're blocking your TJ attack with, or when you are rolling your TJ against their TJ and your buff is Elementally superior to their buff.
I think the Elemental superiority is only for jutsu level vs. jutsu level rolls.
@eaglejarl @Velorien @Paperclipped Care to weigh in here? How do buffs interact with the Elemental Superiority rolls if at all?
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Strength of the Storm does not need a standard to activate. In fact, it can be cast reflexively with a supplemental before Initiative is determined. This supplemental will refresh upon your first turn.
This means that in most situations you may start you first turn with SotS active and all of your actions available.
You can read more about how SotS works here.
Combat Begins
Combatants cast any reflexive ninjutsu they have before Initiative is determined.
- Mari casts Strength of the Storm 40 [-1 Supplemental], granting her the Aspect "Strength of the Storm" and 10 tags on that aspect per round.
- Mari casts Pangolin Flash 40 [-1 Supplemental], granting her +10 to her Initiative.
- Mari is out of actions, and cannot reflexively substitute if she is attacked before her turn.
Upon her first turn, Mari may cast Cloak of the Wind God using her first supplemental.
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Could we check with him without spending another scene on it? We greenlit his proposal so presumably we are interacting with him in the background to connect him with the relevant memebers of the MARI and NFF.
If Naruto provides us these seals, it will create a ton of work (and also a large delay) to make all the individual mechanics for them.
What are your thoughts on abstracting the whole thing, and just representing them as a general improvement to the Kagome's OPSEC and defense perimeters instead of specifcially stating them all out? I presume that's how you already handle defensive perimeters....
Chapter 643: Like a Boss
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Joining the Crusade (Hazō's name for the progress of the Seventh Path Clan Bosses on their way to murder Dragons) had a lot in common with eating psychedlic mushrooms.
Both were things that he would never do by choice. The mushrooms had been forced upon him by his instructors as part of Hazō's SERE training at the Academy. Joining the Crusade was necessary because of eldritch extradimensional (possibly-)Externals attempting to eat a universe.
Both were utterly surreal, filled with images that would haunt him forever. The mushrooms had made the world melt, then become incoherent and awful as the instructors slipped on oni masks and screamed at the trainees, flicking them with thin branches and capering about like demons. The Crusade rested atop a gently-curving plain of dappled tortoiseshell with a dozen minor deities and their attendants chatting, complaining, playing dice, and occasionally jogging down towards the downward-curving back of the shell to step behind a curtain at the back of the shell in order to defecate or urinate. The minor deities in question ranged from a gargantuan toad to a monkey the size of a large man. The attendants consisted of a handful of juveniles of various species and various ages playing in the way that juveniles do. The hatchling turtle and the tiny tadpole were chasing each other around, the tadpole moving at normal toad speeds (which was surprisingly fast, actually) and the hatchling alternating between slow lumbering and literally lightning-quick surges as her body occasionally crackled with raiton energy. Pandā, desperate to prove himself more mature, watched longingly while pretending to read a book of philosophy, its pages likely unturned for minutes. The young Condor soared above them, balanced on long wings as she surveyed the world for miles around.
"Bye!" Cantelabra said, galloping away now that he had performed his duty of bringing Hazō to the Seventh Path. Bringing the Summoners to the Seventh Path was the only reason the children were present, and Hazō hated that it was necessary.
Cannai glanced over and nodded to Hazō, then turned back to his conversation with Haiwarai, who was currently no larger than he.
"I am the lord of Clan Gōketsu, a special jōnin of the Leaf, possibly the greatest sealmaster alive, master of the forgotten art of lithosealing," Hazō whispered to himself, fortifying his mental defenses against the psychic pressure in the air. The Clan Bosses probably weren't making an actual effort to assault him or anyone else. They were simply existing, and this was what it meant. Despite that, breathing felt like dragging mud through his lungs.
"You can't call it lithosealing," he singsonged to himself, mocking the Snake Sannin's words. "You need to change the name and just because you created it doesn't mean you get to name it and I'm the Snake Sannin so you have to do what I say wahhh." He ground his teeth. "Runecrafting, fine. Out loud, anyway."
The griping helped, distracting him from the mud in his lungs until he managed to press it back a bit and breathe calmly.
He slipped around the edges of the conversation and up to Kamehameha's head. A six-foot-wide leather chin strap was wound around the Turtle's head specifically so that people could climb down to be next to his ears. Hazō had no idea how the handless Clan Lords and -Ladies managed it, but maybe they simply didn't. Heck, given who they were maybe they simply thought about him hearing their words and the universe scurried to obey.
The band was covered in loops that served as good hand- and footholds, meaning Hazō had no difficulty lowering himself down to the house-sized depression in the side of the Turtle's head that was his left-side ear. Hazō slid into one of the loops, using it like a seat and leaning comfortably back against the Turtle King's warm cheek. Far too far below him the ocean rolled in long, slow waves that ranked off to the horizon. Hazō was on the western side of the enormous turtle so the water stretched on forever with no sign of land anywhere. It was an isolating feeling, seeming as though Hazō was the only living creature in the world aside from the living island he leaned against.
The wind was blowing onshore, the waves rolling towards Hazō but never reaching him; the Turtle King was moving through the water so fast that he launched a frothing white bow wave to disrupt and force away anything approaching. A gentle breeze blew in Hazō's face, cooling him from the sun that beat down above.
"Good morning, King Kamehameha," Hazō said at last. "Am I disturbing you?"
"YOU ARE NOT, YOUNG HUMAN! IT IS A MOST YOUTHFUL THING YOU DO, KEEPING ME COMPANY AS I SWIM THESE LONG MILES!"
"Thank you, sir. How is the swim?"
"A TAD NIPPY, TO BE HONEST! ALSO, THE SALT WATER MAKES MY FLIPPERS ITCH IN A VERY UNYOUTHFUL WAY!"
Was it possible, Hazō wondered, for the enormous turtle to get through a sentence without using the word 'youth'? Perhaps it was a source of strength for him. Maybe that's why Maito Gai had been so powerful, because he was always dressed in turtleshell green and shouting about youth?
"Sorry to hear that, sir," he said instead of sharing his thoughts. "I wanted to thank you for doing this. For pushing the Conclave through, and for cutting the knot and carrying everyone to Arachnid."
"OF COURSE, YOUNG SUMMONER!"
"Sir, you are a bit of a contradiction," Hazō said with a smile. "Simultaneously one of the eldest beings on the Seventh Path and also the most youthful."
"HO HO HO! A MOST YOUTHFUL BIT OF WORDPLAY! I HAVE ALWAYS ENJOYED HUMANS! YOUR APPROACH TO THINGS, THE PATTERNS OF YOUR THINKING, ARE VERY DIFFERENT THAN OURS!"
"Thank you, I think?"
"HO HO HO!"
"I wanted to ask...do the Turtles have any tales of the Sage and his companions that you would be willing to share with me? I'm gathering all the lore I can about that time, hoping that it might help with this Dragon situation."
"TALES OF OLDEN TIMES, TALES OF OLDEN TIMES...INTERESTING! OF COURSE WE HAVE TALES OF THEM!"
Hazō waited. After an awkward pause he asked, "Would you...share them with me?"
"OF COURSE!"
Pause. "Would you please share them with me, now?" Hazō said, struggling not to sound acerbic.
"HO HO HO! HUMANS, SUCH AN ETERNAL DELIGHT! WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO BEGIN?"
"Well...did he actually create chakra?"
"CREATE CHAKRA? CREATE CHAKRA?! HO HO HO, IS THAT WHAT THEY SAY ON THE HUMAN PATH? OF COURSE HE DIDN'T CREATE CHAKRA! CHAKRA IS AN ESSENCE THAT UNDERGIRDS THE WORLD! IT IS THE WANDERING THOUGHTS OF DIVINE BEINGS, NOT A PAINTING OR A SCULPTURE OR THING THAT MORTAL HANDS COULD SHAPE!"
"Divine beings?"
"YES! BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN, THE KAMI EXISTED IN DARKNESS AND SILENCE. THEY DANCED AND BATTLED AND SANG AND SHAPED THE AETHER, EACH TO THEIR OWN WILL. THEY WERE CONSTANTLY AT ODDS, EACH ONE DISCORDANT AND AT CROSS PURPOSES WITH THE REST. THERE WAS BATTLE—AGAINST WHOM IS UNCLEAR. PERHAPS AGAINST A FOE FROM BEYOND AND POSSIBLY AGAINST EACH OTHER. WHAT IS CLEAR IS THAT THE BATTLE WAS CONSTANT AND, INASMUCH AS KAMI HAVE BLOOD, IT WAS BLOODY.
"EVENTUALLY ONE KAMI, YOIRĪDĪ, BROUGHT THEM TOGETHER IN MOOT. THE TALES THAT SPEAK OF BATTLE AGAINST OUTSIDERS SAY THAT THE KAMI CAME TOGETHER TO FIGHT AS A SINGLE JAW, SLASHING THROUGH THEIR FOES LIKE A HUNGRY TURTLE THROUGH A CAPELIN SWARM. THE TALES THAT SPEAK OF BATTLE INTERNECINE SAY THAT THEY AGREED TO TRANSFORM THE NATURE OF THEIR BATTLES TO PREVENT LOSS OF ETERNITY. WHATEVER THE TRUTH, THEIR POWER SPILLED FORTH AND BECAME THE WORLD. THEIR SPIT BECAME THE WATER OF THE OCEANS, THEIR BLOOD BECAME THE SAP OF THE TREES, THEIR BONES BECAME THE SAND OF THE BEACHES, THEIR BREATH BECAME THE WIND, AND THEIR THOUGHTS BECAME THE POWER OF CHAKRA."
"Chakra is the thoughts of dead kami?"
"INDEED! ALTHOUGH I NEVER SAID THEY WERE DEAD!"
"But...their blood is the sap?"
"MAITO GAI OFTEN SHED BLOOD AFTER SCRAPING HIS KNUCKLES ON THE TRAINING DUMMIES!"
"Their bones are the sand. You don't shed bones in training."
"THE TALES ARE CONFLICTING. REGARDLESS, THE REASON CHAKRA HAS SO MANY ELEMENTS IS BECAUSE IT IS FORMED OF THE THOUGHTS OF MANY KAMI...AND PERHAPS OF THOSE OF WHATEVER INCOMPREHENSIBLE HORROR THEY BATTLED. SOME OF THESE THOUGHTS ARE GENTLE, SOME ANGRY, SOME HOPEFUL, SOME DESPAIRING. SOME ARE THE THOUGHTS OF THOSE WHO JOINED THE MOOT WILLINGLY, WHILE SOME ARE FROM THOSE WHO WERE DRAGGED BY WHATEVER IT IS THAT ELDER BEINGS USE FOR NOSTRILS!"
"Different thoughts, different kinds of chakra. Human chakra and nature chakra," Hazō murmured, nodding slowly.
"AND EVERY ELEMENT WITHIN THOSE AND WITHIN THE OTHER TWELVE TYPES!"
"Wait, other twelve types?"
"IN ANY CASE, THE WORLD EXISTED FOR COUNTLESS EONS BEFORE THE BIRTH OF WISE ONES, AND THEN FOR YET MORE BEFORE THE BIRTH OF THE ONE YOU NAME THE SAGE.
"THE THOUGHTS OF THE KAMI, THE POWER THAT IS NOW CHAKRA, HAD TORMENTED AND BEDEVILED ALL THINGS SINCE THE FIRST MOMENT. THE SAGE GATHERED THAT POWER TOGETHER AND LEASHED IT TO THE WILL OF THE LIVING IN ORDER TO PREVENT IT FROM HARMING ANYONE EVER AGAIN. THERE WAS TOO MUCH FOR HUMANS TO CONTROL; HE STRUGGLED FOR DECADES TO FIND A WAY, BUT IN THE END HE GAVE UP. HE STORED IT AWAY INTO THE BEASTS OF THE FIELD, THE BIRDS OF THE SKY, THE LIFE OF THE WATERS. WHEN THIS WAS STILL NOT ENOUGH HE FOLDED IT INTO THE VERY PLANTS THAT ARE THE ROOT OF ALL LIFE IN THE COSMOS. EVERY TREE, EVERY BUSH, EVERY BLADE OF GRASS IS A PRISON AND A PURIFYING LENS FOR THE POWERS AND PARTS LEFT OVER FROM A BATTLE AMONG PRIMAL BEINGS BEFORE TIME BEGAN. DESPITE THE VAST NUMBERS OF GRASS BLADES AND HUMANS AND TURTLES, EVEN THIS WAS NOT ENOUGH. THERE WAS STILL TOO MUCH POWER UNCONTAINED."
The King of Turtles fell silent, leaving Hazō to digest this revelation in silence.
"What does it mean to say that there was 'too much power'?" Hazō asked. "What did it do?"
"WHAT DID IT NOT DO IS THE BETTER QUESTION. THE POWER WANTED TO TEAR AWAY THE VEIL THAT PROTECTS OUR WORLD AND REUNITE WITH ITS SOURCE—OR, DEPENDING ON THE TALE, THE DEAD BODIES OF THE KAMI THAT HAD BEEN GROUND UP AND USED TO FORM THE UNIVERSE STRUGGLED TO AWAKEN AGAIN. THE POWER OF THESE BEINGS ROILED, CREATING AND DESTROYING AT RANDOM. IT WOULD FORM INTO EDDIES AND SNARLS, MUCH AS DID THE DUST UNDER OUR LAST-BUT-THREE SUMMONER'S BED. 'DUST BUNNIES', AS SHE CALLED THEM, CAUSE NOTHING MORE THAN SNEEZING. EDDIES AND ECHOES OF PRIMAL POWER GROW FANGS AND MINDS THAT DRIP WITH HATRED. THEY MAKE THINGS FALL UP, OR SIDEWAYS. THEY TRANSFORM THEIR SURROUNDINGS OR SHRED THEM TO DUST. THEY UNMAKE REALITY IN WAYS THAT NO BEING CAN PREDICT."
A chill went down Hazō's back. "Seal failures," he breathed. "Living seal failures. Cracks in reality, spreading in ways that can't be predicted or controlled."
"I AM UNFAMILIAR WITH YOUR SEALING ARTS BUT YES, THE SOUND OF YOUR WORDS SWIMS ON FLIPPERS OF YOUTH AND TRUTH."
"You said that he locked the energy inside every living thing," Hazō said. "He used us to control the energy before it caused harm."
"INDEED! AND TO TRANSFORM IT FROM SOMETHING WILD AND UNTAMED INTO SOMETHING THAT COULD BE USED FOR PEACE! FOR WARMING THE COLD, FEEDING THE HUNGRY, AND HEALING THE SICK. SADLY, THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH LIFE IN THIS WORLD TO IMPRISON ALL OF THE ENERGY OF THE KAMIMOOT. NOT BY A HUNDRED LEAGUES. HE DID WHAT HE COULD, AND THEN HE GATHERED UP ALL THE REMAINING ENERGY AND TORE IT AWAY FROM THE HUMAN PATH. HE DRAGGED IT INTO THE SPACE BEYOND WHERE HE SQUEEZED IT, COOLED IT, AND SHAPED IT UNTIL IT BECAME PHYSICAL THINGS THAT WOULD BE BOUND BY RULES. OF THESE, HIS GREATEST CREATION WERE THE SIX PATHS OF LIFE THAT BRANCHED OFF FROM THE PRIME PATH."
"The Prime Path? From context, does that mean the Human Path?"
"HO HO HO! WELCOME TO THE DEBATE, YOUNG SCHOLAR! SO MANY HAVE ARGUED THAT QUESTION ACROSS THE CENTURIES OF MY LIFE. OBVIOUSLY, MOST TURTLES BELIEVE THAT WHAT WE CALL THE SEVENTH PATH WAS IN TRUTH THE PRIME PLANE OF WHICH THE OTHERS ARE ECHOES. SOME BELIEVE THAT THE SAGE, HAVING A HUMAN APPEARANCE MOST OF THE TIME, WOULD HAVE BEEN BORN ON THE HUMAN PATH AND THEREFORE THAT IS THE PRIME PATH."
"What do you think?"
"I AM BUT A HUMBLE TURTLE, YOUNG SUMMONER! HOW SHOULD I KNOW THE ANSWERS TO SUCH WEIGHTY QUESTIONS?"
Hazō looked sourly at the cliff that was the enormous turtle's cheek. Kamehameha must have sensed the look because his slow, booming laugh echoed out across the waves far below Hazō's dangling feet.
"Hang on," he said after a moment. "You said that the Sage had a human appearance, and only most of the time?"
"I HAD WONDERED HOW LONG IT WOULD BE BEFORE YOU ASKED AFTER THAT! HO HO HO!"
Hazō sighed. "Would you please tell me what you meant by that? Was the Sage not human?"
"LOOK BEHIND YOU, HAZŌ OF CLAN GŌKETSU!"
Confused, Hazō turned around in his sling seat. After a moment he realized that the steady motion of Kamehameha's legs had broken rhythm for a moment before resuming its steady sweep. Hazō frowned in confusion before finally getting it.
"Did...did you just shrug?"
"INDEED I DID! THE TIME OF THE SAGE WAS LONG BEFORE MY BIRTH AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE SAGE TRULY WAS. HE IS WELL KNOWN FOR SHAPECHANGING AND THUS EVERY CLAN HAS ROOM TO CLAIM HIM AS THEIR OWN, SAYING THAT HE MERELY DISGUISED HIMSELF AS A HUMAN FOR SOME COMPLICATED REASON THAT VARIES BY THE YEAR OR EVEN THE MOMENT. HE MAY HAVE BEEN A HUMAN, OR A TURTLE, OR A LEOPARD, OR EVEN A LIVING TREE THAT DECIDED TO ASK THE WOODSMAN NOT TO CHOP IT DOWN AND BECAME SO ENAMORED OF THE MAN THAT THE TREE ADOPTED THE FORM OF HIS KIND AND BORE HIS CHILDREN. HE MAY HAVE BEEN BORN ON THE HUMAN PATH, OR THE SEVENTH PATH, OR THE DEVA PATH, OR ANY OTHER. OR, PERHAPS, HE WAS BORN OUTSIDE OF ANY PATH BECAUSE HE WAS ACTUALLY THE KAMI YOIRĪDĪ, LEADER OF THE KAMIMOOT! IT WOULD EXPLAIN HIS POWER OVER THE REMAINS OF THE KAMI AND THEIR PERHAPS NONEXISTENT ENEMIES."
"Wow."
Hazō fell silent, digesting the implications of that. If he shared this information in Leaf, what would the implications be? It could be seen to threaten some of the underpinnings of the Will of Fire, as Hashirama's philosophy—well, the philosophy of that civilian from whom Hashirama had stolen it, although Hazō couldn't remember the man's name.
He frowned, combing through his memory, then shook the tangent away. The Will of Fire derived some of its authority from the idea that Hashirama was the spiritual successor to the Sage of Six Paths, uniting humanity in the way that the Sage had tried so long before. If people knew that the Sage might not have been human, would it destroy their sense of connection to him?
For that matter, what about the Sage's companions? They had always been stated to be human so far as Hazō knew. Why would a non-human gather a coterie of only humans?
Whatever the Sage had been, was it true that he tried to use chakra to unite everyone's minds? How did that work when the power of chakra was actually the loving but also hateful thoughts of beings from outside the universe...actually, that made it seem more plausible and not less, although it also made it seem more likely that the project would have Gone Horribly Right had it succeeded.
So, so many questions. Amazingly, he seemed to have found a person who both knew the lore and was, miraculously, willing to share. The idea beggared belief but seemed to be the case. He mentally rubbed his hands in glee and organized his thoughts.
XP AWARD: 1 This update was an hour or so long.
Brevity XP: 0 Giving a brevity award twice feels like a bridge too far, sorry.
"GM had fun" XP: 2 The Turtle King is fun.
Hazō still has Kamehameha's ear (ha!). You can ask more questions or move on.
Vote time! What to do now?
Voting ends on Wednesday, .
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[X] Action Plan: Dispel!
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