You are Remnant's most powerful Evil Overlady. Or, rather, you've been inserted into her body, which is a bit of a predicament, considering that you're not her.
Ah, well, at least that means you don't have to defeat an immortal, genocidal wizard/demi-goddess in order to save the world. That's good, right?
The first thing you notice is the reflection in the window. The half-transparent image of a woman stares contemplatively at you, unblinking. Your eyes ghost over her form, taking in the deathly, bone-white skin, the glowing red eyes on black scleras, and the sleek black dress that hugs her figure.
It takes you a few moments, but you recognize this woman as Salem—or at least, a very convincing cosplay of her. Ultimately, it's the hair that gives it away. You don't want to imagine what kind of ungodly magic was involved in its styling. The ludicrously enormous bun in the back is strange enough without taking into account the odd, rope-like strands protruding out to the side, bound tightly with black ribbons. And somehow there's still enough hair left for loose, curly bangs to frame her face. Seriously, someone must have put hours into that hairdo.
There are a few features that don't seem quite right, likely because this cosplayer is an actual human person, and not an animated character. The veins that crawl across the sides of her face and down her arms aren't nearly as sharp or thick as you think they should be, more like faint lines of darkish gray that fade into the background of her pale skin. Her lips are full, painted an alluring reddish purple, and her hair is more the pale silver of old age than the unnatural white you recall. Still, this woman is very clearly supposed to be Salem, and she's done a pretty amazing job of pulling it off.
Embarrassingly, once you've finished staring dazedly ahead into the window, the second thing you notice is that you're standing in front of a window. That really ought to have been the first thing you noticed. It's one of those giant, Gothic-style, larger-than-a-human-adult kind of windows that belongs in a mansion. You know you've never been to any place fancy enough for windows like this one. Also, you're pretty sure you were in your bedroom a minute ago, but your brain feels kind of fuzzy.
Where in the hell…? You think to yourself, blinking rapidly. The Salem cosplayer in the window gapes at you, clearly taken aback. What… Just. What.
As you absently bring your hands to your face, so does she.
Slowly, cautiously, you hold your hands out and stare at them. Bone white. Thin black veins. Unconsciously, you clench them, then return your gaze to the window. Window Salem also has her fists clenched.
Briefly, you entertain the idea that someone drugged you, kidnapped you, dressed you in an extremely elaborate cosplay outfit, and… But before the thought even finishes, you know that it's not true. The jutting crystal spires and whirling red clouds that form the landscape outside the window only confirm your gut feeling.
You don't know how this happened, and frankly it sounds stupid to say it even in your head, but… You're clearly Salem. Real, actual Salem. Presumably on a real, actual Remnant.
No, but seriously, what the hell is up with—
"Y-your Grace?" A timid voice speaks up behind you.
In an instant, you freeze. Then, slowly, carefully, you turn around to see who's there. A gangly man stands slightly hunched behind you, yellow eyes flitting frightfully from you to the floor. An unkempt mop of black hair frames his wild face, and a long black braid curls down his back, swishing anxiously back and forth—no, wait. That's not his braid. It's a tail. A scorpion's tail.
Ahhh, fuck.
/-/-/-/ Dreamer: 1.1 \-\-\-\
[] "Speak, Tyrian."
-[] Whatever he says, just wing it and pretend to be an Evil Overlady.
[] "Tyrian, leave me at once. I require time… alone with my thoughts. And make certain no one else disturbs me either until I call for them."
-[] Work out some kind of game plan:
--[] Flee. You have no idea what's going on, and the people here are dangerous and powerful.
--[] The people here are dangerous and powerful. You need to figure out some way of killing them off before they kill you.
--[] The people here are dangerous and powerful, but… they're under your command. Maybe you can keep running Salem's little empire and hope they don't notice something's off?
--[] Write-in (under 50 words)
-[] Salem is supposed to have magic, right? So then, maybe you should try to figure out how to be a wizard too.
[] Write-in (under 50 words)
Choose one of the following Paths.
[] Path of the Actor: This route will give you the traits Acting [Medium] and Lying [Medium]. If you want to pass yourself off as the original Salem, this will probably help. Note, though, that skill at lying and acting doesn't necessarily translate to skill at manipulating people.
[] Path of the Mage: This route will give you the trait Magic Affinity [High]. You won't be as magically skilled as the original Salem, who's had ten thousand years to hone her skills, but you'll certainly have as much raw talent as her. Note, though, that skill at using magic doesn't necessarily translate to skill at fighting with magic.
Alright-y, SV, I've finally decided to stop nervously hiding this little pet muse of mine and start posting my own very first quest! Since I'm new to the whole QM thing, please bear with me as I figure out the basics and get a feel for everything. And of course I'm happy to receive any feedback or advice you guys have.
This quest is going to be mostly story-telling with almost no number-crunching involved at all. As QM, I will personally decide how successful an action is based on my feel for the MC's abilities and the obstacles they're facing. I may involve some dice-rolling if I feel undecided about something or if I need to simulate a truly random event for some reason (I will let you know OOC if/when this happens and what the result of the roll was).
Although there aren't any numbers or stats, you will have a character sheet (will be posted soon) that can acquire certain traits. For example, if you do some training, you might gain Combat Proficiency [Low] as a trait, which will make you more likely to win a direct fight against an enemy. More training or experience in combat could eventually raise that to Combat Proficiency [High].
On the other hand, it's also possible to pick up negative traits. For example, if the MC goes through a horribly traumatic experience, they might gain a phobia, and their actions will be paralyzed if they encounter the phobic trigger. So be careful what you put Salem-chan through, okay?
Aaaand, I think that about covers it. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I might update this later if I feel like something needs to be added.
[X] "Speak, Tyrian."
-[X] Whatever he says, just wing it and pretend to be an Evil Overlady.
-[X] Salem is supposed to have magic, right? So then, maybe you should try to figure out how to be a wizard too.
[X] Path of the Mage: This route will give you the trait Magic Affinity [High]. You won't be as magically skilled as the original Salem, who's had ten thousand years to hone her skills, but you'll certainly have as much raw talent as her. Note, though, that skill at using magic doesn't necessarily translate to skill at fighting with magic.
I would prefer the listen to Tyrian immediate option, yet focus in magic, not lying
[x] "Speak, Tyrian."
-[x] Whatever he says, just wing it and pretend to be an Evil Overlady.
[x] Path of the Actor: This route will give you the traits Acting [Medium] and Lying [Medium]. If you want to pass yourself off as the original Salem, this will probably help. Note, though, that skill at lying and acting doesn't necessarily translate to skill at manipulating people.
[X] "Speak, Tyrian."
-[X] Whatever he says, just wing it and pretend to be an Evil Overlady.
-[X] Salem is supposed to have magic, right? So then, maybe you should try to figure out how to be a wizard too.
[X] Path of the Mage: This route will give you the trait Magic Affinity [High]. You won't be as magically skilled as the original Salem, who's had ten thousand years to hone her skills, but you'll certainly have as much raw talent as her. Note, though, that skill at using magic doesn't necessarily translate to skill at fighting with magic.
[X] "Speak, Tyrian."
-[X] Whatever he says, just wing it and pretend to be an Evil Overlady.
-[X] Salem is supposed to have magic, right? So then, maybe you should try to figure out how to be a wizard too.
[X] Path of the Mage: This route will give you the trait Magic Affinity [High]. You won't be as magically skilled as the original Salem, who's had ten thousand years to hone her skills, but you'll certainly have as much raw talent as her. Note, though, that skill at using magic doesn't necessarily translate to skill at fighting with magic.
[x] "Speak, Tyrian."
-[x] Whatever he says, just wing it and pretend to be an Evil Overlady.
[x] Path of the Actor: This route will give you the traits Acting [Medium] and Lying [Medium]. If you want to pass yourself off as the original Salem, this will probably help. Note, though, that skill at lying and acting doesn't necessarily translate to skill at manipulating people.
[X] "Speak, Tyrian."
-[X] Whatever he says, just wing it and pretend to be an Evil Overlady.
-[X] Salem is supposed to have magic, right? So then, maybe you should try to figure out how to be a wizard too.
[X] Path of the Mage: This route will give you the trait Magic Affinity [High]. You won't be as magically skilled as the original Salem, who's had ten thousand years to hone her skills, but you'll certainly have as much raw talent as her. Note, though, that skill at using magic doesn't necessarily translate to skill at fighting with magic.
[X] "Speak, Tyrian."
-[X] Whatever he says, just wing it and pretend to be an Evil Overlady.
-[X] Salem is supposed to have magic, right? So then, maybe you should try to figure out how to be a wizard too.
[X] Path of the Mage: This route will give you the trait Magic Affinity [High]. You won't be as magically skilled as the original Salem, who's had ten thousand years to hone her skills, but you'll certainly have as much raw talent as her. Note, though, that skill at using magic doesn't necessarily translate to skill at fighting with magic.
Voting is now closed. Update will be out tomorrow.
[X] "Speak, Tyrian"
-[X] Whatever he says, just wing it and pretend to be an Evil Overlady
[X] Path of the Mage: This route will give you the trait Magic Affinity [High]. You won't be as magically skilled as the original Salem, who's had ten thousand years to hone her skills, but you'll certainly have as much raw talent as her. Note, though, that skill at using magic doesn't necessarily translate to skill at fighting with magic.
[X] Salem is supposed to have magic, right? So then, maybe you should try to figure out how to be a wizard too.
A part of me was kinda hoping for Path of the Actor, since I think that would make for a more interesting story, but... let's be honest here, I knew what I was getting into when I offered SV questers a choice between phenomenal cosmic power and social skills.
Taken aback by the strange, terrified man before you, you blurt out, "Tyrian!"
Instantly, the scorpion faunus falls to his knees and lays his forehead against the stone floor, shivering and whimpering. You wince at the sudden motion. It's… really just jarring to see a grown man look so helplessly frightened. Frightened of you.
Coughing softly into a hand, you try to find some semblance of composure. It doesn't really work—you're still reeling from the abruptness of this whole weird, fucked up situation—but it does allow you to reorient your attention on the abject man groveling in front of you.
Your mind races in a slight panic as you try to come up with some way to hide how utterly lost you are. Two minutes ago, you were in your bedroom, you're pretty sure. Now there's a deadly superhuman assassin laying prostrate on the ground in front of you, and frankly you think you might be more scared of him than he is of you.
Confidence. Authority. Control. That's what you need to project right now. That's how Salem would present herself, right? You just need to ignore how absurd this all is and roll with the punches. You can deal with all of that when there aren't any psychotic murderers within spitting distance of you.
Confident, authoritative, in control, you tell yourself. Okay, sure, I can do that.
"Tyrian," you say again, this time on purpose, "speak."
"Of—of course! Of course!" he almost shrieks, his head snapping up. "Yes! I did what you asked of me. Came in the night, yes! They were there, just as you said. Came and sliced and ripped and choked them all dead!" His eyes dart wildly around the room, like a cornered animal, before settling back on you.
Jesus Christ, is the only half-coherent thought in your brain. A rush of adrenaline pounds fearfully in your blood, curling together with a faint nausea as you numbly observe Tyrian's insanity.
He continues, suddenly quiet, almost whispering, "No more Team Scarlet. The captain fell first, yes he did. Lost his legs before he hit the ground. Lost his head right after. His friends, they tried to fight back, they did, but they couldn't catch me. The green one, Chloe, wasn't very fast, so I came in quick shot her in the throat until she fell down too. Then the other two tried to run away, but I didn't let them, no, I would never… Caught one by the throat and squeezed and squeezed and squeezed—"
"That's!" you interrupt, pausing, remembering how you're supposed to act. "That's enough, Tyrian, thank you."
"Have I—have I pleased you?" he asks desperately, his face withering into an anxious, pitiful wreck.
"You… you succeeded, I take it?" You probe, trying to mask your uncertainty.
"Yes! Yes!" Tyrian cries out, and you think you start to see tears glisten in the corners his eyes. "Mistral will never find any of them again, not a speck of blood, no, no, no. Vanished into the night, they'll think. Just as you told me."
"I see," you lie. This is… this is profoundly disturbing to witness in person. You don't think you can handle any more of him right now. Even if he wouldn't harm you, your instincts are blaring out at you to treat this clearly dangerous and unstable man with extreme, delicate caution. Slowly, affecting a very deliberate calm, you say, "Yes. You have. Well done, Tyrian."
The pure, delighted elation that breaks out across his face doesn't belong on an adult. It's the kind of expression a guileless child should have on Christmas morning. You can't detect a hint of malice from him, even as his earlier words echo starkly inside your head.
An assassination mission. Of course, what else would you use an assassin for?
"Then, if that is all…?" you say, trailing off, hoping vigorously that he'll just nod and leave.
"No, not all, not all," he says eagerly, and your expression strains a little. "Cinder has finished her mission as well and will return here to Evernight within the day. Sadly," he adopts a caricature of sympathetic despondency belied by gleaming eyes, "she was not able to fully succeed."
"Is that so?" you say, doing your best to look somewhere between contemplative and menacing. "I suppose I will have to… have words with her. Very well, Tyrian, you may leave now."
This time, he bows deeply without a word, picks himself up off the floor, and scampers off, leaving you alone in the dark, grandiose hall. You wait for a few seconds in pregnant silence, half-expecting him to jump back into the room with his blades in hand, screaming at you about desecrating the body of his goddess.
When it becomes apparent that the madman's actually gone, you let out a shuddering breath, your heart still pounding furiously in your chest. Almost drunkenly, you wobble over to the nearest convenient surface, a large table that looks like some kind of jutting rock formation reaching out of the ground, and grip it tightly with your hands, shaking.
You're not sure how long you stay like that, just staring into the polished, obsidian-like surface of the table, breathing hard. Your thoughts whirl together in an incoherent mess of overwrought emotions. Why am I here? What the hell happened to me? I want to go home. This isn't my body. What's going on here!
Then, without warning, something inside of you cracks, and you slam a fist into the table's hard stone.
Faster than you can process, a wave of force ripples out from the blow. With a deafening BANG, you're thrown violently backwards before slamming into the wall behind you. Instinctively, you cover your face with your hands, and it's a good thing too because two jagged shards of crystal and rock dig painfully into them.
As you slowly stagger forwards, lowering your arms, you gape at the state of the room. Shrapnel litters the floor, hundreds of fragments of shattered stone and some glass from a few broken windows. Frankly, it's a miracle more of it didn't end up lodged in your body. A massive, jagged schism splits the table into two halves, one of which is tilted to the side, no longer fused to the floor.
More in shock than pain, you jerk the shards out of your arms, letting them clatter softly to the stone floor. Thin streams of dark blood begin to leak out of the appendages, but you don't pay them much mind. Instead you glance down at your hand, the one that struck the table. Entirely at odds with the situation, your breathing begins to even out slightly, and your highly-strung muscles begin to relax some of their tension.
Did… did I just do that? You blink.
The room's silence seems to answer you back.
/-/-/-/ Dreamer: 1.2 \-\-\-\
[] Well, you definitely have Salem's wizard powers. Try to see what else you can do!
-[] More of that telekinesis stuff!
-[] Try to use elemental magic the way maidens do
-[] Write-in (50 word maximum)
[] Tyrian mentioned Cinder would be back tonight. You'd better prepare for her. Tyrian's one thing, but she'll probably notice something's off.
-[] Come up with an excuse for why you're acting differently from how she remembers.
--[] Write-in (80 word maximum)
-[] Just don't bring it up at all, and maybe she'll do the same.
-[] Do something about the destroyed room.
--[] Try to fix it
--[] Go somewhere else to meet with Cinder
[] Explore the giant evil castle you've suddenly found yourself in.
-[] Explore a bit outside the castle too.
[] Write-in
Note: Your time is limited. If you practice magic and prepare for Cinder and go exploring… well, you can do that, but there's a chance you could be a bit late to your date meeting with Cinder. Two of those actions should be fine though.
Also Note: If you've already voted for trying out magic in the previous update, voting for it again won't add to the vote count (but it will allow you to specify what kind of magic you use). Alternatively, if you vote for something else, that will replace your previous vote.
OOC Vote (that I forgot to include in the first post ):
The MC isn't Salem, she's a teenage Self-Insert from Earth. What is her real name?
[] Abigail
[] Jordan
[] Morgan
[] Sasha
[] Write-in
[X]: Plan Former Poker Champion Turned Goddess of Evil
[X] Tyrian mentioned Cinder would be back tonight. You'd better prepare for her. Tyrian's one thing, but she'll probably notice something's off.
-[X] Come up with an excuse for why you're acting differently from how she remembers.
--[X] A Pawn is only useful as long as the board remains clear, bogged down it becomes but ash in the wind. Cinder, I have a mission of upmost importance to give you. A Young Man by the name of Linkaria Bloodsworth has Unlocked a Semblance to Control Grimm, He is located somewhere in Southern Vacuo, his very Existence Displeases me, Find him and Eliminate him as Painfully as possible. You have your orders, do this and this recent upset is wiped clean.
[X] Well, you definitely have Salem's wizard powers. Try to see what else you can do!
-[X] More of that telekinesis stuff!
[X] Tyche Tis Isopalías
EDIT: The Idea of a Person able to control Grimm and being named a name so edgy the I cut myself writing it is immature, risky and secondary in purpose. But dam if it aint a funny idea . Also, given the fact the Monty stated that a Semblance cannot control Grimm, and Linkaria is not a Color name, Cinder will be looking for a long time. If she ever gets annoyed we can just play it off as a Test, a mission with no possible successful conclusion, to test her will, fortitude and commitment.
[X] Tyrian mentioned Cinder would be back tonight. You'd better prepare for her. Tyrian's one thing, but she'll probably notice something's off.
-[X] Come up with an excuse for why you're acting differently from how she remembers.
--[X] A Pawn is only useful as long as the board remains clear, bogged down it becomes but ash in the wind. Cinder, I have a mission of upmost importance to give you. A Young Man by the name of Linkaria Bloodsworth has Unlocked a Semblance to Control Grimm, He is located somewhere in Southern Vacuo, his very Existence Displeases me, Find him and Eliminate him as Painfully as possible. You have your orders, do this and this recent upset is wiped clean. (this will be paraphrased and slightly modified, but I'll do my best to get the spirit of it across)
[X] Well, you definitely have Salem's wizard powers. Try to see what else you can do!
-[X] More of that telekinesis stuff!
-[X] Try and see if you can use magic to repair the room
[X] Morgan (sorry, Death&Taxes)
Update will be out Friday. Or maybe Saturday. Sunday isn't out of the question.
Something tells me that this Salem is going to go down the route of Ainz from Overlord, where she bumbles her way to the admiration of her cowed subordinates who interpret all of her moves as proof of Salem's brilliance, while in secret, Salem is paranoid that her half baked orders will expose the truth about herself. And it would so happen that because this Salem behaves very differently from Ozpin's calculations, that she would accidentally outmaneuver Ozpin several times to Ozpin's chargin.
I think that this will be a case where Salem's orders would be so stupid - lacking the wisdom and info as she is - that they would wrap to the other side into brilliance.
Nooooo, Why. My Name Was Perfect, huh oh Well.
And yes, it is quite possible that her orders will be brilliant by the shear fact that they are fucking stupid beyond all belief.
You stand there for a few moments, feeling almost divorced from the world around you. A faint ringing builds in your ears, and your mind is a bit fuzzy. Then, in a single coalescing instant, everything snaps back into focus, and your thoughts begin to spin wildly.
Yes, clearly you did that. You punched the table, and then it exploded. Because of course it did.
When you think about it, though, it actually makes a strange kind of sense. If you recall, Salem was supposed to be a magic-user from the Age of Gods, and… well, you kind of are her right now, relatively speaking. So, it's not entirely unreasonable to imagine you might have her magic as well. Well, at least it's no less reasonable than the existence of magic itself, or the fact that you've accidentally hijacked the body of an ancient overlady.
You remember an alien sensation, like something cracking in the pit of your stomach, when you blasted the table. Concentrating, you're able to feel a similar kind of pulsating warmth there, spreading out from your core. It feels a little tender, almost raw. If it were a muscle, you would say you'd stretched it too far.
Instinctively, you give a gentle tug on the wellspring of energy you feel there. It seems to spread through your body in a wave as you do, and you feel simultaneously like you've just stepped out of a warm shower and finished a light jog.
Careful not to strain it too much, you instinctively reach into your magic and… sort of latch it onto a piece of nearby shrapnel. As you flex the invisible energy, the shard of glass rises smoothly into the air. An idea sparks in your head, and you begin to quickly tag all the fragments lying on the ground. Within a few minutes, the air around you is filled with jagged bits of stone and glass.
You can feel the weight of it all bearing down on your core, but it's not so strong that you feel like you're being crushed or anything, so you quickly cast the shattered bits and pieces into some semblance of order, trying to clean up the room a bit.
Unfortuntely, you encounter a problem rather quickly; you have no idea where each individual fragment broke off from. There are some large hunks of crystal and rock that you're able to roughly jam back into place, though the fit isn't perfect. All the myriads of tiny pieces, however? Those are just beyond you. It's like the world's most difficult jigsaw puzzle.
For a moment, you consider just spending the next few hours meticulously reassembling each individual fragment until the room looks the way it did before you blasted it to bits. Even if it would be mind-numbingly boring, a part of you feels guilty for carelessly wrecking what's essentially someone else's living room. That idea is immediately cut down as you finally begin to process the last thing that Tyrian said to you.
Cinder is coming to see you. Today. She had a mission, which she apparently failed, and she's going to come report to you. Fuck, but you should have asked him for a more specific timeframe. "Within the day" could be anywhere from one to twenty-four hours, and Cinder is the kind of person you really need to prepare for.
Interacting with Tyrian was viscerally terrifying, but… when you think about it logically (or as logically as you can anyway), it might actually be for the best that he was the first of Salem's servants to interact with you. His worshipful insanity, disturbing as it is, will probably keep him from noticing much that you're acting differently.
Cinder, on the other hand, is the person who masterfully infiltrated Beacon under the nose of a ten-thousand-year-old wizard and his agents, then successfully dismantled an entire kingdom. More than raw power, that takes a certain kind of social acumen. She will definitely notice that something's off with her boss.
Carelessly, you allow the cloud of assembled debris to fall to the ground and begin to pace around the room, thinking furiously.
Frankly, you just don't have a chance of passing off that nothing's wrong. You don't know enough about how Salem normally acts to ensure you copy her accurately, and even if you did, you don't think you'd have the acting skills to pull it off.
What you really need is an excuse, something that could reasonably justify a deviation from Salem's usual behavior—and, if it's supposed to rattle someone with ten thousand years of experience, it needs to be big. Something unusual.
Although… maybe I'm looking at this from the wrong perspective, you muse, and idea begin to construct itself in your brain. Yes, I should be cautious of Cinder. She's pretty fucking dangerous. But I'm starting from a position of power here. Just because she notices something's off doesn't mean I need to immediately play defensively and make excuses. Instead of reacting to her suspicions, if I can be a bit more proactive…
Mid-step, you pause, placing your foot down as your idea coalesces into something resembling a plan.
Cinder is a dangerous person to keep around; you wouldn't last ten seconds playing politics with her. But that means you just need to not keep her around. You have the power to send her out on missions. If you can set her on some kind of wild goose chase… well, it probably won't last forever, but it will at least give you time, which is something you're honestly in desperate need of right now.
And of course, since you're making the whole thing up, there's no reason why you can't make the mission be about something earth-shattering. This way, you can still set up an excuse for your strange behavior even as you push Cinder out for the time being. It hits two birds with on stone.
You have a plan. Now all you have to do is write the story…
In the end, it takes Cinder four hours to arrive at the hall. Four extremely stressful, horribly nerve-wracking hours that you spent constantly second-guessing yourself while frantically rehearsing your lines in your head.
When you hear the sound of the large double doors creaking open, you nearly jump out of your skin. That fearful anxiety you experienced around Tyrian explodes once more into full force, and you have to fight to clamp down on a sudden urge to flee.
The raven-haired beauty enters with surprising self-assurance for someone who failed her mission, a familiar red dress hugging her curves as she saunters almost casually inside. Her eyes widen, however, as she registers the demolished state of the room, and she falters for a second.
"Cinder," you greet her. You can feel the sweat breaking out on your forehead. "How was your mission?"
"I…" she struggles to find words for a second, then breathes in and out deeply, and a mask of calm settles over her face. "I did not entirely manage to complete the goal I had set for myself. While in the process of acquiring my target, I was interrupted by the arrival of one of Ozpin's agents. We were caught on the back foot, and he was clearly at a much higher level of skill than Emerald or Mercury. It was more than we were prepared to face, so I decided to cut our losses and retreat."
"You failed, then," you say flatly.
"Not exactly," Cinder replies, smiling slightly. In a single, smooth motion, she lifts her right hand, palm facing up. A flame suddenly bursts into existence above the appendage, crackling softly as it hovers there, shedding a small orange glow. Something sparks in your magic as the fire manifests, and you know instantly that what you're looking at isn't the result of Dust manipulation. "As I said, I was part-way through the process when I was interrupted."
Trait Discovered: Magic Sense [Low]
You blink, slightly caught off guard. Your mind flashes to an episode of RWBY, Qrow cutting in while Cinder was draining the Fall Maiden's powers from Amber. You hadn't expected Cinder's mission to be quite so plot-relevant. Not that you're complaining exactly; this gives you a good idea of where you are in the timeline.
"I see," you reply, looking for a way to lead this conversation towards your plan. "I imagine you'll want to track down Fall and complete that process later."
"Yes, I do," Cinder responds evenly.
"Unfortunately," you say, clenching one hand into a fist as you narrow your eyes, "that will have to be put on hold."
"I… beg your pardon, Your Grace?"
"Make no mistake," you say. "You will have the Fall Maiden's powers. I made a promise to you, and I do not break my promises so easily. But something new has emerged, which requires absolute priority."
"Something new?" she echoes, casting her eyes once more about the room. "What happened?"
"There is a young man living in Southern Vacuo, who has recently awoken his Semblance. He controls the Grimm."
"The Grimm?" Cinder questions. "I thought only—"
"It should not be possible," you interrupt. "The Grimm should be well beyond the reach of any ordinary man, no matter how powerful their Aura. And yet, he exists. More than that, when he took control of a pair of wandering Beowolves, his Semblance brushed up against my mind. A certain exchange of information took place. I heard his thoughts, and he heard mine.
"What he found in the Grimm he controlled was no less than the total sum of knowledge I have stored throughout millennia within their essence. He knows more about me now than perhaps anyone, save for Ozpin. As he had never controlled the Grimm before, there is comparatively little that I managed to glean from him. You understand now, the severity of this situation?"
"I… I understand," she answers, looking a bit unsteady. "Then… how do you wish for me to deal with the situation?"
"His name—or, at any rate, the name he has chosen to call himself—is 'Linkaria Bloodsworth.' I do not know what he looks like. I do not know where he lives. I do not know where in Southern Vacuo he was when his Semblance awoke. I have since altered my connection to the Grimm in order to prevent any further breaches of information, so it is exceedingly unlikely I will gain any such information from him in the future. Your task will be to find him and eliminate him."
"I see," says Cinder. "Though, if I may ask, Your Grace…?"
"Yes, what is it?"
"Would not Tyrian be better suited for a mission such as this? 'Elimination,' as you say, is rather his specialty."
"I…" Fuck, you hadn't thought of that. "Yes, ordinarily, you would be correct, but this is not an ordinary situation. More than just a pesky Huntsman, what we are dealing with is a breach of information. While Tyrian excels at quick assassination, his skills are not suited to such delicate matters. Naturally, I will also be relying on you to tell me how much information this man leaked, and from there, to deal with it appropriately. It would not do for mankind to begin uniting against a common enemy before we have the chance to set them against each other."
There is a moment of silence as Cinder contemplates. Finally, she answers, "Very well. I understand the situation. The Fall Maiden can wait until this… unhappy matter is settled."
"Good," you say, relaxing in a burst of relief. She seems to have bought your story. "Then you may spend the next day recovering from your last mission. Afterwards, I expect you and your two agents to make way for Vacuo. This cannot wait for very long."
"As you say," Cinder agrees. "Then, if that is all…?"
"That is all," you answer. "You may leave now."
With a nod, she turns and exits the room with the same catlike grace with which she entered it. The doors groan and then thud as they swing closed behind her.
Releasing a long breath that you hadn't realized you were holding, you plod over to the crystalline throne that sits at the head of the wrecked table and sink into it. The cold stone isn't nearly as comfortable as you'd prefer, but it's very nice to sit down.
No doubt Hazel and Watts will raise new issues when they finally pop around to see you, but for now, it seems you've dealt with all of your immediate problems. You have a conference hall that's still half-demolished, magical powers that you only barely know how to use, and absolutely no idea what the hell you're supposed to be doing.
What you do have, thankfully, is time. If only you knew what to do with it...
/-/-/-/ Dreamer: 1.3 \-\-\-\
Vote: immediate action (choose two, not including sub-choices)
[] [IA] Explore the castle.
-[] [IA] Explore outside the castle
-[] [IA] Write-in (50 word max)
[] [IA] Practice more magic.
-[] [IA] Telekinesis
-[] [IA] Maiden-style magic
-[] [IA] Write-in
[] [IA] See if/how you can control the Grimm
Vote: create a somewhat long term goal (may be held in abeyance)
[] [LT] Take over the world.
[] [LT] Make Salem's evil organization into a force of good. Somehow.
[] [LT] Safely dismantle Salem's organization and get some friends that aren't psychopaths and/or megalomaniacs.
-[] [LT] Create a new organization that doesn't want to end the world.
-[] [LT] Join normal society.
--[] [LT] Become a Huntress! ---[] [LT] Magical Girl Sparkling Salem-Chan will fight for love and justice!
[] [LT] Write-in
Hi, guys. Sorry for the week-long delay. I suddenly fell rather ill, which kind of messed up my schedule. As a result, writing this was kind of a slog, so you have my apologies if the quality was a bit low. Nonetheless, I'm now doing much better, so hopefully I'll be able to get back on track here!
So, about D&T's vote on how to deal with Cinder. It had a couple holes in it. For one thing, it would raise the question of how the hell Salem even knew who the hell this person was and where they were. Ordinarily, I would just leave it and let you all deal with the natural consequences, but since this is the beginning of the quest, I thought it would be a bit mean to immediately have you lose Cinder's trust. Thus, the part about the information leak.
I know that's a bit railroad-y, sorry, but don't worry: This isn't designed to be an easy quest. You'll have plenty of opportunities to crash and burn spectacularly, and I promise not to interfere with any of them going forward. Expect lots of chaos.
EDIT: You'll notice that some of the long term goals are more long term than others. If you pick "take over the world," then that sets up "be in charge of the world" as the completion condition for the quest. On the other hand, something like "dismantle Salem's organization and get some better friends" isn't really endgame material. Keep that in mind as you vote.
Fair enough, that is a reasonable expectation for a write in. I will endevour to write more full plans in the future.
[X] [IA] Explore the castle.
[X] [IA] See if/how you can control the Grimm
Vote: create a somewhat long term goal (may be held in abeyance)
[X] [LT] Write-in: As a former Professional Poker player you know the benefits of a enemy to keep otherwise clashing forces united. Making people into those ever-present enemies is how you won so often after all. With the state of remnant, Atlas being the USSR with a Cyberpunk coat of paint, Mistral being described by Monty as
"What Happens if Mao Era China became the Most Powerful country on the planet and therefore discarded all upheld public ideals", Vacuo being a Mad-Max Wasteland and Mantle, again according to Monty, "Collapsing Slowly under the weight of its twisted Bureaucracy", it needs a force to unite it. Therefore, the Grimm. You stop the Grimm from existing and the world of Remnant turns back into a Hellscape. It pains you to do it, but until you can work behind the scenes to fix everything at its roots the Grimm need to stay. And so they shall.
[X] [LT] Safely dismantle Salem's organization and get some friends that aren't psychopaths and/or megalomaniacs.
-[X] [LT] Write in: keep the people in it who are not completely gone and try and get them working for good rather than complete evil if possible. Then create a new organization who's purpose is to use the grimm and its agents to enforce peace and equal rights onto the world. A few main goals include removing the worst of the White Fang, Ensuring Faunus rights, and making sure wars don't happen. Make it clear you can be negotiated with and bit by bit let humanity have new lands and have them be grateful for it. But any that try to defy you bring down the full force of the grimm on them. This will let you establish yourself as a benevolent Overlord but one that becomes ruthless when the people dare attack her.
):
