[X] Bide your time, wait for them to leave, then go in. Seeing the local Boss is fine, interfering with the Ves... isn't.
-[X] Find an Augur and negotiate for a reading.
I, uh, hm. I know I said I'd be fine with it, but I'm more interested in knowing what the local setting's Augurs are than in visiting one just yet. Our character is a hungry girl who knows little more than violence and thievery, and I want her to find a steady job with a mostly-legitimate establishment as soon as possible. Job security, y'know.
[x] Bide your time, wait for them to leave, then go in. Seeing the local Boss is fine, interfering with the Ves... isn't.
-[x] Find an Augur and negotiate for a reading.
[X] Bide your time, wait for them to leave, then go in. Seeing the local Boss is fine, interfering with the Ves... isn't.
-[X] Find an Augur and negotiate for a reading.
Now that you're here, surrounded by familiar-foreign sights and smells, you remember why people don't tend to follow around Ves-bearers. Even though this is an important place to be and to start, that doesn't change the fact that you going in there while the local Boss accepts the shipment might be construed as interfering with the Ves--and that's something everyone knows to fear. With that in mind, it's probably wiser to wait out here--and that means you've got to find something to occupy your time. Standing around and waiting for something to happen is for snipers and the suicidal, so it's time to look around!
Back home, everyone knows that there are ways of seeing the future, most imprecise, bloody, or both. You, however, tended to make a lot of use of them, mostly bone-throwers and card-shufflers, streetcorner prophets you could trade a marrowbone or a secret to in exchange for a vague impression of the future and its contents. Something about the process, of throwing cards or dice or pigeon entrails at the future in order to get a vague impression of its shape, has never been anything but fascinating for you, though you've never mastered the knack for your own self. Now that you're here, it feels like a good idea to find someone qualified--not just an ordinary shuffler of dice or back-alley haruspice, but a real, legitimate Augur, a higher order of seer. One has to be around here somewhere...
As you roam these unfamiliarly familiar streets, looking for an appropriate sign or smell, you become aware of how many eyes are on you--you may be Vesakh, but you're not like these are--grimier, leaner, more unsure of yourself. Everything that makes you stand out is something of which you're uncomfortably aware, and you do something you haven't since shortly after your first Treatment and hug your coat a little closer around yourself, an imagined shield against the world around you. Everyone here is at least 3rd as well, which only adds to your discomfort--you're surrounded by people who smell bigger, stronger, and more violent than you've ever been, and the fact that they aren't doing anything just makes you more nervous.
Eventually, you see a sign, a stylized representation of an eye and six crossed bones, scrawled in red on a piece of wood and nailed up above a building which seems to just be a door and a coop crudely affixed to a round bulge of stone emerging from the very ground. You approach the door and knock three times rapidly. A voice filters up from inside, thin and sharp and tinged with metallic reverb: "Who's out there?" The pupil of the eye painted on the sign rolls to focus on you. "I haven't seen you before... fresh off the spire, neh? Looking for a reading?" You nod, unsurprised--if an Augur couldn't make basic observations about you at a remove, would they even be worthy of the title? "I seek knowledge of the yet-to-be-woven!" you call back. There's a moment's pause, before the voice responds: "Enter, then." The door creaks slightly open, and you slip through.
Inside is a dim hexagonal room, walled with cloth weavings and pieces of scrap wood. From everywhere along the walls and ceiling hang dulled bronze chains, from which are suspended glass tubes containing eyes, small oil lanterns, pocket watches, bird and bat skeletons. In the center is a table, a crude wooden thing topped with a steel basin, and sat cross-legged behind the table on a cushion is a hooded, cloaked figure, draped in layers of tattered cloth. All that's visible is their hands, completely coated in pallid, chitinous exoskeleton and folded neatly in their lap, and six yellow-white dots of light from within the recesses of the hood. "Oh, you're even smaller than you looked," they say, lights flashing. "Why, you can't be more than, what, 2nd? I'd say First, but you'd not be here. Xhaal but they're making them small these days, neh?" Their accent isn't quite familiar to you, but it's closer than nothing. You don't respond to the barb, only waiting for the pitch. "You want a reading, but you can't be but just arrived--you still smell like the Mirror Road and Vespergren-smog--so I can't imagine you'll be able to pay me in goods. So, how about services? I'll give you a reading, but I'll want a favor or one of your weapons. Will you still pay for the future in such coin?"
[ ] Accept a reading for a favor. Favor trade is just about sacred--nobody'd renege unless they were certain they'd get away with it, and this is both a city and an establishment.
[ ] Accept a reading for a weapon. You'll lose your billhook or your revolver--write in which, if you select this option--and you don't know where to get a replacement as of yet.
[ ] Try to negotiate. You want a reading, but surely there's a different price they'll accept?
[ ] Take your leave. If this is the cost of the future, you'll wait before making your down payment.
[X] Accept a reading for a favor. Favor trade is just about sacred--nobody'd renege unless they were certain they'd get away with it, and this is both a city and an establishment.
[X] Accept a reading for a favor. Favor trade is just about sacred--nobody'd renege unless they were certain they'd get away with it, and this is both a city and an establishment.
Ooh, that's... hmm. On the one hand, the billhook doesn't seem terribly useful except as a delaying weapon, but on the other hand an extra few feet of reach is easily the difference between living and dying.
As for favors, an open-ended favor is concerning to me. The sort of thing that could get us tangled up in something really dangerous at a time we'd otherwise be safe. But then again, owing favors to powerful people is an insurance of its' own. Hmm.
[X] Accept a reading for a favor, provided the favor is loosely the same value. Nothing liable to get you killed or blacklisted.
[X] Accept a reading in exchange for your billhook. You need to get used to your new spurs.
[X] Take your leave. If this is the cost of the future, you'll wait before making your down payment.
[X] Accept a reading for a favor. Favor trade is just about sacred--nobody'd renege unless they were certain they'd get away with it, and this is both a city and an establishment.
[x] Accept a reading for a favor. Favor trade is just about sacred--nobody'd renege unless they were certain they'd get away with it, and this is both a city and an establishment.
[x] Accept a reading for a favor. Favor trade is just about sacred--nobody'd renege unless they were certain they'd get away with it, and this is both a city and an establishment.
This is where the story begins to earn the "Horror" tag, I feel. Gore and body horror.
"I'll do you a favor, in exchange for the reading," you confirm, pricking your thumb with a spur and laying your hand on the edge of the table. They crack their neck with a brisk motion before copying the motion and laying their hand atop yours, the blood mingling briefly. Their eyes meet yours. "The bargain is struck. Name's Loupe, by the way. What do I call you, spire baby?"
"Grail. Do I get to know the favor before the reading, or is that not how it's done here?"
"It's a simple smash-and-grab, spirebaby Grail. Nothing like what you and your crew haven't done a dozen times already, neh?"
That stings a little, and you can't even chalk it up to ignorance--for all you know, Loupe knows that you've never had crew.
"Maybe so," you respond neutrally.
"Touched a nerve, neh? Ah, you'll get over it. The point is, you don't get details until after I've done you a reading. What pearl shall we clutch from the future's jaws, on that subject?"
You muse for a moment, scratching at the base of your spur idly.
"...I want to know what gets me to my next Treatment. What's going to happen between now and then?"
Loupe chuckles dryly.
"Isn't that what they all want? I've done this before, for other children on their first outings. You'll get what you pay for, that's the guarantee. But, I can't guarantee you'll like it. Are you sure that's what you want?"
You nod. You want a lot of things--you want everything. But most of all you want to get bigger, to get stronger, to be a big deal. And if you're getting a single glimpse of the future, what could be more important than how you earn your next dose of the Ves?
"I'm sure."
Loupe sighs.
"Then let it be so, Grail."
Loupe twitches aside the cloth over their abdomen, revealing a weal of scar tissue like a spiderweb over their sallow midriff. They raise a hand, shaking the sleeve down to the elbow, then, with a quick little grunt, plunge the claws into their belly. Dark orangish blood oozes forth, thick and syrupy like yours, as they rummage around as if reaching into a backpack, and pull forth a tangle of gut. You flinch, but just a little, as they cast the coil into the basin on the table. You've seen haruspicy before, but with the seer's own guts? This is real augury. Like comparing your tussles with the other larvae for food scraps to the first time you had to fight for your life, while claiming your squat, this is leagues beyond the simple little pigeon-disembowelings and bone-casting you've seen done on street corners and in tavernas. The air feels thick and warped, like old glass.
Loupe grips the edge of the basin with both hands as they stare into the mess, the forged steel bowl creaking as their eyes flash, one after the other.
"Blood shall be shed in a spired place," the words of prophecy come spilling from their mouth, in a distant, resonant tone as if speaking from within a large bell. "It will flood the world and not cleanse it. The Falling Star, the Smiling Thief, the Walking Wound, the Rain-Glutton. With every friend comes an enemy. Not every enemy begets an ally. Everything you do feeds into everything else. Count the cost. Hate is meat. Greed is drink. Step carefully. Step carefully..."
There's something like a snap, but you feel it with your liver, rather than hear it. Just like that, the air is still and dusty again, though suffused with the smell of Loupe's guts.
The Augur slumps back on their seat, emitting a thin, reedy breathing. Some time is spent in silence, before they creakily sit back up, retrieve their intestine, and slowly, carefully begin winding it back up into their abdomen. "...You like what you heard, kid?"
You don't know what to do with what you just heard, but there's no reason to be unkind about something a stranger disemboweled themselves for.
"I... can't say I didn't get what I paid for."
"One of those, neh? You better not be dripping with portent, or I might just charge extra."
As the last of their intestine is tucked back in, the wound begins to close before your very eyes.
"Are you ready to hear your end of the bargain, Grail?"
You nod, not trusting yourself to speak as you file away both the prophecy and what you just saw. So that's the kind of thing higher Saturation gets you...
"In this city, you make many alliances if you'd like to get ahead in life. In the past, I made one with an individual who goes by the name Mock Vey. The token of this pact was a clockwork bird, cunningly fashioned from glass and bone. Mock Vey's power is attenuated, it is no longer my ally, and the pact is broken. I ask that you retrieve the token from its rooms in the Scab Palace."
As they speak, they retrieve a canteen from under the table, and rinse their hand off in the basin, filling it with bloody water.
"The Erzan here have a celebration called the Confirmation of the Brass Saint. It will be held in eight days at sundown, and there will be no missing it. I want the bird before the Confirmation ends at sunrise of the ninth day. If you haven't brought it to me by then, I'll have to find you."
The threat goes unstated. Most of those made by the highly-Treated do.
"Is that amenable?"
You nod. You're this far in, after all--the question's just a formality.
"Of course. You'll have it by then."
Loupe waves a hand airily.
"Of course I will. I'll see you then or before, spirebaby Grail. Now, prophecy takes a lot out of you. Leave me."
Without a further word, you climb to your feet and leave the room. The air outside smells a whole lot fresher, now that it isn't saturated with bitter Vesakh blood-scent. Over at the entrance of the tall building, you see a couple of the guards from the procession, leaving: group endeavors tend to break up bit by bit once completed, among your people. You could probably go in safely, now...
[ ] Go into the building.
-[ ] Announce yourself to the Boss. It's only polite, now that you're in held territory.
-[ ] Look for official work. Any given Boss and their operation are no strangers to delegating to random sellswords.
-[ ] Explore the building. If it's important, it'll be full of important things.
[ ] Leave to see other parts of the city.
-[ ] Try to find where the Scab Palace is immediately--you may not go after it first thing, but you should know where it is.
-[ ] Look for mercenary work, load up your plate first. No such thing as too soon.
-[ ] Look for local resources--where weapons, food, squatting, etc. can be found, get that out of the way.
Only one bolded option will win, but two of the sub-options below the winner will be acted upon.
[X] Leave to see other parts of the city.
-[X] Try to find where the Scab Palace is immediately--you may not go after it first thing, but you should know where it is.
-[X] Look for local resources--where weapons, food, squatting, etc. can be found, get that out of the way.
Always best to get the timed activity out of the way early.
[X] Leave to see other parts of the city.
-[X] Try to find where the Scab Palace is immediately--you may not go after it first thing, but you should know where it is.
-[X] Look for local resources--where weapons, food, squatting, etc. can be found, get that out of the way.
Yeah, let's at least make sure we know what's at hand.
And nooooo, I missed a vote!
Ah, well. I loved the augur; it's rare that you see regeneration (of any stripe) applied towards something niche like augury.
As for the prophecy itself... hate is meat, greed is drink... will we have to be greedy and hateful to get there? Make enemies, conserve resources? This will take a while to make sense... Count the cost indeed.
[X] Go into the building.
-[X] Announce yourself to the Boss. It's only polite, now that you're in held territory.
-[X] Look for official work. Any given Boss and their operation are no strangers to delegating to random sellswords.
We followed the Ves-bearing procession to get in touch with Locusts in Qoma, so let's do that. I also don't see the point of looking for resources when we don't have any money to buy them.
[X] Go into the building.
-[X] Announce yourself to the Boss. It's only polite, now that you're in held territory.
-[X] Look for official work. Any given Boss and their operation are no strangers to delegating to random sellswords.
We followed the Ves-bearing procession to get in touch with Locusts in Qoma, so let's do that. I also don't see the point of looking for resources when we don't have any money to buy them.
Sounds good. Honestly, all of them look useful, but this is a good argument.
[X] Go into the building.
-[X] Announce yourself to the Boss. It's only polite, now that you're in held territory.
-[X] Look for official work. Any given Boss and their operation are no strangers to delegating to random sellswords.
While I plan the next few choices and wait for a couple more votes, something I'd appreciate is to hear how I'm doing so far--this is my first quest on SV, and length, pacing, that kind of feedback are things I'd like to hear from y'all about, if that's alright! I want to provide the very best content I can.
Well, it's an interesting setting. Update length is mostly a style thing, and I haven't had problems with pacing so much as aimlessness - this update contains the first long-term goal I've heard our PC voice out loud, and I'm still not sure what the Quest's gameplay loop is supposed to look like. So far it's had a relatively sedate, vaguely investigative tone, but your framing implies that violence of the ethically-somewhat-questionable sort is supposed to be a mainstay?
Also, it looks like a big part of the system is the spiral between Hunger and statloss, which is difficult to make hard choices about if we don't know what either does.
Yo, that's very helpful, thanks! Most of my writing experience is as a DM for short-lived FATE games and a few half-finished short stories, so I'm definitely getting used to this format--a lot of my recent stuff has been, by necessity, more "sandboxy" so I'm getting used to coherent narratives again. I will keep all that in mind, thank you very much
Expect more stuff, like me exposing the system's guts a little, within a timeframe of "soon."
Some notes on the guts of the story! Hunger: A measurement of how pressing Grail's need to sate her physical appetite currently is, scaled from 1-100. Beyond a certain threshold, the Hunger becomes all-consuming--if her Hunger exceeds this rating, she will enter a dissociative, predatory state until full. Owing to being a Locust, this stat also has a lower boundary: the exigencies of the Ves mean that the Vesakh are, even after gorging themselves... never full. Saturation: A measurement of the degree to which Grail is utilizing the Ves she intakes. Higher Saturation means stronger and more thorough mutations, and while it increases with Treatments it also increases the more ideal of a Locust lifestyle Grail leads. Vim: This stat represents Grail's physical strength, fortitude, resilience, and general bodily integrity. Iron: This stat represents Grail's ability to deal with technology, reliably commit violence, and subsume guilt. Charm: This stat represents Grail's social aptitude, cunning, awareness, pattern recognition and force of personality. Wit: This stat represents Grail's capacity for memory, problem solving, quick thinking, and the overall healthiness of her mind.
The nature of these stats is as a limiter to what options are available to Grail and the degree to which she will succeed at certain acts.
That is helpful, especially the Saturation thing - it implies a great deal about intended player goals. Can you expound on 'ideal Locust lifestyle' a bit more?
Also, point I forgot earlier - could you provide general content warnings up front? I got from the description that murders would probably happen, but that could be as comedic as Schlock Mercenary or as dark as Happy Sugar Life apparently gets. And I don't know what it'll be like on other counts - explicit sex scenes are one of the few things I'll drop an otherwise-good story over, for example.
Also also, I just checked the charsheet and I have more questions.
What does 'lower threshold' mean? The amount we can't reduce Hunger past unless we mess with our Saturation?
What's the expected scale for these numbers? 1-10, 1-20, bigger? This seems like a fairly restrained setting, but we are in the introductory arc.
That is helpful, especially the Saturation thing - it implies a great deal about intended player goals. Can you expound on 'ideal Locust lifestyle' a bit more?
Also, point I forgot earlier - could you provide general content warnings up front? I got from the description that murders would probably happen, but that could be as comedic as Schlock Mercenary or as dark as Happy Sugar Life apparently gets. And I don't know what it'll be like on other counts - explicit sex scenes are one of the few things I'll drop an otherwise-good story over, for example.
Also also, I just checked the charsheet and I have more questions.
What does 'lower threshold' mean? The amount we can't reduce Hunger past unless we mess with our Saturation?
What's the expected scale for these numbers? 1-10, 1-20, bigger? This seems like a fairly restrained setting, but we are in the introductory arc.
In order:
The ideal Locust lifestyle involves a life of combat, theft, adventure, the satisfaction of whims, greed, hoarder instinct and gnawing appetite, and never dying peacefully--or, if it can be helped, alone.
I will add general content warnings to the first post.
The System note has been updated to explain Lower Threshold, but yes.
The scale is for me to know and you to find out, as of right now, and expands with Treatment, but rest assured you are no slouch right now, even if you're also not particularly inspiring, and that the upper numbers are a big deal.
dissociative, predatory state until full. Owing to being a Locust, this stat also has a lower boundary: the exigencies of the Ves mean that the Vesakh are, even after gorging themselves... never full.
Yo, that's very helpful, thanks! Most of my writing experience is as a DM for short-lived FATE games and a few half-finished short stories, so I'm definitely getting used to this format--a lot of my recent stuff has been, by necessity, more "sandboxy" so I'm getting used to coherent narratives again. I will keep all that in mind, thank you very much
Expect more stuff, like me exposing the system's guts a little, within a timeframe of "soon."
Personally, I'm a fan of Black Crusade (yes, Fantasy Flight Games. That one). I absolutely adore the idea of a vaguely defined goal of "get power" in a large, somewhat-grim sandbox.
