A quest about some poor schmuck (that's me!) tossed into a combination of two of the more dangerous settings around and has to flounder her way through stories both familiar and new. Expect shenanigans, canon divergence, and weaponization of the power of friendship. Cross-posted from Spacebattles.
Of Spirits And Magi(Bleadh/Nasuverse Fusion)
Of Spirits And Magi(Bleach/Nasuverse Fusion)
- Created
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- Ongoing
- Watchers
- 32
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Statistics (10 threadmarks, 28k words)
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LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOO
DragonGrimoire
Half Dragon, Half Cat, Half Spellbook, All Cute
- Location
- On Your Lap, Sleeping
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Hers
I....I can't remember how I died. All I know is that I'm following this strange woman along a path that doesn't properly exist. She looks so familiar, big blue eyes, white hair, long red and white dress with a deep cut down the center that exposes much of her chest. She's carrying a beautiful white and gold bow. Bits and pieces of my memory fade away as we walk on, leaving me without a lot of knowledge about who I am or many, if any personal memories.My friends, the times we shared,-you're lucky I love you, you absolute fucking gremlin fading away. My home city, my childhood, popping like bubbles. Trauma , mockery and gaslighting and the hands around my neck squeezing , the wrong name wrong face wrong body god gave me it wasn't fair shatter like stained glass, glittering in so many colors. Heartbreak, long faded and forgotten what do you mean, this isn't what you wanted? Am I a joke to you? drifting away on the wind.
"Tell me, girl who took on my name to define herself. Who will you be? Your strength and nature will always leans towards bonds, souls, and emotion , but what comes next will determine much about who you become. How fun!" The goddess- and that's what she is,I suddenly realize, is radiating a strange power.
It's a blue-and gold light, gathering around her free hand, the one not clutching the bow.
She slaps her hand onto my forehead, and I feel a strange , horrible tearing within as something at the base of my existence shifts. I'm still me, but I'm becoming something else, something strong.
"Be careful,child. You may die at any time." The woman I shared my given name with said, her voice echoing in my mind as well as my ears.
~~~
EDITED: VOTING AND DISCUSSION ARE NOW OPEN, THREAD PORTED SUCCESSFULLY!
"Tell me, girl who took on my name to define herself. Who will you be? Your strength and nature will always leans towards bonds, souls, and emotion , but what comes next will determine much about who you become. How fun!" The goddess- and that's what she is,I suddenly realize, is radiating a strange power.
It's a blue-and gold light, gathering around her free hand, the one not clutching the bow.
She slaps her hand onto my forehead, and I feel a strange , horrible tearing within as something at the base of my existence shifts. I'm still me, but I'm becoming something else, something strong.
"Be careful,child. You may die at any time." The woman I shared my given name with said, her voice echoing in my mind as well as my ears.
~~~
EDITED: VOTING AND DISCUSSION ARE NOW OPEN, THREAD PORTED SUCCESSFULLY!
Last edited:
It's Moon Rabbit Time, Boys, Girls, and Theys!
DragonGrimoire
Half Dragon, Half Cat, Half Spellbook, All Cute
- Location
- On Your Lap, Sleeping
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Hers
FINAL TALLY OF INITIAL VOTE, PORTED FROM SPACEBATTLES:
Mizuki Shiba, Moon Princess Of Hearts(Soul Reaper) :7 Votes
Artemis Nuada Dantalion ,The Rainbow Crest (Magus) : 5 Votes
Artemis Brunhild Burkhard, Shining Legionary(Quincy) :4 Votes
Artemis Coinen Ban, White Rabbit Knight (Hollow) : 7 Votes
A Coin was flipped to break the tie.
Artemis Coinen Ban is the Winner.
As the goddess's hand poured raw power into me, I felt my body warp and shift. A yawning hole ripped apart my chest as white fur began to cover me and my clothing shredded. My bones and flesh rippled and warped, and the pain was immense. Something hard was forming over my face,and it felt wrong, but that wasn't the worst of it.
My emotions were running wild as my body devoured the blue-and-gold energy, the despair of my losses resonating through me, forgotten pains and unremembered traumas weighing on me briefly as I felt.
Loneliness. I'd had friends and loved ones who'd stood by me, who'd supported me. I had been ripped away from them, and it burned. Through shards of feeling and memory, loneliness resonated, because I knew with a certainty I had once been an odd child with nofriends, and I couldn't live that again. Don't leave me....I don't want to be alone..
Rage. I'd had a life, whatever it had been. That had been ripped from me, and I was being twisted into something inhuman by someone i'd apparently admired enough to take her name for myself. Now I was being thrown into some strange, unfamiliar place, and given power?Who had the right to do this to me? Who was fucked up enough to do so? Was this normal, when someone dies? Who did this? Who stole my memories! Give them back!
Hunger. Deep and dark and terrible, not just for food but for...something else. My body and the hole in my chest greedily devoured the energy the goddess poured into me, letting it shape and change me and growing ever stronger. I felt the thing on my face grow and shift and thicken, and some part of me wanted to try devouring the goddess herself. But most of me said that would be wrong, 'cause you don't eat people who aren't consenting to it. Besides, that isn't a meal I can handle.
Fear. What had happened, to lead to this? Why had this happened? Did I deserve this, had I been terrible enough for my identity to be stripped away? What if the goddess decided she didn't like whatever I ended up doing and decided to kill me? What if I died before actually getting to use this power within me? Stark terror at her power, and what she could do if she really decided to change me. This place must be terrifying, if she was giving me so much strength. There was a feeling....I felt like I could bust down a thick concrete wall, and that without any real effort. What kind of threats was I facing, if that was neccesary?
Hope. Even with all the bad things I was feeling, and this woman's strange actions and words, I felt hope, and the little fire it lit in me was keeping me going, through it all. My positive emotions, which had felt like they were being eaten away, gained strength as hope bolstered me, even as the pain got worse and the despair and the void in my chest continued to devour and despoil. Even if despair swallowed me, I wouldn't give up, and I'd find a way to use this power given to help more people than just me. I knew, from the remaining vestiges of my memory, that I was one who desired to help others, to spread hope.
The cycle of infusion and devouring continued for some time, and when it came to a stop, I was different. standing in an endless desert, I could somehow sense the extent of my changes. My body was....strange. I knew, instinctively, that I resembled nothing more than a gigantic,white-furred semi-anthromorphic rabbit. I had soft fluffy white fur covering hard skin, strange hands that were a mixture of hands and paws on arms that would also serve well as front legs, and a mask on my face that seemed to be carved of bone, covering my entire head except for my eyes. The mask resembled a rabbit's skull, with the addition of two large "ears" of the strange white substance. This new form of mine could stand on two legs, though it was more comfortable on four, and had long, thick powerful back legs tipped with clawed feet that could leap and run and kick. The hole in my chest kept urging me to eat! devour! destroy! prove your existence! but I simply ignored it as I stared at the goddess. Her gift had turned me into a monster, something even a furry would be scared shitless of! Power flowerd through me, and I knew it would heed my commands, because it was mine.
"What-" I asked, voice sultry and husky despite the anger tinging it. "-have you done to me?"
The goddess merely laughed, though it held no mockery. "All I did was provide power, little one. Your soul and your pain shaped you into this. It was very close, you almost became the type of Plus who would inevitably become a Soul Reaper, but instead you became a Hollow." The look she was giving me held no pity or contempt, only curiosity and something resembling....worry? Weird.
"What in the fucking world are Soul Reapers and Holl-" I managed,before I suddenly Knew. Pluses, the souls of the dead, passing on to the afterlife,. Those with potential would gain power, and follow a couple different possible paths. They were raw potential, the souls that fueled the eternal cycle of rebirth. All the dead ,the living, and those derived from them were empowered with some level of both Spiritual Power, known as Reiryoku, and Spiritual Pressure, known as Reiatsu,even if it was the basic level all life had.
Hollows were devouring spirits. The souls of the dead warped by their inability to pass on, despair, or deliberately turned by other Hollows. Hollows supposedly lacked human emotions and morals, but the truth was that the oppressive environment of Hueco Mundo, the constant hunting by other Hollows ,their lack of human memories, and the twisting, warping urge to devour ended up suppressing or warping their emotions until they progressed far enough along the path of evolution, and some people were just plain bad even before they Hollowfied. Hell, many Hollows devolved into primal animalistic beings that lived only to devour and battle. Legends told of Hollows who ripped off their masks and gained even more power, as well as a large measure of their humanity.That certainly explained the weird shit that was going on with my emotions.
Shinigami, the Soul Reapers, those who guided the dead to the afterlife and defeated Hollows, purifying their souls so they could pass on. Despite this, I got the feeling that they weren't all holy warriors and defenders, and they certainly loathed and feared Hollows to fanatical extents. Their Zanpakuto, the Soul-Slaying Swords, were weapons shaped by a piece of their soul imprinting on a blade of raw soul-spirity stuff, and would grow and evolve alongside them. Strange and interesting blades, these Zanpakuto.
There were other forces, apparently, those among the living, drawing on both the energies that the dead used and a power only the living and those adjacent enough to life could draw on, Magical Energy. This force, also known as mana or prana, fueled Phantasmal Beasts and Magi, who drew on Magical Energy to enact Mystery, creating supernatural effects through energy and belief. Mystery's own power apparently came from a combination of collective belief and knowledge, history, and the Root, the basis of all reality that recorded possibility and information. The root was simultaneously in and out of reality, part of everything and yet outside it.
There was probably a lot more to it, and to the world, but that was all the weird knowing that I had a feeling the goddess was involved with had given me.
"This world is a strange place, full of interesting things. Go, Artemis Coinen Ban. Learn and grow and be, and perhaps one day you'll figure things out." The goddess smiled, and a warm breeze blew through the cold of Hueco Mundo as she vanished.
So..what was I to do? I needed to grow strong, figure out what I could do, learn to protect myself. I could train, I could seek out other Hollows, I could go to the human world....
[] Seek out another Hollow to help you figure out what the fuck exactly you can do. Or for a fight. Maybe devour them if you win, but something about that feels distasteful and wrong even if the hole in your chest is begging for it. Regardless, other Hollows are a mixed bag, as likely to be hostile as to be friendly.
[] Train. Attempt to figure out your powers on your own. Harness the Spiritual Power within, try to use it as blasts or infuse it into attacks or somethin'. Shit's got a ton of uses, if that vague information that flowed into your head is anything to go by.
[] Go to the World Of The Living. Other Hollows hunt there all the time, turning the dead into Hollows or eating them! This could be pretty dangerous, but you've got power, and despite not remembering much about yourself, you know that you believe that those with power should help those without it.
[] Write in. Please try to keep it somewhat in line with the other options, or expand on one of them, or at least be something reasonable to do in this situation.
Mizuki Shiba, Moon Princess Of Hearts(Soul Reaper) :7 Votes
Artemis Nuada Dantalion ,The Rainbow Crest (Magus) : 5 Votes
Artemis Brunhild Burkhard, Shining Legionary(Quincy) :4 Votes
Artemis Coinen Ban, White Rabbit Knight (Hollow) : 7 Votes
A Coin was flipped to break the tie.
Artemis Coinen Ban is the Winner.
As the goddess's hand poured raw power into me, I felt my body warp and shift. A yawning hole ripped apart my chest as white fur began to cover me and my clothing shredded. My bones and flesh rippled and warped, and the pain was immense. Something hard was forming over my face,and it felt wrong, but that wasn't the worst of it.
My emotions were running wild as my body devoured the blue-and-gold energy, the despair of my losses resonating through me, forgotten pains and unremembered traumas weighing on me briefly as I felt.
Loneliness. I'd had friends and loved ones who'd stood by me, who'd supported me. I had been ripped away from them, and it burned. Through shards of feeling and memory, loneliness resonated, because I knew with a certainty I had once been an odd child with nofriends, and I couldn't live that again. Don't leave me....I don't want to be alone..
Rage. I'd had a life, whatever it had been. That had been ripped from me, and I was being twisted into something inhuman by someone i'd apparently admired enough to take her name for myself. Now I was being thrown into some strange, unfamiliar place, and given power?Who had the right to do this to me? Who was fucked up enough to do so? Was this normal, when someone dies? Who did this? Who stole my memories! Give them back!
Hunger. Deep and dark and terrible, not just for food but for...something else. My body and the hole in my chest greedily devoured the energy the goddess poured into me, letting it shape and change me and growing ever stronger. I felt the thing on my face grow and shift and thicken, and some part of me wanted to try devouring the goddess herself. But most of me said that would be wrong, 'cause you don't eat people who aren't consenting to it. Besides, that isn't a meal I can handle.
Fear. What had happened, to lead to this? Why had this happened? Did I deserve this, had I been terrible enough for my identity to be stripped away? What if the goddess decided she didn't like whatever I ended up doing and decided to kill me? What if I died before actually getting to use this power within me? Stark terror at her power, and what she could do if she really decided to change me. This place must be terrifying, if she was giving me so much strength. There was a feeling....I felt like I could bust down a thick concrete wall, and that without any real effort. What kind of threats was I facing, if that was neccesary?
Hope. Even with all the bad things I was feeling, and this woman's strange actions and words, I felt hope, and the little fire it lit in me was keeping me going, through it all. My positive emotions, which had felt like they were being eaten away, gained strength as hope bolstered me, even as the pain got worse and the despair and the void in my chest continued to devour and despoil. Even if despair swallowed me, I wouldn't give up, and I'd find a way to use this power given to help more people than just me. I knew, from the remaining vestiges of my memory, that I was one who desired to help others, to spread hope.
The cycle of infusion and devouring continued for some time, and when it came to a stop, I was different. standing in an endless desert, I could somehow sense the extent of my changes. My body was....strange. I knew, instinctively, that I resembled nothing more than a gigantic,white-furred semi-anthromorphic rabbit. I had soft fluffy white fur covering hard skin, strange hands that were a mixture of hands and paws on arms that would also serve well as front legs, and a mask on my face that seemed to be carved of bone, covering my entire head except for my eyes. The mask resembled a rabbit's skull, with the addition of two large "ears" of the strange white substance. This new form of mine could stand on two legs, though it was more comfortable on four, and had long, thick powerful back legs tipped with clawed feet that could leap and run and kick. The hole in my chest kept urging me to eat! devour! destroy! prove your existence! but I simply ignored it as I stared at the goddess. Her gift had turned me into a monster, something even a furry would be scared shitless of! Power flowerd through me, and I knew it would heed my commands, because it was mine.
"What-" I asked, voice sultry and husky despite the anger tinging it. "-have you done to me?"
The goddess merely laughed, though it held no mockery. "All I did was provide power, little one. Your soul and your pain shaped you into this. It was very close, you almost became the type of Plus who would inevitably become a Soul Reaper, but instead you became a Hollow." The look she was giving me held no pity or contempt, only curiosity and something resembling....worry? Weird.
"What in the fucking world are Soul Reapers and Holl-" I managed,before I suddenly Knew. Pluses, the souls of the dead, passing on to the afterlife,. Those with potential would gain power, and follow a couple different possible paths. They were raw potential, the souls that fueled the eternal cycle of rebirth. All the dead ,the living, and those derived from them were empowered with some level of both Spiritual Power, known as Reiryoku, and Spiritual Pressure, known as Reiatsu,even if it was the basic level all life had.
Hollows were devouring spirits. The souls of the dead warped by their inability to pass on, despair, or deliberately turned by other Hollows. Hollows supposedly lacked human emotions and morals, but the truth was that the oppressive environment of Hueco Mundo, the constant hunting by other Hollows ,their lack of human memories, and the twisting, warping urge to devour ended up suppressing or warping their emotions until they progressed far enough along the path of evolution, and some people were just plain bad even before they Hollowfied. Hell, many Hollows devolved into primal animalistic beings that lived only to devour and battle. Legends told of Hollows who ripped off their masks and gained even more power, as well as a large measure of their humanity.That certainly explained the weird shit that was going on with my emotions.
Shinigami, the Soul Reapers, those who guided the dead to the afterlife and defeated Hollows, purifying their souls so they could pass on. Despite this, I got the feeling that they weren't all holy warriors and defenders, and they certainly loathed and feared Hollows to fanatical extents. Their Zanpakuto, the Soul-Slaying Swords, were weapons shaped by a piece of their soul imprinting on a blade of raw soul-spirity stuff, and would grow and evolve alongside them. Strange and interesting blades, these Zanpakuto.
There were other forces, apparently, those among the living, drawing on both the energies that the dead used and a power only the living and those adjacent enough to life could draw on, Magical Energy. This force, also known as mana or prana, fueled Phantasmal Beasts and Magi, who drew on Magical Energy to enact Mystery, creating supernatural effects through energy and belief. Mystery's own power apparently came from a combination of collective belief and knowledge, history, and the Root, the basis of all reality that recorded possibility and information. The root was simultaneously in and out of reality, part of everything and yet outside it.
There was probably a lot more to it, and to the world, but that was all the weird knowing that I had a feeling the goddess was involved with had given me.
"This world is a strange place, full of interesting things. Go, Artemis Coinen Ban. Learn and grow and be, and perhaps one day you'll figure things out." The goddess smiled, and a warm breeze blew through the cold of Hueco Mundo as she vanished.
So..what was I to do? I needed to grow strong, figure out what I could do, learn to protect myself. I could train, I could seek out other Hollows, I could go to the human world....
[] Seek out another Hollow to help you figure out what the fuck exactly you can do. Or for a fight. Maybe devour them if you win, but something about that feels distasteful and wrong even if the hole in your chest is begging for it. Regardless, other Hollows are a mixed bag, as likely to be hostile as to be friendly.
[] Train. Attempt to figure out your powers on your own. Harness the Spiritual Power within, try to use it as blasts or infuse it into attacks or somethin'. Shit's got a ton of uses, if that vague information that flowed into your head is anything to go by.
[] Go to the World Of The Living. Other Hollows hunt there all the time, turning the dead into Hollows or eating them! This could be pretty dangerous, but you've got power, and despite not remembering much about yourself, you know that you believe that those with power should help those without it.
[] Write in. Please try to keep it somewhat in line with the other options, or expand on one of them, or at least be something reasonable to do in this situation.
Charsheet
DragonGrimoire
Half Dragon, Half Cat, Half Spellbook, All Cute
- Location
- On Your Lap, Sleeping
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Hers
Name: Artemis Coinen Ban
Species: Hollow
Spiritual Power: Rank D++. You're roughly about the level of a Gillian, and you just need one big push to actually make it there.
Spiritual Pressure:Rank D++. Roughly the same as above. battle aura in the shape of a big bunny. Weirdly enough, yours is white with silver around the edges.
Physical Strength: Rank D+. You can lift and throw pickup trucks with ease.
Speed: Rank D++ You don't have any super-speed boost bullshit yet, but rabbits are pretty fast, especially big ones like you.
Durability: Rank D+.You don't quite have High-Speed Regen or Hierro yet, so be careful, but you're roughly as sturdy and heal as well as most hollows with equivalent strength are. for best results, consume Reishi or the dead to help heal.
Abilities:
Ressurecion: Locked.
Cero:Locked
Hierro: Locked.
Sonido:Locked.
Bala:Locked.
Inherent Abilities:
Memoria: This power is the power of Memory, something so important to you. La Memoria can be used to restore memory or suppress it, whether in yourself or others, though it is easier if the opponent is weaker than yourself and more difficult if there is a major gap in age, power, or both between yourself and the target. In addition, you may now copy the memories of those weaker than yourself, though this is mostly limited to raw information and rarely allows the gaining of skills based on training or muscle memory. Rank E. (40/500)
La Alma: You have an innate power over and understanding of Souls and the emotional and other bonds between them, As of now, you can use this power in concert with Spiriual Power Infusion to manipulate Souls, with your easiest method being purification, which is easier to do to those weaker than you and more difficult to do against those stronger, depending on the power gap. Purification may be used against opponents stronger than yourself, as long as the power gap isn't extreme and you roll well, Additionally, by using this power, you may also heal damage to the Soul of those weaker than you in a limited capacity, though this function doesn't yet work on those stronger than you. All functions have more intricacies that have to be explored and unlocked! Another known ability of La Alma is to transfer emotional bonds between Souls into strength, manifesting in you gaining traits and other bonuses from others as your bond with them grows. In return, they also gain similar from you. Rank E. (50/500)
Spiritual Power Infusion: the ability to infuse Spiritual Power into your limbs or body for combat purposes and to resist Spirit Pressure and similar forms of assault. If you improve it, you'll certainly get better, and may be able to infuse your Spiritual Energy into other people or Objects Practice this shit., it's your bread and butter. Rank E. (65/250)
Secondary Effect Discovered: Control of your Reiryoku, your Spiritual Power, boosts and influences your Reiatsu, your Spiritual Pressure. Spiritual Power is the source of Spiritual Pressure, and by increasing your ability to manipulate the former, you increase your ability to manipulate the latter. This manifests as your Spiritual Power Infusion skill giving a bonus to any Spiritual Pressure-based rolls.
Skills:
Lapine Martial Arts: With the combination of your own self-created attacks, the memories of at least one good Martial Artist, and the infusion of Spiritual Power, you may execute various unarmed physical techniques and infuse them with Spiritual Power to strengthen the blows, break through enemy defenses, and the like. Currently contains Lapine Kick, Lapine Punch, Lapine Claws, and other rabbit-themed martial techniques. Rank F. (190/200)
Spiritual Infusion Cooking: due to the experiences of that Magus Chef and the slight stirring it gave your own memories of cooking, you've gained some basic cooking skills and the ability to infuse your own Spiritual Energy into dishes you make! Requires the necessary utensils,appliances and materials to cook a meal. (yes,roasting meat on a spit over a fire counts.) Rank F. (30/100)
Relationships/Reputation:
Braddock Hua./Hua Zhiquiang: Friendly (140/???)
Kisuke Urahara: Friendly (125/???)
Risei Kotomine: Neutral (80/100)
Traits:
Blessing Of The Great Huntress: Your soul has been marked by a Divine Spirit tied to hunting, nature, balance, and the moon. Effects unknown. Boosts absorption of Spirit Particles/Reishi from the atmosphere, boosts the effects of Training Is Growth, and has other effects, unknown at the current time. Rank Unknown.
Training Is Growth: The ability to improve oneself through training and battle without consuming opponents! Currently, you may choose to train Spiritual Power, Strength, Speed, and Durability in addition to your skills and any ability you have unlocked as an action when planning out a period of time! Normally, training like this is super inefficient for Hollows, but your friendship with Braddock B. Kong and some things about you make this a viable option. Rank F.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Inventory:
Reiatsu-concealing Gigai
Duster Of Many Pockets
Raw Spider Silk (6 Bales)
60 Lb of Arachnid Chitin
Basic Wardrobe.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Memory Roll Keywords: (Will expand this into a glossary with definitions when I have time)
These are the current memory roll keywords you have unlocked for the purposes of making memory rolls that aren't prompted by a circumstance or otherwise caused by individuals or events. Events and gained knowledge may lower the DCs of a given memory roll, especially if you've successfully rolled on related subjects before
Forces/Powers/ Rules of the World:
Spiritual Pressure/Reiatsu
Spiritual Power/Reiryoku
Spirit Particles/Reishi
Mystery
Od
Magecraft
Prana/Mana/Magical Energy
The Root
Factions/Organizations/Groups of Beings:
Hollows
Soul Reapers
Magi
Arrancar
Zanpakuto
Quincy
Pluses
Olympian Pantheon
Humans
Phantasmal Beasts
Heroic Spirits(Mid-High DC)
Homunculi
The Church
The Burial Agency
The Clock Tower
Fullbringers (High DC)
Matou Clan
Tohsaka Family
Einzbern Clan
The Espada (those who will become them, anyways.)
Individuals:
Sun Wukong
Zouken Matou, "The Old Worm"
Artemis (the Goddess)(Medium DC)
Artemis Coinen Ban (Me!) (Variable DC)
Ichigo Kurosaki (Mid-High DC)
Redheaded Boy#2 (Falchions)(Mid-High DC)
Kisuke Urahara (HIGH DC)
Spellcasting Heroic Spirit and Her Master(HIGH DC)
Blond Heroic Spirit(HIGH DC)
***** Kotomine (HIGH DC)
Risei Kotomine(Mid-High DC)
Yasutora "Chad" Sado
Orihime Inoue
Byakuya Kuchiki
Rukia Kuchiki
Zaraki Kenpachi
Yoruichi Shihoun
Places:
Hueco Mundo
The Human World
The Root
Reverse Side of The World
The Throne Of Heroes
Events:
Holy Grail War(Mid-High DC)
Objects:
Zanpakuto
Mystic Codes
Weird Falchions
Stories/Legends/Myths:
Journey To The West
Greek Mythology
Chinese Mythology
Species: Hollow
Spiritual Power: Rank D++. You're roughly about the level of a Gillian, and you just need one big push to actually make it there.
Spiritual Pressure:Rank D++. Roughly the same as above. battle aura in the shape of a big bunny. Weirdly enough, yours is white with silver around the edges.
Physical Strength: Rank D+. You can lift and throw pickup trucks with ease.
Speed: Rank D++ You don't have any super-speed boost bullshit yet, but rabbits are pretty fast, especially big ones like you.
Durability: Rank D+.You don't quite have High-Speed Regen or Hierro yet, so be careful, but you're roughly as sturdy and heal as well as most hollows with equivalent strength are. for best results, consume Reishi or the dead to help heal.
Abilities:
Ressurecion: Locked.
Cero:Locked
Hierro: Locked.
Sonido:Locked.
Bala:Locked.
Inherent Abilities:
Memoria: This power is the power of Memory, something so important to you. La Memoria can be used to restore memory or suppress it, whether in yourself or others, though it is easier if the opponent is weaker than yourself and more difficult if there is a major gap in age, power, or both between yourself and the target. In addition, you may now copy the memories of those weaker than yourself, though this is mostly limited to raw information and rarely allows the gaining of skills based on training or muscle memory. Rank E. (40/500)
La Alma: You have an innate power over and understanding of Souls and the emotional and other bonds between them, As of now, you can use this power in concert with Spiriual Power Infusion to manipulate Souls, with your easiest method being purification, which is easier to do to those weaker than you and more difficult to do against those stronger, depending on the power gap. Purification may be used against opponents stronger than yourself, as long as the power gap isn't extreme and you roll well, Additionally, by using this power, you may also heal damage to the Soul of those weaker than you in a limited capacity, though this function doesn't yet work on those stronger than you. All functions have more intricacies that have to be explored and unlocked! Another known ability of La Alma is to transfer emotional bonds between Souls into strength, manifesting in you gaining traits and other bonuses from others as your bond with them grows. In return, they also gain similar from you. Rank E. (50/500)
Spiritual Power Infusion: the ability to infuse Spiritual Power into your limbs or body for combat purposes and to resist Spirit Pressure and similar forms of assault. If you improve it, you'll certainly get better, and may be able to infuse your Spiritual Energy into other people or Objects Practice this shit., it's your bread and butter. Rank E. (65/250)
Secondary Effect Discovered: Control of your Reiryoku, your Spiritual Power, boosts and influences your Reiatsu, your Spiritual Pressure. Spiritual Power is the source of Spiritual Pressure, and by increasing your ability to manipulate the former, you increase your ability to manipulate the latter. This manifests as your Spiritual Power Infusion skill giving a bonus to any Spiritual Pressure-based rolls.
Skills:
Lapine Martial Arts: With the combination of your own self-created attacks, the memories of at least one good Martial Artist, and the infusion of Spiritual Power, you may execute various unarmed physical techniques and infuse them with Spiritual Power to strengthen the blows, break through enemy defenses, and the like. Currently contains Lapine Kick, Lapine Punch, Lapine Claws, and other rabbit-themed martial techniques. Rank F. (190/200)
Spiritual Infusion Cooking: due to the experiences of that Magus Chef and the slight stirring it gave your own memories of cooking, you've gained some basic cooking skills and the ability to infuse your own Spiritual Energy into dishes you make! Requires the necessary utensils,appliances and materials to cook a meal. (yes,roasting meat on a spit over a fire counts.) Rank F. (30/100)
Relationships/Reputation:
Braddock Hua./Hua Zhiquiang: Friendly (140/???)
Kisuke Urahara: Friendly (125/???)
Risei Kotomine: Neutral (80/100)
Traits:
Blessing Of The Great Huntress: Your soul has been marked by a Divine Spirit tied to hunting, nature, balance, and the moon. Effects unknown. Boosts absorption of Spirit Particles/Reishi from the atmosphere, boosts the effects of Training Is Growth, and has other effects, unknown at the current time. Rank Unknown.
Training Is Growth: The ability to improve oneself through training and battle without consuming opponents! Currently, you may choose to train Spiritual Power, Strength, Speed, and Durability in addition to your skills and any ability you have unlocked as an action when planning out a period of time! Normally, training like this is super inefficient for Hollows, but your friendship with Braddock B. Kong and some things about you make this a viable option. Rank F.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Inventory:
Reiatsu-concealing Gigai
Duster Of Many Pockets
Raw Spider Silk (6 Bales)
60 Lb of Arachnid Chitin
Basic Wardrobe.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Memory Roll Keywords: (Will expand this into a glossary with definitions when I have time)
These are the current memory roll keywords you have unlocked for the purposes of making memory rolls that aren't prompted by a circumstance or otherwise caused by individuals or events. Events and gained knowledge may lower the DCs of a given memory roll, especially if you've successfully rolled on related subjects before
Forces/Powers/ Rules of the World:
Spiritual Pressure/Reiatsu
Spiritual Power/Reiryoku
Spirit Particles/Reishi
Mystery
Od
Magecraft
Prana/Mana/Magical Energy
The Root
Factions/Organizations/Groups of Beings:
Hollows
Soul Reapers
Magi
Arrancar
Zanpakuto
Quincy
Pluses
Olympian Pantheon
Humans
Phantasmal Beasts
Heroic Spirits(Mid-High DC)
Homunculi
The Church
The Burial Agency
The Clock Tower
Fullbringers (High DC)
Matou Clan
Tohsaka Family
Einzbern Clan
The Espada (those who will become them, anyways.)
Individuals:
Sun Wukong
Zouken Matou, "The Old Worm"
Artemis (the Goddess)(Medium DC)
Artemis Coinen Ban (Me!) (Variable DC)
Ichigo Kurosaki (Mid-High DC)
Redheaded Boy#2 (Falchions)(Mid-High DC)
Kisuke Urahara (HIGH DC)
Spellcasting Heroic Spirit and Her Master(HIGH DC)
Blond Heroic Spirit(HIGH DC)
***** Kotomine (HIGH DC)
Risei Kotomine(Mid-High DC)
Yasutora "Chad" Sado
Orihime Inoue
Byakuya Kuchiki
Rukia Kuchiki
Zaraki Kenpachi
Yoruichi Shihoun
Places:
Hueco Mundo
The Human World
The Root
Reverse Side of The World
The Throne Of Heroes
Events:
Holy Grail War(Mid-High DC)
Objects:
Zanpakuto
Mystic Codes
Weird Falchions
Stories/Legends/Myths:
Journey To The West
Greek Mythology
Chinese Mythology
Last edited:
Training Results+ An Unexpected Challenge
DragonGrimoire
Half Dragon, Half Cat, Half Spellbook, All Cute
- Location
- On Your Lap, Sleeping
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Hers
[x] Train. Attempt to figure out your powers on your own. Harness the Spiritual Power within, try to use it as blasts or infuse it into attacks or somethin'. Shit's got a ton of uses, if that vague information that flowed into your head is anything to go by.
3 Votes.
[X] Seek out another Hollow to help you figure out what the fuck exactly you can do. Or for a fight. Maybe devour them if you win, but something about that feels distasteful and wrong even if the hole in your chest is begging for it. Regardless, other Hollows are a mixed bag, as likely to be hostile as to be friendly
2 votes.
Training Won!
Roll Results: 20+90+45+47+30+93=325
325/6=54
MARGINAL SUCCESS, UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES!
(No this is not the servant parameter system, but it is kind of a similar "stats and skills recognized by the world" deal)
[Remember, Of Spirits And Magi Dice Room is our official Dice Room on rolz.org, but feel free to roll in thread if you like!]
Unfortunately, due to my my lack of memory and battle experience, I'd only really been able to come up with some very basic moves involving the infusion of Spiritual Energy. As I kicked and punch and clawed at the air, seeking what felt right, a soft white glow, edged with gold, shimmered around me. As I foolishly attacked the air around me, the weak Hollows drawn in by the flare of power kept their distance, afraid to get close enough to be attacked. The rush of using my power, as if a tingling, electric flow of heat and warmth and life passed through me, making my body sing with its wild strength. It felt good, and it was simply just right, to move my body and send my power through and out of it, even if I did go too far with it a couple times and cause myself some bruises and assorted small injuries from overdoing it with my Spiritual Energy and this powerful, flexible new body.
I kept going for some time, attempting to focus the power better and improve my form, but I could tell I'd need more time and most likely some fights to make any real progress. I kept pushing myself until my reserves of energy ran dangerously low and my muscles and joints tired out, sitting down to rest and gently massage my aching joints. I had to rest once I'd pushed myself, the ball of instincts swirling around my Hollow Hole told me, or else I'd drastically slow the rate of my improvement. Gotta improve, gotta keep it up. This isn't good enough! Rest and then at it again!
Ability Unlocked!
Spiritual Energy Infusion: the ability to infuse Spiritual Energy into your limbs or body for combat purposes and to resist Spirit Pressure and similar forms of assault. If you improve it, you'll certainly get better, and may be able to infuse your Spiritual Energy into other people or objects. It's your bread and butter, so practice it. Rank F.
Skills Unlocked!
Lapine Kick: Infuse Spiritual Energy into your legs and feet as you kick, boosting the already prodigious strength of your kicks and allowing them to break through Spirit Pressure and other energy based defenses to some degree. Simple,straightforward, room for variations and versatility. Practice that shit. Rank F.
Lapine Punch: Infuse Spiritual Energy into your fists as you throw a punch, boosting your quick, powerful punches, allowing them to be faster, carry more force and to break through Spirit Pressure and other energy based defenses to some degree.Keep practicing this and experimenting with it, and you'll definitely see some interesting Rank F.
Lapine Claws: Infuse Spiritual Energy into the claws on your hands, feet, or both as you attempt to slash an opponent with them, granting greater cutting power and resistance to being cut themselves. Keep practicing this and you'll be cutting apart your opponents like they're vegetables. Rank F.
As I lay there panting, the hole in my chest devoured the wild energy of Hueco Mundo, slowly refilling my reserves. It was a strange feeling, a rightness that i'd never quite felt before, and a strange tingling heat that suffused my being. Wow, this felt pretty nice! No wonder Soul Reapers trained all the time and Hollows devoured and fought all the time if using it and regaining it felt like this. Add in the addictive nature of any skill-based human endeavour, and it was little wonder the empowered so loved to fight. It was like indulging in a good meal, or reading a good book, or shaping a piece of wood into something, a simple and productive pleasure. When my reserves filled to their peak, it seemed that that peak was ever so slightly higher than before, but I really couldn't be sure if that was true or not. I'd have to train more and see the results, but I was under the impressions Hollows didn't grow that way after they'd reached a certain point of strength, if at all. Ah well, another thing on the pile of things to figure out.
Luckily, none of the weak Hollows had approached, but I could faintly sense one giving off a pressure that, while not equal to mine, was not weak, and the way the Monkey-Like Hollow carried itself spoke of great battle experience. Just a little shorter than myself, it had a lithe body frame somewhere between that of a Gorilla and that of a human, bright golden fur mostly covered in bone armor, a long, prehensile tail, and its mask adorned with a permanent cocky smile. It carried a strange staff, roughly hewn, of some strange silvery material that seemed to be both crystalline and wooden. His aura was clearly that of a Hollow, so the weapon wasn't likely a construct of energy or a weapon formed of soul-stuff like a Zanpakuto, but where in Hueco Mundo had he gotten that strange material from? Was there some sort of forest-mine beneath or above the endless sands, or located in some distant part of them? Guess I'd have to ask. Before I could manage, though, he strode up to me and pointed his staff at me, his mouth opening to ask me a question.
"Oi, Bunny Lady! What's your name? Can't have a fight worth a damn if we don't introduce ourselves." The hollow had a deep, somewhat pleasant voice tinged with cockiness and challenge. His smirking mask matched the challenging look in the bright golden orbs that his mask mostly hid. Really, I should've been panicked, but the new instincts that were pulsing through me pushed that to the side.
"The name's Artemis Coinen Ban. And you are?" I asked, my own tone revealing the battle lust that was slowly rising within as my Hollow instincts exerted their influence in response to the danger he represented. Much of my identity gone,the sparks of a new one were beginning to assert itself, and I felt drawn to make a brash decision as part of me screamed get away go leave fucking moron you're no good at fighting-
"Braddock B. Kong at your service, ma'am. Let's get to it, then?" He asked, swirling his staff in his hands as he backed up to a comfortable distance and his stance shifted into one ready for battle, a golden aura tinged with black beginning to seep out of his body and his staff.
"I get a feeling you're not going to go away until I make you,so i'll agree to a fight on one condition:
[] Fight till one of us can't stand anymore. Winner chooses what to do with the loser, up to and including devouring."
[] If I win, you become my sparring partner, from now until neither of us find any benefit in it.If I lose, I'll become your subordinate."
[] Tell me what that staff's made of, or I leave and you have to go find a worthy opponent."
[] Write In
VOTING AND DISCUSSION ARE NOW OPEN. BOTH VOTES HERE AND ON SPACEBATTLES WILL BE COUNTED FOR QUEST VOTES, BUT I WILL TREAT VOTES FROM USERS WITH THE SAME USERNAME ON BOTH SITES AS ONE VOTE TO MAINTAIN PLAYER AGENCY.
Oh, and roll 3d100 for our fight against my blatant Sun Wukong expy!
Link to Spacebattles thread: Of Spirits And Magi
3 Votes.
[X] Seek out another Hollow to help you figure out what the fuck exactly you can do. Or for a fight. Maybe devour them if you win, but something about that feels distasteful and wrong even if the hole in your chest is begging for it. Regardless, other Hollows are a mixed bag, as likely to be hostile as to be friendly
2 votes.
Training Won!
Roll Results: 20+90+45+47+30+93=325
325/6=54
MARGINAL SUCCESS, UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES!
(No this is not the servant parameter system, but it is kind of a similar "stats and skills recognized by the world" deal)
[Remember, Of Spirits And Magi Dice Room is our official Dice Room on rolz.org, but feel free to roll in thread if you like!]
Unfortunately, due to my my lack of memory and battle experience, I'd only really been able to come up with some very basic moves involving the infusion of Spiritual Energy. As I kicked and punch and clawed at the air, seeking what felt right, a soft white glow, edged with gold, shimmered around me. As I foolishly attacked the air around me, the weak Hollows drawn in by the flare of power kept their distance, afraid to get close enough to be attacked. The rush of using my power, as if a tingling, electric flow of heat and warmth and life passed through me, making my body sing with its wild strength. It felt good, and it was simply just right, to move my body and send my power through and out of it, even if I did go too far with it a couple times and cause myself some bruises and assorted small injuries from overdoing it with my Spiritual Energy and this powerful, flexible new body.
I kept going for some time, attempting to focus the power better and improve my form, but I could tell I'd need more time and most likely some fights to make any real progress. I kept pushing myself until my reserves of energy ran dangerously low and my muscles and joints tired out, sitting down to rest and gently massage my aching joints. I had to rest once I'd pushed myself, the ball of instincts swirling around my Hollow Hole told me, or else I'd drastically slow the rate of my improvement. Gotta improve, gotta keep it up. This isn't good enough! Rest and then at it again!
Ability Unlocked!
Spiritual Energy Infusion: the ability to infuse Spiritual Energy into your limbs or body for combat purposes and to resist Spirit Pressure and similar forms of assault. If you improve it, you'll certainly get better, and may be able to infuse your Spiritual Energy into other people or objects. It's your bread and butter, so practice it. Rank F.
Skills Unlocked!
Lapine Kick: Infuse Spiritual Energy into your legs and feet as you kick, boosting the already prodigious strength of your kicks and allowing them to break through Spirit Pressure and other energy based defenses to some degree. Simple,straightforward, room for variations and versatility. Practice that shit. Rank F.
Lapine Punch: Infuse Spiritual Energy into your fists as you throw a punch, boosting your quick, powerful punches, allowing them to be faster, carry more force and to break through Spirit Pressure and other energy based defenses to some degree.Keep practicing this and experimenting with it, and you'll definitely see some interesting Rank F.
Lapine Claws: Infuse Spiritual Energy into the claws on your hands, feet, or both as you attempt to slash an opponent with them, granting greater cutting power and resistance to being cut themselves. Keep practicing this and you'll be cutting apart your opponents like they're vegetables. Rank F.
As I lay there panting, the hole in my chest devoured the wild energy of Hueco Mundo, slowly refilling my reserves. It was a strange feeling, a rightness that i'd never quite felt before, and a strange tingling heat that suffused my being. Wow, this felt pretty nice! No wonder Soul Reapers trained all the time and Hollows devoured and fought all the time if using it and regaining it felt like this. Add in the addictive nature of any skill-based human endeavour, and it was little wonder the empowered so loved to fight. It was like indulging in a good meal, or reading a good book, or shaping a piece of wood into something, a simple and productive pleasure. When my reserves filled to their peak, it seemed that that peak was ever so slightly higher than before, but I really couldn't be sure if that was true or not. I'd have to train more and see the results, but I was under the impressions Hollows didn't grow that way after they'd reached a certain point of strength, if at all. Ah well, another thing on the pile of things to figure out.
Luckily, none of the weak Hollows had approached, but I could faintly sense one giving off a pressure that, while not equal to mine, was not weak, and the way the Monkey-Like Hollow carried itself spoke of great battle experience. Just a little shorter than myself, it had a lithe body frame somewhere between that of a Gorilla and that of a human, bright golden fur mostly covered in bone armor, a long, prehensile tail, and its mask adorned with a permanent cocky smile. It carried a strange staff, roughly hewn, of some strange silvery material that seemed to be both crystalline and wooden. His aura was clearly that of a Hollow, so the weapon wasn't likely a construct of energy or a weapon formed of soul-stuff like a Zanpakuto, but where in Hueco Mundo had he gotten that strange material from? Was there some sort of forest-mine beneath or above the endless sands, or located in some distant part of them? Guess I'd have to ask. Before I could manage, though, he strode up to me and pointed his staff at me, his mouth opening to ask me a question.
"Oi, Bunny Lady! What's your name? Can't have a fight worth a damn if we don't introduce ourselves." The hollow had a deep, somewhat pleasant voice tinged with cockiness and challenge. His smirking mask matched the challenging look in the bright golden orbs that his mask mostly hid. Really, I should've been panicked, but the new instincts that were pulsing through me pushed that to the side.
"The name's Artemis Coinen Ban. And you are?" I asked, my own tone revealing the battle lust that was slowly rising within as my Hollow instincts exerted their influence in response to the danger he represented. Much of my identity gone,the sparks of a new one were beginning to assert itself, and I felt drawn to make a brash decision as part of me screamed get away go leave fucking moron you're no good at fighting-
"Braddock B. Kong at your service, ma'am. Let's get to it, then?" He asked, swirling his staff in his hands as he backed up to a comfortable distance and his stance shifted into one ready for battle, a golden aura tinged with black beginning to seep out of his body and his staff.
"I get a feeling you're not going to go away until I make you,so i'll agree to a fight on one condition:
[] Fight till one of us can't stand anymore. Winner chooses what to do with the loser, up to and including devouring."
[] If I win, you become my sparring partner, from now until neither of us find any benefit in it.If I lose, I'll become your subordinate."
[] Tell me what that staff's made of, or I leave and you have to go find a worthy opponent."
[] Write In
VOTING AND DISCUSSION ARE NOW OPEN. BOTH VOTES HERE AND ON SPACEBATTLES WILL BE COUNTED FOR QUEST VOTES, BUT I WILL TREAT VOTES FROM USERS WITH THE SAME USERNAME ON BOTH SITES AS ONE VOTE TO MAINTAIN PLAYER AGENCY.
Oh, and roll 3d100 for our fight against my blatant Sun Wukong expy!
Link to Spacebattles thread: Of Spirits And Magi
Last edited:
Omake: Moon Princess Rising
DragonGrimoire
Half Dragon, Half Cat, Half Spellbook, All Cute
- Location
- On Your Lap, Sleeping
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Hers
Here's our first Omake! I wrote it because I really liked the character arc I had in mind for Mizuki, and may do more Mizuki omakes in the future.
I grew up not knowing the true circumstances of my birth, or who I was at all. My first personal memory from this life, that wasn't a fragment of a barely remembered other self, was from when I was about the Plus equivalent of a 5 year old, being scooped into the arms of Isshin Shiba after being dropped off at the clan compound by a mysterious white-clad woman with white hair and blue eyes. It was certainly ironic, i'd later realize.
I lay on the ground, beating it with my small fists, sobbing for reasons I could barely comprehend. I had lost something, and it was important. That goddess had....poured a bunch of power into me and told me I was destined to become something called a Soul Reaper. I was in an unfamiliar place, and even though it was dark and should have been cold, I felt a strange, ethereal warmth saturating the air around me. No, that's not entirely right. It wasn't warm, in the sense of heat. It was tranquil and peaceful, a contrast to the grief my young mind couldn't remember the source of.
"Hey, kid. You alright on the ground like that?" A teenage boy's voice, as friendly as it was languid, came from above.
I pushed myself up to my knees, tears still slipping down my face as I glared at the teenager in front of me. He was Asian, though I didn't know how the hell I knew what that meant. He seemed to be about 16,and had a classically handsome face with a strong chin, warm brown eyes that carried a hint of mischief, thick black eyebrows that tapered off at the ends, and a head of short, thick black hair that stood straight up as if daring gravity to push it down. He wore a blue undershirt under a blue shirt with white stripes on the sleeves and a symbol on both sides of the chest, a long blue pleated skirt thingy, and sandals with socks,with a sword sheathed at his hip. The ensemble felt vaguely familiar, and was clearly meant to be worn by a fighter or martial artist.
He was probably popular with the ladies and lads, part of me thought, and he'd be more so when he reached adulthood. Also, jeez, how tall was this dude? I'm a tall lady, but I'm absolutely dwarfed by him! I didn't have very many real memories, but I knew some things about myself and the world, and I was definitely a big, tall, adult who fell somewhere between 'woman' and 'what's gender, can I eat it?'
"Who're you calling kid? I'm 23!" A high-pitched voice came out of my mouth, shocking me. My voice hadn't sounded like that for a long time, even before my body had started to develop in ways the fragmented memories and objective information remaining in my head told me felt wrong. The tears still slipped down my cheeks, grief and frustration mixing together.
The young man laughed. "Nah, you're definitely a little girl. Pluses and Shinigami may age differently, but the difference isn't that huge at this age." He still smiled, but the mischief in his eyes had subsided, replaced by a calculating curiosity.
I looked down at myself, confirming the truth. I'm dressed in a red and white traditional kimono patterned with flowers and the same goofy sandals and socks combo the guy in front of me has, and my thick, wavy blond hair falls pretty far down my back. I know, somehow, that as I get older it gradually turns into a beautiful dark brown with bronze highlights, but at the current time it was the bright blond that it was in my first few years of life. The way my limbs are shaped, the proportions of my body, my voice. They all point towards one heartbreaking fact. I've been reduced to a child, somehow, with most of my memories gone. It's painful, the emotions within too complex for the mind that's regressed so much to bear easily.
"No! I'm an adult! I can't remember a lot about myself, but I know that! It's not fa-" my yelling cut off and turned into incoherent sobs, my vision blurring as my tears fell like rain, staining my face and clothes.
The young man rushed over and scooped me in his arms, pulling me close and stroking my back. Weirdly enough, this made me feel safe and secure, and I cried into his shoulder. Maybe all the stress and what had happened to my body had effects on my mind?
"It's fine, I believe ya. There's gotta be some weird shit going on if a white kid is in the East Branch of Soul Society giving off as much Reiatsu as you are."He said
That legitimately made me feel better, and I said "Really? So...who are you, then?" I gave him a shaky smile as he released me and helped me back to my feet.
"I'm Isshin Shiba, a Soul Reaper in training. Nice to meet ya, kid. You got anywhere to go?"
" Nice to meet you, Isshin. I'm Artemis, I have nowhere to go and no one to count on, and I can't even remember the rest of my own name!" I said,my frustration at my lacking memory combining with the mood-swinginess of a child. Even worse, I was desperately hungry and I both felt and heard my stomach growl.
" Well, if you've got nowhere to go and nobody to count on, why don't you stay here with my family?" Isshin asked, neither cocky nor playful for once.
I started to sniffle again, but this time out of joy. He... he was promising me family and a home, just like that? That was too good to be true, even if I was a cute kid with a lot of potential who'd essentially appeared out of nowhere.
"Yeah. You need a place to stay, and I don't make a policy of letting kids suffer. But... that clearly Western name won't due for a scion of one of the 5 Great Clans. How do ya feel about becoming Mizuki Shiba?"
Mizuki....I somehow knew that was a....you could say, namification of Tsuki, the Japanese word that meant Moon, and that meant we were speaking Japanese. Weird, since I hadn't known much of the language before, but I guess the goddess did more than just make me strong.
"Sounds good to me, Nii-chan." I said, smirking at the teenager.
"Well, c'mon then. Let's introduce you to the family, Imouto." Isshin said, barely restraining the amusement in his tone before he threw back his head, laughed, and then tossed me onto his shoulder like a bag of rice. I clung to his neck as he carried me into the compound, where I'd face the unknown and hopefully get something to eat.
~~~~~
Omakes are now open! You can earn Grail Bites by posting them or otherwise making sizeable contributions to the thread! Grail Bites are a delicious chocolate chip cookie in the shape of the Holy Grail, but their purpose is quite interesting! A player with a Grail Bite can use it to boost the effect of one action, to drastically lower the dc of one roll, to add a negative modifier to a roll that opposes one of ours, or to add a positive modifier to all of our rolls for a given turn (in this instance, a turn is deemed to be a vote+it's results.) I'm not really expecting any omakes for a while due to well, the fact that this is a small quest right now, but I REALLY wanted to post this one.)
I grew up not knowing the true circumstances of my birth, or who I was at all. My first personal memory from this life, that wasn't a fragment of a barely remembered other self, was from when I was about the Plus equivalent of a 5 year old, being scooped into the arms of Isshin Shiba after being dropped off at the clan compound by a mysterious white-clad woman with white hair and blue eyes. It was certainly ironic, i'd later realize.
I lay on the ground, beating it with my small fists, sobbing for reasons I could barely comprehend. I had lost something, and it was important. That goddess had....poured a bunch of power into me and told me I was destined to become something called a Soul Reaper. I was in an unfamiliar place, and even though it was dark and should have been cold, I felt a strange, ethereal warmth saturating the air around me. No, that's not entirely right. It wasn't warm, in the sense of heat. It was tranquil and peaceful, a contrast to the grief my young mind couldn't remember the source of.
"Hey, kid. You alright on the ground like that?" A teenage boy's voice, as friendly as it was languid, came from above.
I pushed myself up to my knees, tears still slipping down my face as I glared at the teenager in front of me. He was Asian, though I didn't know how the hell I knew what that meant. He seemed to be about 16,and had a classically handsome face with a strong chin, warm brown eyes that carried a hint of mischief, thick black eyebrows that tapered off at the ends, and a head of short, thick black hair that stood straight up as if daring gravity to push it down. He wore a blue undershirt under a blue shirt with white stripes on the sleeves and a symbol on both sides of the chest, a long blue pleated skirt thingy, and sandals with socks,with a sword sheathed at his hip. The ensemble felt vaguely familiar, and was clearly meant to be worn by a fighter or martial artist.
He was probably popular with the ladies and lads, part of me thought, and he'd be more so when he reached adulthood. Also, jeez, how tall was this dude? I'm a tall lady, but I'm absolutely dwarfed by him! I didn't have very many real memories, but I knew some things about myself and the world, and I was definitely a big, tall, adult who fell somewhere between 'woman' and 'what's gender, can I eat it?'
"Who're you calling kid? I'm 23!" A high-pitched voice came out of my mouth, shocking me. My voice hadn't sounded like that for a long time, even before my body had started to develop in ways the fragmented memories and objective information remaining in my head told me felt wrong. The tears still slipped down my cheeks, grief and frustration mixing together.
The young man laughed. "Nah, you're definitely a little girl. Pluses and Shinigami may age differently, but the difference isn't that huge at this age." He still smiled, but the mischief in his eyes had subsided, replaced by a calculating curiosity.
I looked down at myself, confirming the truth. I'm dressed in a red and white traditional kimono patterned with flowers and the same goofy sandals and socks combo the guy in front of me has, and my thick, wavy blond hair falls pretty far down my back. I know, somehow, that as I get older it gradually turns into a beautiful dark brown with bronze highlights, but at the current time it was the bright blond that it was in my first few years of life. The way my limbs are shaped, the proportions of my body, my voice. They all point towards one heartbreaking fact. I've been reduced to a child, somehow, with most of my memories gone. It's painful, the emotions within too complex for the mind that's regressed so much to bear easily.
"No! I'm an adult! I can't remember a lot about myself, but I know that! It's not fa-" my yelling cut off and turned into incoherent sobs, my vision blurring as my tears fell like rain, staining my face and clothes.
The young man rushed over and scooped me in his arms, pulling me close and stroking my back. Weirdly enough, this made me feel safe and secure, and I cried into his shoulder. Maybe all the stress and what had happened to my body had effects on my mind?
"It's fine, I believe ya. There's gotta be some weird shit going on if a white kid is in the East Branch of Soul Society giving off as much Reiatsu as you are."He said
That legitimately made me feel better, and I said "Really? So...who are you, then?" I gave him a shaky smile as he released me and helped me back to my feet.
"I'm Isshin Shiba, a Soul Reaper in training. Nice to meet ya, kid. You got anywhere to go?"
" Nice to meet you, Isshin. I'm Artemis, I have nowhere to go and no one to count on, and I can't even remember the rest of my own name!" I said,my frustration at my lacking memory combining with the mood-swinginess of a child. Even worse, I was desperately hungry and I both felt and heard my stomach growl.
" Well, if you've got nowhere to go and nobody to count on, why don't you stay here with my family?" Isshin asked, neither cocky nor playful for once.
I started to sniffle again, but this time out of joy. He... he was promising me family and a home, just like that? That was too good to be true, even if I was a cute kid with a lot of potential who'd essentially appeared out of nowhere.
"Yeah. You need a place to stay, and I don't make a policy of letting kids suffer. But... that clearly Western name won't due for a scion of one of the 5 Great Clans. How do ya feel about becoming Mizuki Shiba?"
Mizuki....I somehow knew that was a....you could say, namification of Tsuki, the Japanese word that meant Moon, and that meant we were speaking Japanese. Weird, since I hadn't known much of the language before, but I guess the goddess did more than just make me strong.
"Sounds good to me, Nii-chan." I said, smirking at the teenager.
"Well, c'mon then. Let's introduce you to the family, Imouto." Isshin said, barely restraining the amusement in his tone before he threw back his head, laughed, and then tossed me onto his shoulder like a bag of rice. I clung to his neck as he carried me into the compound, where I'd face the unknown and hopefully get something to eat.
~~~~~
Omakes are now open! You can earn Grail Bites by posting them or otherwise making sizeable contributions to the thread! Grail Bites are a delicious chocolate chip cookie in the shape of the Holy Grail, but their purpose is quite interesting! A player with a Grail Bite can use it to boost the effect of one action, to drastically lower the dc of one roll, to add a negative modifier to a roll that opposes one of ours, or to add a positive modifier to all of our rolls for a given turn (in this instance, a turn is deemed to be a vote+it's results.) I'm not really expecting any omakes for a while due to well, the fact that this is a small quest right now, but I REALLY wanted to post this one.)
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DragonGrimoire
Half Dragon, Half Cat, Half Spellbook, All Cute
- Location
- On Your Lap, Sleeping
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Hers
Closing vote at 5 EST(It is currently 2:45 EST) Roll 3d100 for our results, folks!
Current tally over at spacebattles is 3 votes for Staff inquiry (and one here for staff)
1 vote for fight till we can't stand
and two "be my sparring partner if I win"
Current tally over at spacebattles is 3 votes for Staff inquiry (and one here for staff)
1 vote for fight till we can't stand
and two "be my sparring partner if I win"
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DragonGrimoire
Half Dragon, Half Cat, Half Spellbook, All Cute
- Location
- On Your Lap, Sleeping
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Hers
[X] Tell me what that staff's made of, or I leave and you have to go find a worthy opponent." has 3 votes from Spacebattles, 1 vote from Sufficient Velocity, for an overall total of 4!
[X] If I win, you become my sparring partner, from now until neither of us find any benefit in it.If I lose, I'll become your subordinate." has 2 votes from Spacebattles, for an overall total of 2!
[X] Fight till one of us can't stand anymore. Winner chooses what to do with the loser, up to and including devouring." has one vote from Spacebattles, for an overall total of 1!
You have done the dice rolls for us, and I did the dice rolls for Braddock, so I will now begin writing! expect results and a new vote soon!
final tally!
[X] If I win, you become my sparring partner, from now until neither of us find any benefit in it.If I lose, I'll become your subordinate." has 2 votes from Spacebattles, for an overall total of 2!
[X] Fight till one of us can't stand anymore. Winner chooses what to do with the loser, up to and including devouring." has one vote from Spacebattles, for an overall total of 1!
You have done the dice rolls for us, and I did the dice rolls for Braddock, so I will now begin writing! expect results and a new vote soon!
final tally!
Our First Battle, Part 1
DragonGrimoire
Half Dragon, Half Cat, Half Spellbook, All Cute
- Location
- On Your Lap, Sleeping
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Hers
Our rolls:
Combat Roll 1: 12+20+16+59+61+45+49=262. 262/7=37.42
Round down to last whole number if lower than .5
Result=37
Combat Roll 2: 77+72+44+61+59+92+91=496. 496/7=70.85.
Round up to next whole number on .5 or higher.
Result=71.
Memory Roll: 6+24+98+97+26+67+29=347. 347/7=49.57.
Round up to next whole number on a .5 or higher
Result=50
VS
Braddock Rolls:
Combat Roll 1: 76
Combat Roll 2: 61
Memory Roll DC: 50. This is reduced from what it was, which would have been significantly higher, due to the extreme resemblance between Braddock B. Kong and Sun Wukong and your intense focus on him due to the fight. Unfortunately, since we just barely scraped by, we didn't beat the dc by a substantial amount or we'd have remembered more in terms of JTTW and its many adaptations,and other information that could be relevant or related to Wukong.
So with 37, 71, 50 vs 76, 61, 50 , we have MAJOR FAILURE, SUBSTANTIAL SUCCESS , BARE SUCCESS
"I get a feeling you're not going to go away until I make you,so i'll agree to a fight on one condition." I said, my tone calm and confident, belying the battle-lust and trepidation warring within as Kong stared at me, waiting for the pin to drop. "You tell me what that staff's made of, or I leave and you have to go find another worthy opponent."
Braddock B. Kong smiled, no humor or smirk, just an open, wild challenge, his pearly white teeth almost blending in with his bony mask. He got out of his battle stance, the golden aura fading as he began to explain his unusual staff.
"Oh, this old thing? There's a place called the Forest Of Menos deep beneath the sands, where the really strong fuckers go to battle and consume so they can reach further evolution. " His golden eyes seem to mist over as his tone became soft, carrying shades of reverence and reminiscence. "There are strange silver trees there, and their wood gets along real well with Spiritual Energy."
I eye the Hollow in front of me, my appraisal of him changing slightly. Menos Grande are the Gillian, Adjuchas, and Vasto Lordes, towering over normal Hollows like us in power, even if we were both fairly close to Gillian-hood.Even the weaker beings in that place could make a quick meal of weaker Hollows, and someone at our level wouldn't even have time to do anything about it if the stronger types attacked. He had to be incredibly confident in himself (or suicidal) to even think of going there, and to survive he'd have to have been incredibly lucky.
"So...you, who haven't even become a Gillian yet survived such a dangerous place? How?" I wasn't sure if my mask was expressive enough communicate my disbelief, but thankfully, the tone of my voice made it obvious enough.
Kong laughed, this particular laugh dark and harsh. "As much as I'd like to say I kicked ass, no. I was newly Hollowfied at the time, and had burrowed into the sands to escape some jackassses who wanted to play with their food. When I finally lost them, I was on the border of the forest, and I was lucky enough to find a broken branch." He winced as he recalled what came next, before continuing with his story. "I desperately restrained my Spiritual Pressure, hoping to not be found and eaten, and after a while I climbed the trunk of a particular tree up, one of the taller ones that've managed to grow until they poke out a decent bit above the sands."
I had definitely not seen any weird silver shapes poking above the sand, and that totally wasn't because I was unobservant or had gotten too absorbed in my training. Yeah, it had to be because there weren't any in the area, right? "I uh..haven't really noticed those, I'm new here."
Kong's jaw dropped. "Really? Then you must've been strong as fuck in life. This is gonna be fun." His expression returned to that same cocky, challenging grin from earlier. "Let's do this, Artemis Coinen Ban." He said, gesturing at me with his free hand as he dropped back into his battle stance and the golden aura in the shape of a tall monkey wearing traditional Chinese armor, with a flowing cape, a thin golden circlet, and holding an ornate staff formed around him. I did likewise, power blasting out of me in a much less refined way than him.
Round 1, fight!
Status at Beginning Of round:
Artemis Coinen Ban
Health: FULL
Spirit Energy Reserves: FULL
Injuries: Hale And Hearty
Vs
Braddock B. Kong
Health:???
Spirit Energy Reserves: ???
Injuries: Hale and Hearty
I swirl my energy through my body as my own spiritual pressure takes shape, a hazy white rabbit outlined in silver. Silver, the same color as the light coming from my eyes, which is weird because those used to be brown.
Ignoring the unwanted and irrelevant flash of memory, I rush at my opponent, throwing a barrage of high-speed Lapine Punches he avoids with contemptous ease. Some he dodges, bending and leaning expertly with his staff planted in the ground as support, and some he blocks, the silver staff tinged gold with his energy making my fists hurt with each impact, though the infusion of energy into them makes it hurt a bit less. As the barrage of fists winds down, he sees his moment and lunges forward, staff raised to smack me with it. As he swept outward with the staff, I attempted to bring my arms up to block it, the hollow bone that resembled elbow-length gauntlets(matching with the legs, nice!) failed to absorb the blow. This caused the powerful impact to knock me to the ground, stunning me briefly as he followed up with a series of smashes aimed at my legs, arms, and head. It hurt like fucking hell as the strikes slammed into me, and I was definitely going to be sore for a while after the immediate pain vanished. Fortunately, though, it didn't seem like anything was broken beyond some damage to the bone armor,but I was certainly quite battered.
(Major Failure)
as I lay on the ground, I poured energy into my legs and feet, the Lapine Kick aimed for his torso and angled in such a way that the claws on my feet might open his belly. He saw it coming as I tensed, and managed to throw himself back slightly, enough that I didn't quite rip him open, my feet hitting his upper chest and ripping open some slashes that oozed blood. Apparently, Hollows still bled, even though they were spiritual beings that were technically not human anymore. Emboldened, I bounced to my feet and lunged forward with the claws on my hands, pouring energy into them as I executed a series of high-speed swipes. To his credit, he managed to block most of them with that infuriating staff of his, but I left another cut on his chest and another on his left arm. Unfortunately, it seemed like his dominant hand was the right one, but I still dealt some decent damage, even if was less than what he'd dealt me, the blood seeping from his wounds red tinted with a strange darkness.
(Substantial Success)
....A flash of memory suddenly struck me, as the two of us circled each other, cautiously probing with attacks and angling for an opening. The form his Spiritual Pressure took was so familiar it hurt. Images and thoughts flashed behind my eyes, and suddenly, I knew who it resembled. Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, also known as the Great Fighting Buddha. Born from a strange stone left when Goddess Nuwa fixed the sky above the Flower-Fruit Mountain after the battle between the gods Gonggong and Zhurong, Wukong was ne of the protagonists of the legend/story Journey To The West. He was forced by Buddha to travel with the monk Tang Sanzang, also known as Xuanzang or Tripitaka, to fetch Buddhist Holy Scriptures. Along the way, they were joined by the Sand Demon Sha Wujing, the Pig Demon Zhu Baije, and the Dragon Prince who was bullied into the form of a Horse, Bai Longma. Eventually, after fighting many demons who wanted to eat Sanzang due to his innate purity(what? That kinda reminds you of Hollows, tbh) they suceeded and Wukong became known as the Great Fighting Buddha and the Great Sage Equal To Heaven. Unfortunately, I didn't really remember the details beyond that, but the memory was there, and I felt that if I really buckled down and focused, or certain things happened, I'd remember more related to it.
Memory Rolls Unlocked! When you encounter something that held significance to the original you, you may roll a Memory Check in an attempt to unlock related memories! DC on the roll is highly variable, affected by whatever stimuli encourage you to remember, by how important the thing in question was to your old self, how many successful memory rolls you've made to related subjects, your current level of power, how much you currently know about the subject, and how important the knowledge is to the current you. As is, this roll has unlocked a +5 to Memory Rolls related to Journey To The West, and a +2 to Memory Rolls related to Chinese myth and legend overall.
Status at End Of Round:
Artemis Coinen Ban
Health: 70%
Spirit Energy Reserves:90%
Injuries: Battered and Bruised, probably suffering some internal bleeding
Vs
Braddock B. Kong
Health:???
Spirit Energy Reserves: ???
Injuries: He's a bit cut up, but you're definitely worse off.
Regardless, I've got to think about how to continue the fight, because Braddock B. Kong noticed my brief distraction and is lunging forward, his staff swishing through the air as he aims for my head. How do I continue this fight? Do I...
[ ] Full offensive. He's more skilled than me, so I should attempt to overwhelm him with pure power and speed. (positive modifier for all attack actions this turn, but you take no defensive action.)
[ ] Focus on defense. That staff hurts,and I don't want to get hit by it! Use my own speed to dodge, dip, dive, duck, and dodge, as well as you know,attempting to actually block effectively. Only attack if there's an unmissable opening. (large positive modifier for defensive action, but you only take an offensive action if your attack roll beats his defense roll by 10 or more.)
[ ] Balanced approach. Attack and defense in tune, both as needed. (One each of offensive and defensive action, with no modifier.)
[ ] Write-In.
Regardless Of Option chosen, roll 2d100 in either the thread or the diceroom, unless you're choosing a course of action which wouldn't be considered combat, whereupon 1d100 would be rolled.
Would definitely appreciate seeing a little discussion and more votes, folks.
Combat Roll 1: 12+20+16+59+61+45+49=262. 262/7=37.42
Round down to last whole number if lower than .5
Result=37
Combat Roll 2: 77+72+44+61+59+92+91=496. 496/7=70.85.
Round up to next whole number on .5 or higher.
Result=71.
Memory Roll: 6+24+98+97+26+67+29=347. 347/7=49.57.
Round up to next whole number on a .5 or higher
Result=50
VS
Braddock Rolls:
Combat Roll 1: 76
Combat Roll 2: 61
Memory Roll DC: 50. This is reduced from what it was, which would have been significantly higher, due to the extreme resemblance between Braddock B. Kong and Sun Wukong and your intense focus on him due to the fight. Unfortunately, since we just barely scraped by, we didn't beat the dc by a substantial amount or we'd have remembered more in terms of JTTW and its many adaptations,and other information that could be relevant or related to Wukong.
So with 37, 71, 50 vs 76, 61, 50 , we have MAJOR FAILURE, SUBSTANTIAL SUCCESS , BARE SUCCESS
"I get a feeling you're not going to go away until I make you,so i'll agree to a fight on one condition." I said, my tone calm and confident, belying the battle-lust and trepidation warring within as Kong stared at me, waiting for the pin to drop. "You tell me what that staff's made of, or I leave and you have to go find another worthy opponent."
Braddock B. Kong smiled, no humor or smirk, just an open, wild challenge, his pearly white teeth almost blending in with his bony mask. He got out of his battle stance, the golden aura fading as he began to explain his unusual staff.
"Oh, this old thing? There's a place called the Forest Of Menos deep beneath the sands, where the really strong fuckers go to battle and consume so they can reach further evolution. " His golden eyes seem to mist over as his tone became soft, carrying shades of reverence and reminiscence. "There are strange silver trees there, and their wood gets along real well with Spiritual Energy."
I eye the Hollow in front of me, my appraisal of him changing slightly. Menos Grande are the Gillian, Adjuchas, and Vasto Lordes, towering over normal Hollows like us in power, even if we were both fairly close to Gillian-hood.Even the weaker beings in that place could make a quick meal of weaker Hollows, and someone at our level wouldn't even have time to do anything about it if the stronger types attacked. He had to be incredibly confident in himself (or suicidal) to even think of going there, and to survive he'd have to have been incredibly lucky.
"So...you, who haven't even become a Gillian yet survived such a dangerous place? How?" I wasn't sure if my mask was expressive enough communicate my disbelief, but thankfully, the tone of my voice made it obvious enough.
Kong laughed, this particular laugh dark and harsh. "As much as I'd like to say I kicked ass, no. I was newly Hollowfied at the time, and had burrowed into the sands to escape some jackassses who wanted to play with their food. When I finally lost them, I was on the border of the forest, and I was lucky enough to find a broken branch." He winced as he recalled what came next, before continuing with his story. "I desperately restrained my Spiritual Pressure, hoping to not be found and eaten, and after a while I climbed the trunk of a particular tree up, one of the taller ones that've managed to grow until they poke out a decent bit above the sands."
I had definitely not seen any weird silver shapes poking above the sand, and that totally wasn't because I was unobservant or had gotten too absorbed in my training. Yeah, it had to be because there weren't any in the area, right? "I uh..haven't really noticed those, I'm new here."
Kong's jaw dropped. "Really? Then you must've been strong as fuck in life. This is gonna be fun." His expression returned to that same cocky, challenging grin from earlier. "Let's do this, Artemis Coinen Ban." He said, gesturing at me with his free hand as he dropped back into his battle stance and the golden aura in the shape of a tall monkey wearing traditional Chinese armor, with a flowing cape, a thin golden circlet, and holding an ornate staff formed around him. I did likewise, power blasting out of me in a much less refined way than him.
Round 1, fight!
Status at Beginning Of round:
Artemis Coinen Ban
Health: FULL
Spirit Energy Reserves: FULL
Injuries: Hale And Hearty
Vs
Braddock B. Kong
Health:???
Spirit Energy Reserves: ???
Injuries: Hale and Hearty
I swirl my energy through my body as my own spiritual pressure takes shape, a hazy white rabbit outlined in silver. Silver, the same color as the light coming from my eyes, which is weird because those used to be brown.
Ignoring the unwanted and irrelevant flash of memory, I rush at my opponent, throwing a barrage of high-speed Lapine Punches he avoids with contemptous ease. Some he dodges, bending and leaning expertly with his staff planted in the ground as support, and some he blocks, the silver staff tinged gold with his energy making my fists hurt with each impact, though the infusion of energy into them makes it hurt a bit less. As the barrage of fists winds down, he sees his moment and lunges forward, staff raised to smack me with it. As he swept outward with the staff, I attempted to bring my arms up to block it, the hollow bone that resembled elbow-length gauntlets(matching with the legs, nice!) failed to absorb the blow. This caused the powerful impact to knock me to the ground, stunning me briefly as he followed up with a series of smashes aimed at my legs, arms, and head. It hurt like fucking hell as the strikes slammed into me, and I was definitely going to be sore for a while after the immediate pain vanished. Fortunately, though, it didn't seem like anything was broken beyond some damage to the bone armor,but I was certainly quite battered.
(Major Failure)
as I lay on the ground, I poured energy into my legs and feet, the Lapine Kick aimed for his torso and angled in such a way that the claws on my feet might open his belly. He saw it coming as I tensed, and managed to throw himself back slightly, enough that I didn't quite rip him open, my feet hitting his upper chest and ripping open some slashes that oozed blood. Apparently, Hollows still bled, even though they were spiritual beings that were technically not human anymore. Emboldened, I bounced to my feet and lunged forward with the claws on my hands, pouring energy into them as I executed a series of high-speed swipes. To his credit, he managed to block most of them with that infuriating staff of his, but I left another cut on his chest and another on his left arm. Unfortunately, it seemed like his dominant hand was the right one, but I still dealt some decent damage, even if was less than what he'd dealt me, the blood seeping from his wounds red tinted with a strange darkness.
(Substantial Success)
....A flash of memory suddenly struck me, as the two of us circled each other, cautiously probing with attacks and angling for an opening. The form his Spiritual Pressure took was so familiar it hurt. Images and thoughts flashed behind my eyes, and suddenly, I knew who it resembled. Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, also known as the Great Fighting Buddha. Born from a strange stone left when Goddess Nuwa fixed the sky above the Flower-Fruit Mountain after the battle between the gods Gonggong and Zhurong, Wukong was ne of the protagonists of the legend/story Journey To The West. He was forced by Buddha to travel with the monk Tang Sanzang, also known as Xuanzang or Tripitaka, to fetch Buddhist Holy Scriptures. Along the way, they were joined by the Sand Demon Sha Wujing, the Pig Demon Zhu Baije, and the Dragon Prince who was bullied into the form of a Horse, Bai Longma. Eventually, after fighting many demons who wanted to eat Sanzang due to his innate purity(what? That kinda reminds you of Hollows, tbh) they suceeded and Wukong became known as the Great Fighting Buddha and the Great Sage Equal To Heaven. Unfortunately, I didn't really remember the details beyond that, but the memory was there, and I felt that if I really buckled down and focused, or certain things happened, I'd remember more related to it.
Memory Rolls Unlocked! When you encounter something that held significance to the original you, you may roll a Memory Check in an attempt to unlock related memories! DC on the roll is highly variable, affected by whatever stimuli encourage you to remember, by how important the thing in question was to your old self, how many successful memory rolls you've made to related subjects, your current level of power, how much you currently know about the subject, and how important the knowledge is to the current you. As is, this roll has unlocked a +5 to Memory Rolls related to Journey To The West, and a +2 to Memory Rolls related to Chinese myth and legend overall.
Status at End Of Round:
Artemis Coinen Ban
Health: 70%
Spirit Energy Reserves:90%
Injuries: Battered and Bruised, probably suffering some internal bleeding
Vs
Braddock B. Kong
Health:???
Spirit Energy Reserves: ???
Injuries: He's a bit cut up, but you're definitely worse off.
Regardless, I've got to think about how to continue the fight, because Braddock B. Kong noticed my brief distraction and is lunging forward, his staff swishing through the air as he aims for my head. How do I continue this fight? Do I...
[ ] Full offensive. He's more skilled than me, so I should attempt to overwhelm him with pure power and speed. (positive modifier for all attack actions this turn, but you take no defensive action.)
[ ] Focus on defense. That staff hurts,and I don't want to get hit by it! Use my own speed to dodge, dip, dive, duck, and dodge, as well as you know,attempting to actually block effectively. Only attack if there's an unmissable opening. (large positive modifier for defensive action, but you only take an offensive action if your attack roll beats his defense roll by 10 or more.)
[ ] Balanced approach. Attack and defense in tune, both as needed. (One each of offensive and defensive action, with no modifier.)
[ ] Write-In.
Regardless Of Option chosen, roll 2d100 in either the thread or the diceroom, unless you're choosing a course of action which wouldn't be considered combat, whereupon 1d100 would be rolled.
Would definitely appreciate seeing a little discussion and more votes, folks.
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[X] Full offensive. He's more skilled than me, so I should attempt to overwhelm him with pure power and speed. (positive modifier for all attack actions this turn, but you take no defensive action.)
DragonGrimoire
Half Dragon, Half Cat, Half Spellbook, All Cute
- Location
- On Your Lap, Sleeping
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Hers
Locking vote in two hours! we currently have three full offense and two full defense, if you count the spacebattles thread!
Our First Battle, Part 2!
DragonGrimoire
Half Dragon, Half Cat, Half Spellbook, All Cute
- Location
- On Your Lap, Sleeping
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Hers
Final Vote tally: the automatic vote tally thing fucked up and keeps adding votes from old posts so i deleted the auto vote tally thing, please Bear with me as i now manually count all votes!(or as I fix the tally!)
Full offensive. He's more skilled than me, so I should attempt to overwhelm him with pure power and speed.(positive modifier for all attack actions this turn, but you take no defensive action.)
got two votes on Spacebattles and One on Sufficient Velocity, for an overall vote of 3 votes! This one wins!
Focus on defense. That staff hurts,and I don't want to get hit by it! Use my own speed to dodge, dip, dive, duck, and dodge, as well as you know,attempting to actually block effectively. Only attack if there's an unmissable opening. (large positive modifier for defensive action, but you only take an offensive action if your attack roll beats his defense roll by 10 or more.)
got two votes ON SPACEBATTLES, for an overall 2 votes!
No other option recieved a vote!
And now, for the rolls. The modifier you recieve for hard focusing offense or defense is dependent on a few different factors, which you will be discovering as we advance in skill and power, and is sometimes dependent on the circumstances of the specific fight. We're basically an unskiled fighter learning to be in tune with our instincts fighting a very experienced opponent, or it'd be higher.
Our Rolls:
Attack Roll 1: 19+97=116. 116/2=58
+10 Pure Attack Mod
Result=68
Attack Roll 2: 64+65=129. 129/2=64.5
Round up to next whole number on .5 or higher.
+10 Pure Attack Mod
Result=75
vs
Braddock B Kong Rolls:
Attack Roll: 4
Defense Roll:21
With pure combat rolls, simply beating the opponent's rolls is success but there's uh, degrees, and criticals and critfails still apply as normal! Thank you, strangely named anon in the dice room for taking this from some decent success we'd have had to incredible amounts of monkeyish pain. Also, pure offense isn't normally advisable, as you'll be taking significantly more damage, but given he absolutely flubbed his attack roll, it worked in our favor here.
So with 68, 75 vs 4,21 we have Crushing Success, Greater Success vs Critical Failure,Crushing Failure
Status at Beginning of Round
Artemis Coinen Ban
Health: 70%
Spirit Energy Reserves:90%
Injuries: Battered and Bruised, probably suffering some internal bleeding
Vs
Braddock B. Kong
Health:???
Spirit Energy Reserves: ???
Injuries: He's a bit cut up, but you're definitely worse off.
As Kong and I circled each other, waiting for the other to make the first move, Kong seemed to get distracted by something, as if his focus wasn't entirely on the battle between us. He lunged at me, rather ferociously, probably thinking i'd attempt to block him. Instead, I dropped low, dodging his unusually imprecise staff strike, and executed a Lapine Kick out as he approached, sweeping his legs from beneath him, taking the ape-like Hollow by surprise. I followed this up with an absolute barrage of Lapine Punches and Lapine Claw strikes, pushing my Spiritual Energy and Spiritual Pressure as hard as I could, my own Spiritual Pressure overpowering his and making it easier to injure him. As thePPressure blasted out of both of us, the weaker Hollows that had slowly crept closer to watch the fight rapidly retreated, and those who couldn't keeled over, either dead or insensate. This close, with me physically on top of him, he couldn't leverage the advantage his staff provided, and could only attempt to dodge my strikes or move the staff between us. Unfortunately for him, I was bigger, faster, physically stronger, and pinning his legs to the ground with my knees, so he had to put up with it while attempting to shield himself with his arms. Unfortunately for him, this only resulted in his arms getting somewhat more mauled than his torso. The blood seemed to pour from his wounds rather than ooze now, the black tinge more obvious as it seeped into my fur and began to dye the sands beneath us a reddish black. Interesting! Wonder what it is that makes the blood black? Maybe whatever it is that corrupts Hollows also does...that? He's definitely not looking good though, cracked bone armor and bloody flesh evident all over his arms and torso.
(Kong Critical Failure, Artemis Crushing Success)
As I kept Kong's legs pinned and wailed away at him with my fists, his staff shrank suddenly, seeming to become thicker at one end as it did, and he attempted to club me over the head with it, in an attempt to get him off me. Unfortunately for him,the fighting instincts granted me by my transformation seemed to have come alive, and I grabbed his wrist as his arm twitched upwards. In one smooth motion, I sprang upwards, keeping my hold on his wrist as I went, pulling him up with me. I executed a rather neat flip in the air, putting him between me and the ground, and wrapped my spare arm around his neck. Pushing as much energy as I felt my arms and legs could safely hold, I released his wrist and neck slammed him into the ground, using the hand that had previously been on his wrist to land another cut on his torso as we impacted the ground, the sheer power and pressure released blowing sand into the air, hiding the two of us from the sight of the weaker Hollows.
When the brief explosion of sand died down, the battle was resolved. I was holding Braddock B. Kong by the neck with one hand, the other poised to execute a claw strike on his Hollow Hole if he decided to do anything foolish. My knees kept his legs pinned down, and his staff lay on the sand next to us, the golden glow that had suffused it gone. I slowly stopped pumping out pressure as well, the image of a white-and-silver rabbit vanishing. Wow, I'd...actually won! I'd gotten pretty lucky, beating an experienced fighter with pure power and speed, but I'd won! Granted, the weaker Hollow were looking at my downed opponent hungrily, but they were still being cautious. Stealing prey from the strong would get you killed, after all.
(Kong Crushing Failure, Artemis Greater Success)
Status at End Of Round:
Artemis Coinen Ban
Health: 70%
Spirit Energy Reserves:60%
Injuries: Battered and Bruised, probably suffering some internal bleeding
Vs
Braddock B. Kong
Health:???
Spirit Energy Reserves: ???
Injuries: You absolutely fucked him up, and could kill him if you wished. He's covered in cuts and cracks in the bone armor of his.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
VICTORY ACHIEVED! Skill experience gained! Due to the training you went through right before the fight+this being your first fight+ your skills being somewhat lower than they should be for your relative level of power, the experience gained is somewhat boosted! Perhaps even your spiritual energy has increased, though you aren't sure about that.
Spiritual Energy Infusion: Rank F (40/100)
Lapine Kick: Rank F (50/100
Lapine Punch: Rank F (50/100)
Lapine Claws: Rank F. (50/100)
~~~~~
"You're pretty good, Bunny Lady. So, you gonna eat me now, or what?" Kong asked, his cocky tone not going away even when his life was on the line.
"Eat you? Pfft, no, that'd be a waste of a good sparring partner." I said, making sure to make my tone teasing.
That brought a genuine smile to his face. "Sounds good to me, partner."
"Glad you agree, Kong. Let's get going, I don't like the way these punks are staring." I growled, turning and glaring at the assembled Hollows as I did, scaring them into backing off some more.
Kong laughed, the laugh cutting off in a pained gasp as the chest movement made his wounds ache. "Ah shit. Don't think I can. Need to heal up some before I can move." He grimaced, not liking being in a position of weakness.
"Don't worry, I have that covered." I reassure him, my tone grim and serious.
I've got a plan, and what is that plan?
[ ] Stay here and defend him. While these Hollows might be a threat to him while he's weakened, they're much less of one to you, cowards that they are, and you can consume those who are foolhardy enough to try, and this one just kinda feels like the right thing to do.( more dangerous to you, but higher rewards,+ increased friendship with Braddock B. Kong.)
[ ] Take him and run. You're sure you can defeat enough to make the rest run, but why take the risk? Even if it feels a bit wrong, it is a fairly decent option.(less dangerous, but lowest rewards, and lowest relationship increase from Kong)
[ ] Hunt some of these weaklings to feed him so that he can recover. You won't be facing these things alone, but it could be risky for him in the meantime. (medium danger, medium rewards, friendship boost dependant on how safe he remains while you hunts. Requires an extra roll to ensure his safety while you hunt.)
[ ] Write In ! Rewards and danger variable depending on plan made!
Oh, also! Vote on rollan!
do we
[ ] Want the GM to handle all rolling,done in the dice-room, with correct mods then added
[ ] Continue as we are, with you guys' rolls getting averaged and then getting whatever mods are correct added, whether-in thread or dice room
[ ] First roll made in-thread or dice room is the one we go with, with correct mods added
[ ] Suggest another method of handling rolls you'd prefer, if neither of these options is pleasing to you!
Full offensive. He's more skilled than me, so I should attempt to overwhelm him with pure power and speed.(positive modifier for all attack actions this turn, but you take no defensive action.)
got two votes on Spacebattles and One on Sufficient Velocity, for an overall vote of 3 votes! This one wins!
Focus on defense. That staff hurts,and I don't want to get hit by it! Use my own speed to dodge, dip, dive, duck, and dodge, as well as you know,attempting to actually block effectively. Only attack if there's an unmissable opening. (large positive modifier for defensive action, but you only take an offensive action if your attack roll beats his defense roll by 10 or more.)
got two votes ON SPACEBATTLES, for an overall 2 votes!
No other option recieved a vote!
And now, for the rolls. The modifier you recieve for hard focusing offense or defense is dependent on a few different factors, which you will be discovering as we advance in skill and power, and is sometimes dependent on the circumstances of the specific fight. We're basically an unskiled fighter learning to be in tune with our instincts fighting a very experienced opponent, or it'd be higher.
Our Rolls:
Attack Roll 1: 19+97=116. 116/2=58
+10 Pure Attack Mod
Result=68
Attack Roll 2: 64+65=129. 129/2=64.5
Round up to next whole number on .5 or higher.
+10 Pure Attack Mod
Result=75
vs
Braddock B Kong Rolls:
Attack Roll: 4
Defense Roll:21
With pure combat rolls, simply beating the opponent's rolls is success but there's uh, degrees, and criticals and critfails still apply as normal! Thank you, strangely named anon in the dice room for taking this from some decent success we'd have had to incredible amounts of monkeyish pain. Also, pure offense isn't normally advisable, as you'll be taking significantly more damage, but given he absolutely flubbed his attack roll, it worked in our favor here.
So with 68, 75 vs 4,21 we have Crushing Success, Greater Success vs Critical Failure,Crushing Failure
Status at Beginning of Round
Artemis Coinen Ban
Health: 70%
Spirit Energy Reserves:90%
Injuries: Battered and Bruised, probably suffering some internal bleeding
Vs
Braddock B. Kong
Health:???
Spirit Energy Reserves: ???
Injuries: He's a bit cut up, but you're definitely worse off.
As Kong and I circled each other, waiting for the other to make the first move, Kong seemed to get distracted by something, as if his focus wasn't entirely on the battle between us. He lunged at me, rather ferociously, probably thinking i'd attempt to block him. Instead, I dropped low, dodging his unusually imprecise staff strike, and executed a Lapine Kick out as he approached, sweeping his legs from beneath him, taking the ape-like Hollow by surprise. I followed this up with an absolute barrage of Lapine Punches and Lapine Claw strikes, pushing my Spiritual Energy and Spiritual Pressure as hard as I could, my own Spiritual Pressure overpowering his and making it easier to injure him. As thePPressure blasted out of both of us, the weaker Hollows that had slowly crept closer to watch the fight rapidly retreated, and those who couldn't keeled over, either dead or insensate. This close, with me physically on top of him, he couldn't leverage the advantage his staff provided, and could only attempt to dodge my strikes or move the staff between us. Unfortunately for him, I was bigger, faster, physically stronger, and pinning his legs to the ground with my knees, so he had to put up with it while attempting to shield himself with his arms. Unfortunately for him, this only resulted in his arms getting somewhat more mauled than his torso. The blood seemed to pour from his wounds rather than ooze now, the black tinge more obvious as it seeped into my fur and began to dye the sands beneath us a reddish black. Interesting! Wonder what it is that makes the blood black? Maybe whatever it is that corrupts Hollows also does...that? He's definitely not looking good though, cracked bone armor and bloody flesh evident all over his arms and torso.
(Kong Critical Failure, Artemis Crushing Success)
As I kept Kong's legs pinned and wailed away at him with my fists, his staff shrank suddenly, seeming to become thicker at one end as it did, and he attempted to club me over the head with it, in an attempt to get him off me. Unfortunately for him,the fighting instincts granted me by my transformation seemed to have come alive, and I grabbed his wrist as his arm twitched upwards. In one smooth motion, I sprang upwards, keeping my hold on his wrist as I went, pulling him up with me. I executed a rather neat flip in the air, putting him between me and the ground, and wrapped my spare arm around his neck. Pushing as much energy as I felt my arms and legs could safely hold, I released his wrist and neck slammed him into the ground, using the hand that had previously been on his wrist to land another cut on his torso as we impacted the ground, the sheer power and pressure released blowing sand into the air, hiding the two of us from the sight of the weaker Hollows.
When the brief explosion of sand died down, the battle was resolved. I was holding Braddock B. Kong by the neck with one hand, the other poised to execute a claw strike on his Hollow Hole if he decided to do anything foolish. My knees kept his legs pinned down, and his staff lay on the sand next to us, the golden glow that had suffused it gone. I slowly stopped pumping out pressure as well, the image of a white-and-silver rabbit vanishing. Wow, I'd...actually won! I'd gotten pretty lucky, beating an experienced fighter with pure power and speed, but I'd won! Granted, the weaker Hollow were looking at my downed opponent hungrily, but they were still being cautious. Stealing prey from the strong would get you killed, after all.
(Kong Crushing Failure, Artemis Greater Success)
Status at End Of Round:
Artemis Coinen Ban
Health: 70%
Spirit Energy Reserves:60%
Injuries: Battered and Bruised, probably suffering some internal bleeding
Vs
Braddock B. Kong
Health:???
Spirit Energy Reserves: ???
Injuries: You absolutely fucked him up, and could kill him if you wished. He's covered in cuts and cracks in the bone armor of his.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
VICTORY ACHIEVED! Skill experience gained! Due to the training you went through right before the fight+this being your first fight+ your skills being somewhat lower than they should be for your relative level of power, the experience gained is somewhat boosted! Perhaps even your spiritual energy has increased, though you aren't sure about that.
Spiritual Energy Infusion: Rank F (40/100)
Lapine Kick: Rank F (50/100
Lapine Punch: Rank F (50/100)
Lapine Claws: Rank F. (50/100)
~~~~~
"You're pretty good, Bunny Lady. So, you gonna eat me now, or what?" Kong asked, his cocky tone not going away even when his life was on the line.
"Eat you? Pfft, no, that'd be a waste of a good sparring partner." I said, making sure to make my tone teasing.
That brought a genuine smile to his face. "Sounds good to me, partner."
"Glad you agree, Kong. Let's get going, I don't like the way these punks are staring." I growled, turning and glaring at the assembled Hollows as I did, scaring them into backing off some more.
Kong laughed, the laugh cutting off in a pained gasp as the chest movement made his wounds ache. "Ah shit. Don't think I can. Need to heal up some before I can move." He grimaced, not liking being in a position of weakness.
"Don't worry, I have that covered." I reassure him, my tone grim and serious.
I've got a plan, and what is that plan?
[ ] Stay here and defend him. While these Hollows might be a threat to him while he's weakened, they're much less of one to you, cowards that they are, and you can consume those who are foolhardy enough to try, and this one just kinda feels like the right thing to do.( more dangerous to you, but higher rewards,+ increased friendship with Braddock B. Kong.)
[ ] Take him and run. You're sure you can defeat enough to make the rest run, but why take the risk? Even if it feels a bit wrong, it is a fairly decent option.(less dangerous, but lowest rewards, and lowest relationship increase from Kong)
[ ] Hunt some of these weaklings to feed him so that he can recover. You won't be facing these things alone, but it could be risky for him in the meantime. (medium danger, medium rewards, friendship boost dependant on how safe he remains while you hunts. Requires an extra roll to ensure his safety while you hunt.)
[ ] Write In ! Rewards and danger variable depending on plan made!
Oh, also! Vote on rollan!
do we
[ ] Want the GM to handle all rolling,done in the dice-room, with correct mods then added
[ ] Continue as we are, with you guys' rolls getting averaged and then getting whatever mods are correct added, whether-in thread or dice room
[ ] First roll made in-thread or dice room is the one we go with, with correct mods added
[ ] Suggest another method of handling rolls you'd prefer, if neither of these options is pleasing to you!
Last edited:
[X] Hunt some of these weaklings to feed him so that he can recover. You won't be facing these things alone, but it could be risky for him in the meantime. (medium danger, medium rewards, friendship boost dependant on how safe he remains while you hunts. Requires an extra roll to ensure his safety while you hunt.)
[X] Want the GM to handle all rolling,done in the dice-room, with correct mods then added
[X] Want the GM to handle all rolling,done in the dice-room, with correct mods then added
DragonGrimoire
Half Dragon, Half Cat, Half Spellbook, All Cute
- Location
- On Your Lap, Sleeping
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Hers
2 votes for Arrkhon's write in over on spacebattles, 2 for hunt weaklings (1 here, 1 on Spacebattles)
hmm...might need a tiebreaker...
DragonGrimoire
Half Dragon, Half Cat, Half Spellbook, All Cute
- Location
- On Your Lap, Sleeping
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Hers
closing votes here and on spacebattles. rolling dice and writing now.
Silly Hollows, Tricks Are For Me!
DragonGrimoire
Half Dragon, Half Cat, Half Spellbook, All Cute
- Location
- On Your Lap, Sleeping
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Hers
Final Vote Tally:
Stay here and defend him. While these Hollows might be a threat to him while he's weakened, they're much less of one to you, cowards that they are, and you can consume those who are foolhardy enough to try, and this one just kinda feels like the right thing to do.( more dangerous to you, but higher rewards,+ increased friendship with Braddock B. Kong.)
Received no votes!
Take him and run. You're sure you can defeat enough to make the rest run, but why take the risk? Even if it feels a bit wrong, it is a fairly decent option.(less dangerous, but lowest rewards, and lowest relationship increase from Kong)
Received no votes!
Hunt some of these weaklings to feed him so that he can recover. You won't be facing these things alone, but it could be risky for him in the meantime. (medium danger, medium rewards, friendship boost dependant on how safe he remains while you hunts. Requires an extra roll to ensure his safety while you hunt.)
Received 2 votes, 1 on Spacebattles and 1 on Sufficient Velocity, for a total of 2 votes!
Write In! Rewards and danger variable depending on plan made!
-Lure in some hollow by asking if he wants a bite and then feed him to the monkey
The moon signifies deception as well after all, also base hollows can be really dumb so there's chance one of them will fall for it(or prety smart but it won't really matter to us in this context)
Received 4 votes on Spacebattles, for a total of 4 votes!
as for the roll votes:
Want the GM to handle all rolling,done in the dice-room, with correct mods then added
received 4 votes on Spacebattles and 1 on Sufficient Velocity, for a total of 5 votes!
Continue as we are, with you guys' rolls getting averaged and then getting whatever mods are correct added, whether-in thread or dice room.
Received no votes!
First roll made in-thread or dice room is the one we go with, with correct mods added
Received no votes!
Suggest another method of handling rolls you'd prefer, if neither of these options is pleasing to you!
Received no votes!
Our Rolls:
Bluff Roll:60
+5 from ???
Result=65
Harvest Roll: 95
Result=95
CRIT RANGE:95-100
CRITICAL ROLL!
vs
Hollow Rolls
Bluff Save:2
+10 from Distrust Other Hollows,-5 from Stupidity, -5 from Obey The Strong
Result=2
Escape Being Harvested: 56
-5 from Fear The Strong, -5 from Stupidity,+5 from Hollow Battle Instincts
Result=51
So with 55, 95 vs 2, 51 we have Crushing Success, Critical Success vs Critical Failure, Greater Failure
Since the Hollows attacking are like, fairly new/weaklings (especially compared to you and Braddock, who're both on the verge of becoming Gillian), they don't even get to make this a real fight unless they attacked en masse, which they aren't really smart or coordinated enough to do with how much they're currently afraid of us. Anyways, here goes.
~~~~~~~
Observing the situation before me, I decided to trick some of these weak and honestly...somewhat stupid and feral hollows into becoming what Braddock B. Kong would need to heal. Just...lure some of them in with promises that'd not be followed up on, and hand them off to my new ally. Something within me was...displeased by this. Another part, cold and practical, reminded me that it was us or them in the endless sands of Hueco Mundo, and until I was strong enough to make a real difference, I would have to do what I could to survive. Yet another part, a voice that felt like the ball of instincts in my chest but...different, told me that I loved to tell stories and entertain, and wasn't a lie a kind of story? Wouldn't it be nice to pull one over on these creatures that had so lost their humanity that they were more beast than human?... I didn't like that, but it had to be done regardless.
"Hey, I've got a plan. I'm going to get you what you need to heal, but you need to play along, alright?" I whispered to Kong, hoping he'd trust me.
Kong nodded. "I hope you know what you're doing."
"Yeah, yeah. Just be ready to flare your Spiritual Pressure when I give the signal." I gave him what I thought was a reassuring grin, but I was sure my mask make it look ghastly and sinister. I'd have to investigate the stories about Hollows that'd torn off their masks ,once I got stronger. I really couldn't go around looking like this forever, and it'd be hard to earn the trust of anybody but other Hollows looking like this. Hell, I wasn't sure how far Kong even trusted me, but it seemed like he did, since he was willing to go along with what I was doing.
Wasn't like he had much choice, since I could still kill him at any time or let these things have him, but he mostly likely figured that I wouldn't. Fortunately for the both of us, he was right. Even if he was probably strong enough to push me into Gillian-level strength if I consumed him, I really didn't want to, and I was sure he could tell. Perhaps he retained more of his humanity than most, or perhaps he thought I valued him as a tool to increase my strength. Only time would tell, I supposed.
I stared towards the weaker Hollows lurking around us, and began my act, gesturing at my simian friend as if I were a merchant and he was a fine silk rug.
"Step right up, boys, girls, and those who don't quite abide by such things! Premium Hollow Flesh, right here! Rich in Spiritual Energy, and he currently can't do a thing to stop ya!" I put on my best saleswoman voice, scooping up Braddock's staff and prodding and poking at my new sparring partner both to demonstrate the supposed product's inability to fight back and to hide the mirth in his eyes that was clear to me, but pretty obviously not clear to these Hollows, probably due to a combination of distance, lack of socialization that didn't revolve around devouring and fighting, and sheer stupidity. I sincerely hoped none of them had the presence of mind to ask what I gained out of this. You know, I really shouldn't say things like that, because putting thoughts like that out into the universe has a tendency to make them happen.
"Uhh ... what d' ya want in exchange, miss?" A boar-like female Hollow with a decidedly rural accent asked. Oh shit. Oh fuck. The Goddess and her whole fucking pantheon damn you, piggy. Wait, no. I've got this. turn their own greed against them, and benefit out of it. Brilliant, Artemis, brilliant. Little scummy, but brilliant.
"You see those Hollows that got knocked out by the Spiritual Pressure during my fight? Everyone who wants a piece, bring me one of those, and you'll get a portion of the big guy!" I said, continuing to poke my new sparring partner with his own staff and using it to gesture at the crowd. My act probably would've been seen through if these idiots focused on their survival instincts over their greed, but it seemed that wasn't going to be the case. They began to approach, numerous weak Hollows scooping up just as many downed Hollows and greedily advancing towards their doom.
(Artemis Crushing Success, Hollows Critical Failure)
Closer and closer they crept, and when a thick ring of what Hollows were stupid or greedy enough to actually try to take advantage of this situation had surrounded us, I looked down at my new sparring partner and nodded. Together, we let loose that small innate grasp all who have Spiritual Pressure have on their own, that grasp that can be trained and enhanced alongside the control of Spiritual Power, pushing the Pressure to the limit. Kong's pressure wasn't quite as intense as it had been during our fight, but mixing with my own and with the relative weakness of these Hollows, it proved to be enough. I knew, instinctively that the pressure could do more than just paralyze as it had those who'd fallen earlier, but the paralysis was all I knew how to do. I'd have to think about it latter, or ask Kong. Regardless, the paralysis did its job. The weak Hollows, carrying their paralyzed fellows, collapsed to the ground, and some of the weakest twitched as if struck, small wounds bursting open on their bodies as they weathered the shockwave of power. (On the next vote, one free memory roll in regards to the nature of Spiritual Pressure and Spiritual Power is added to any choice made!)
As the multi-colored ring of corrupted souls fell to the ground, I bounced between them, pumping small amounts of energy through my limbs as I attacked. My claws flashed, and limbs flew and long slashes ripped open, blackish-red Hollow blood dripping into the sand. I threw punches, and bones shattered. My feet kicked out, and chests caved in. Wow, I was pretty fuckin' strong, and Spiritual Power really is something, huh? I was sure lucky all the ones dumb enough to fall for this were also not tough enough to take me on in any meaningful manner.
After about a minute, I had two large piles, both comprised of unconscious or paralyzed Hollows and their severed limbs, one a bit larger than the other. It was almost comical, with the groans and shocked faces of Hollows too terrified to move, but the bloodcurdling screams of a few of them made it a bit terrifying and upsetting to me, and given that I was the one that'd made the piles, that was saying something. I gestured to the taller pile of Hollows, tossing Kong's staff on top of it before digging into my own pile. It was an odd experience , eating raw, screaming meat as I tosseed hollows into my mouth by the considerably large handful. It was really disturbing, but the feeling of contentment and victory emanating from the hole in my chest left the experience a weird combination of pleasant and unplesant, as with a strange tingling feeling, I felt my Spiritual Power rise. I continued to devour, watching as my companion took back his weapon and began to feast,his injuries healing up and his Spiritual Pressure noticeably increasing. I felt a strange sensation in my head, as if if it suddenly weighed more or something, and the instincts pulsing in my Hollow Hole seemed to have been provoked, but I ignored these feelings, sure they weren't important.
(Artemis Critical Success, Hollows Critical Failure)
~~~
Substantial Spiritual Energy Gained! You are now right on the border of Gillian-hood! Devour a Hollow of considerable power or use other methods of gaining Spiritual Energy to evolve into the lowest form of Menos Grande!
Spiritual Power Infusion Secondary Effect Unlocked!: Spiritual Power is the source of Spiritual Pressure, and by increasing your ability to manipulate the former, you increase your ability to manipulate the latter. This manifests as your Spiritual Power Infusion skill giving a bonus to any Spiritual Pressure-based rolls!
Reputation/Relationship System Unlocked!
The reputation/relationship system is a gamification of your relationships with various individuals and factions, and will be reflected on your charsheet!
+100 Reputation with Braddock B. Kong gained from this and the prior fight! Braddock B. Kong has gone from Neutral to Friendly due to you beating his ass and then saving his life, both in quite impressive manners! The fact that you've decided to be sparring partners has certainly helped, and his personality has also helped. Don't expect to get this kind of quick relationship boost all the time without doing REALLY impressive shit, whether with him or with others.
Blessing Parameter converted to Trait Parameter!
Trait Unlocked! Training is Growth: The ability to improve oneself through training and battle without consuming opponents! Currently, you may choose to train Spiritual Power, Strength, Speed, and Durability in addition to your skills and any ability you have unlocked as an action when planning out a period of time! Normally, training like this is super inefficient for Hollows, but your friendship with Braddock B. Kong and some things about you make this a viable option.
Warning: stat training is still inefficent ,especially without proper tools,e xercises and facilities,but Spiritual . This trait will grow and evolve as your relationship with Kong deepens and certain things about you are revealed.
Skill experience gained!
You've used your skills a decent bit during this...you cannot call what you did to those Hollows anything other than a curbstomping. How exactly you know what a curbstomping is is another matter, and probably another topic to delve into later, what with how you just remembered that stuff about Journey To The West earlier.
+15 Experience to Spiritual Power Infusion!(now 55/100!)
+10 Experience to Lapine Claws, Lapine Punch and Lapine Kick!(now 60/100, 60/100,60/100)
+20 experience to ??? and ???. Technically, these are innate abilities, but since you rolled that memory roll earlier and something in this fight is triggering another, and all ??? abilities have ranks much like your skills, it gains exp. The exp meters for these abilities will not be fully revealed until you unlock them, but they seem to gain exp through things related to memory and bonds and weird soul shit. Make memory rolls and make friends and enemies, and do weird shit involving Souls, and you'll probably unlock these quicker.
Oh, aside from that, you can now deliberately invoke Memory Rolls by focusing on a subject you know about, though deliberately invoked memory rolls will take up an action when we start getting to the whole "plan your day/week/etc out what do you do" bits which are going to start happening now. You can roll a certain number of Deliberately Invoked memory rolls dependent on your ??? skill per Action when planning out periods of time, or one per vote if it's a combat/go do thing/ talk type vote. Current number of Memory Rolls per planning action is 2.
Also, while we're talking about mechanical stuff, Grail Bites can also be burned for skill exp, to force/force success on a Memory Roll, and for as yet unrevealed things! Also, the criteria for earning them isn't neccesarily just Omakes, but also things like...I dunno, coming up for Bankai and Shikai for Soul Reapers whose canon ones we never saw,alternate ones for ones who we saw in canon, thinking up possible Ressurecion for Hollows and Hollow OCS, creating well-crafted OCs (Magi,Soul Reapers, Hollows, Church Executors, Dead Apostles, Fullbringers, Bounts,etc), reminding the QM about cool things and characters from either setting that's been mashed into this one, Artwork, and the like. This quest isn't super active discussion wise yet, but I want to have the framework for that kind of engagement to be rewarded set up,ya know? Congrats, that lucky crit really made us make out like bandits with a plan that could have easily attracted bigger Hollows and landed us in deep shit!
~~~
As my companion and I left the blood-soaked scene, I was kinda disturbed at how all the blood had simply...seeped into the sand so quickly, vanishing from the sight of the two of us. We began walking towards one of the silvery trees, miles away across the endless sands of Hueco Mundo. I was sure Kong had spotted the determined, somewhat greedy look in my eyes as I stared at the strange crystalline plant that seemed so small from this distance. How? He didn't even ask where we were going or why. He just grinned and followed, keeping an eye out for any threats that might've cropped up. We hadn't made it too far, though, before the strange sensation in my head revealed itself. Pain struck me, and then I started to hear it, or rather them. The "weight" was in fact voices in my head, so many that it was hard to count them. Liar! Cheat! Strong Body, WEak mind! Fuck, what's that weird shit in your soul and why does it radiate fucking purity? LET ME OUT! FOOL, I'll take your body! Nyan Nyan Nyan Nyan! Fuck you, and fuck your mother, whore! Shit-cunt-whore-motherfucker-bitch- SHUT THE FUCK UP, THIS IS MY BODY AND I'M IN FUCKING CHARGE! I"M THE BOSS HERE, AND YOU'RE ALL UNINVITED GUESTS!
Needless to say, it was distracting and I could barely hear my own thoughts. I needed to deal with it, but how? As absorbed as I was in my inner struggle, I still saw Kong look at me with concern as I grabbed my head. I needed these voices to be silent, 'cause I was gonna go crazy otherwise. Huh, maybe that's why most Hollows were a little batshit? If that was the case, how could Kong manage it and still be this affable? AAAAAAAAAAAAA. EAT SHIT AND DIE! Deathbloodseveringcorruptiondesctructiondeathbloodbloodfleshvengeancehorrorflesh- Hah, weakling. Ok, I really needed to do something about these voices. It was going to be an issue, and I really didn't like being yelled at, let alone yelled at by voices in my own freaking head. I had to settle this, and I had to do it now, before this became a serious issues.
Do I attempt to....
[ ] Dominate them? (High DC, doesn't permanently deal with problem, problem will get worse as we grow and you'll have to make a check every so often and during some high-intenstity moments to retain control) Decent option, but honestly still risky, and I don't like the idea of dominating a bunch of minds even if they're in my headspace.
[ ] Expel them? (Draw on the power of the Soul/Bond related ??? to expel these voices from your head. Middling DC, higher degrees of success having more interesting results, gets rid of the voices permanently.) Risky, but potentially very profitable. may have unintended options. This right here is what we would call a Mystery Box option.
[ ] Establish a consensus with them? (Lowish dc, must roll control any time the voices within don't agree with your course of action, constant struggle with the voices) NOT RECCOMENDED. Very dangerous and probably unrewarding, but could be interesting.
[ ] Write In! Keep it in line with the above options, but also keep in mind our stated affinities(Soul, Emotion, Bonds, etc) and the conceptual bullshit related to the moon in the Nasuverse and Bleachverse when doing so!
Also,there's a free memory roll on the nature of Spiritual Power and Pressure attached to this vote, no matter which option you pick. Yay! Sorry for taking so long on this, but I've been working on getting my move to my new apartment set up! Have fun voting!
Stay here and defend him. While these Hollows might be a threat to him while he's weakened, they're much less of one to you, cowards that they are, and you can consume those who are foolhardy enough to try, and this one just kinda feels like the right thing to do.( more dangerous to you, but higher rewards,+ increased friendship with Braddock B. Kong.)
Received no votes!
Take him and run. You're sure you can defeat enough to make the rest run, but why take the risk? Even if it feels a bit wrong, it is a fairly decent option.(less dangerous, but lowest rewards, and lowest relationship increase from Kong)
Received no votes!
Hunt some of these weaklings to feed him so that he can recover. You won't be facing these things alone, but it could be risky for him in the meantime. (medium danger, medium rewards, friendship boost dependant on how safe he remains while you hunts. Requires an extra roll to ensure his safety while you hunt.)
Received 2 votes, 1 on Spacebattles and 1 on Sufficient Velocity, for a total of 2 votes!
Write In! Rewards and danger variable depending on plan made!
-Lure in some hollow by asking if he wants a bite and then feed him to the monkey
The moon signifies deception as well after all, also base hollows can be really dumb so there's chance one of them will fall for it(or prety smart but it won't really matter to us in this context)
Received 4 votes on Spacebattles, for a total of 4 votes!
as for the roll votes:
Want the GM to handle all rolling,done in the dice-room, with correct mods then added
received 4 votes on Spacebattles and 1 on Sufficient Velocity, for a total of 5 votes!
Continue as we are, with you guys' rolls getting averaged and then getting whatever mods are correct added, whether-in thread or dice room.
Received no votes!
First roll made in-thread or dice room is the one we go with, with correct mods added
Received no votes!
Suggest another method of handling rolls you'd prefer, if neither of these options is pleasing to you!
Received no votes!
Our Rolls:
Bluff Roll:60
+5 from ???
Result=65
Harvest Roll: 95
Result=95
CRIT RANGE:95-100
CRITICAL ROLL!
vs
Hollow Rolls
Bluff Save:2
+10 from Distrust Other Hollows,-5 from Stupidity, -5 from Obey The Strong
Result=2
Escape Being Harvested: 56
-5 from Fear The Strong, -5 from Stupidity,+5 from Hollow Battle Instincts
Result=51
So with 55, 95 vs 2, 51 we have Crushing Success, Critical Success vs Critical Failure, Greater Failure
Since the Hollows attacking are like, fairly new/weaklings (especially compared to you and Braddock, who're both on the verge of becoming Gillian), they don't even get to make this a real fight unless they attacked en masse, which they aren't really smart or coordinated enough to do with how much they're currently afraid of us. Anyways, here goes.
~~~~~~~
Observing the situation before me, I decided to trick some of these weak and honestly...somewhat stupid and feral hollows into becoming what Braddock B. Kong would need to heal. Just...lure some of them in with promises that'd not be followed up on, and hand them off to my new ally. Something within me was...displeased by this. Another part, cold and practical, reminded me that it was us or them in the endless sands of Hueco Mundo, and until I was strong enough to make a real difference, I would have to do what I could to survive. Yet another part, a voice that felt like the ball of instincts in my chest but...different, told me that I loved to tell stories and entertain, and wasn't a lie a kind of story? Wouldn't it be nice to pull one over on these creatures that had so lost their humanity that they were more beast than human?... I didn't like that, but it had to be done regardless.
"Hey, I've got a plan. I'm going to get you what you need to heal, but you need to play along, alright?" I whispered to Kong, hoping he'd trust me.
Kong nodded. "I hope you know what you're doing."
"Yeah, yeah. Just be ready to flare your Spiritual Pressure when I give the signal." I gave him what I thought was a reassuring grin, but I was sure my mask make it look ghastly and sinister. I'd have to investigate the stories about Hollows that'd torn off their masks ,once I got stronger. I really couldn't go around looking like this forever, and it'd be hard to earn the trust of anybody but other Hollows looking like this. Hell, I wasn't sure how far Kong even trusted me, but it seemed like he did, since he was willing to go along with what I was doing.
Wasn't like he had much choice, since I could still kill him at any time or let these things have him, but he mostly likely figured that I wouldn't. Fortunately for the both of us, he was right. Even if he was probably strong enough to push me into Gillian-level strength if I consumed him, I really didn't want to, and I was sure he could tell. Perhaps he retained more of his humanity than most, or perhaps he thought I valued him as a tool to increase my strength. Only time would tell, I supposed.
I stared towards the weaker Hollows lurking around us, and began my act, gesturing at my simian friend as if I were a merchant and he was a fine silk rug.
"Step right up, boys, girls, and those who don't quite abide by such things! Premium Hollow Flesh, right here! Rich in Spiritual Energy, and he currently can't do a thing to stop ya!" I put on my best saleswoman voice, scooping up Braddock's staff and prodding and poking at my new sparring partner both to demonstrate the supposed product's inability to fight back and to hide the mirth in his eyes that was clear to me, but pretty obviously not clear to these Hollows, probably due to a combination of distance, lack of socialization that didn't revolve around devouring and fighting, and sheer stupidity. I sincerely hoped none of them had the presence of mind to ask what I gained out of this. You know, I really shouldn't say things like that, because putting thoughts like that out into the universe has a tendency to make them happen.
"Uhh ... what d' ya want in exchange, miss?" A boar-like female Hollow with a decidedly rural accent asked. Oh shit. Oh fuck. The Goddess and her whole fucking pantheon damn you, piggy. Wait, no. I've got this. turn their own greed against them, and benefit out of it. Brilliant, Artemis, brilliant. Little scummy, but brilliant.
"You see those Hollows that got knocked out by the Spiritual Pressure during my fight? Everyone who wants a piece, bring me one of those, and you'll get a portion of the big guy!" I said, continuing to poke my new sparring partner with his own staff and using it to gesture at the crowd. My act probably would've been seen through if these idiots focused on their survival instincts over their greed, but it seemed that wasn't going to be the case. They began to approach, numerous weak Hollows scooping up just as many downed Hollows and greedily advancing towards their doom.
(Artemis Crushing Success, Hollows Critical Failure)
Closer and closer they crept, and when a thick ring of what Hollows were stupid or greedy enough to actually try to take advantage of this situation had surrounded us, I looked down at my new sparring partner and nodded. Together, we let loose that small innate grasp all who have Spiritual Pressure have on their own, that grasp that can be trained and enhanced alongside the control of Spiritual Power, pushing the Pressure to the limit. Kong's pressure wasn't quite as intense as it had been during our fight, but mixing with my own and with the relative weakness of these Hollows, it proved to be enough. I knew, instinctively that the pressure could do more than just paralyze as it had those who'd fallen earlier, but the paralysis was all I knew how to do. I'd have to think about it latter, or ask Kong. Regardless, the paralysis did its job. The weak Hollows, carrying their paralyzed fellows, collapsed to the ground, and some of the weakest twitched as if struck, small wounds bursting open on their bodies as they weathered the shockwave of power. (On the next vote, one free memory roll in regards to the nature of Spiritual Pressure and Spiritual Power is added to any choice made!)
As the multi-colored ring of corrupted souls fell to the ground, I bounced between them, pumping small amounts of energy through my limbs as I attacked. My claws flashed, and limbs flew and long slashes ripped open, blackish-red Hollow blood dripping into the sand. I threw punches, and bones shattered. My feet kicked out, and chests caved in. Wow, I was pretty fuckin' strong, and Spiritual Power really is something, huh? I was sure lucky all the ones dumb enough to fall for this were also not tough enough to take me on in any meaningful manner.
After about a minute, I had two large piles, both comprised of unconscious or paralyzed Hollows and their severed limbs, one a bit larger than the other. It was almost comical, with the groans and shocked faces of Hollows too terrified to move, but the bloodcurdling screams of a few of them made it a bit terrifying and upsetting to me, and given that I was the one that'd made the piles, that was saying something. I gestured to the taller pile of Hollows, tossing Kong's staff on top of it before digging into my own pile. It was an odd experience , eating raw, screaming meat as I tosseed hollows into my mouth by the considerably large handful. It was really disturbing, but the feeling of contentment and victory emanating from the hole in my chest left the experience a weird combination of pleasant and unplesant, as with a strange tingling feeling, I felt my Spiritual Power rise. I continued to devour, watching as my companion took back his weapon and began to feast,his injuries healing up and his Spiritual Pressure noticeably increasing. I felt a strange sensation in my head, as if if it suddenly weighed more or something, and the instincts pulsing in my Hollow Hole seemed to have been provoked, but I ignored these feelings, sure they weren't important.
(Artemis Critical Success, Hollows Critical Failure)
~~~
Substantial Spiritual Energy Gained! You are now right on the border of Gillian-hood! Devour a Hollow of considerable power or use other methods of gaining Spiritual Energy to evolve into the lowest form of Menos Grande!
Spiritual Power Infusion Secondary Effect Unlocked!: Spiritual Power is the source of Spiritual Pressure, and by increasing your ability to manipulate the former, you increase your ability to manipulate the latter. This manifests as your Spiritual Power Infusion skill giving a bonus to any Spiritual Pressure-based rolls!
Reputation/Relationship System Unlocked!
The reputation/relationship system is a gamification of your relationships with various individuals and factions, and will be reflected on your charsheet!
+100 Reputation with Braddock B. Kong gained from this and the prior fight! Braddock B. Kong has gone from Neutral to Friendly due to you beating his ass and then saving his life, both in quite impressive manners! The fact that you've decided to be sparring partners has certainly helped, and his personality has also helped. Don't expect to get this kind of quick relationship boost all the time without doing REALLY impressive shit, whether with him or with others.
Blessing Parameter converted to Trait Parameter!
Trait Unlocked! Training is Growth: The ability to improve oneself through training and battle without consuming opponents! Currently, you may choose to train Spiritual Power, Strength, Speed, and Durability in addition to your skills and any ability you have unlocked as an action when planning out a period of time! Normally, training like this is super inefficient for Hollows, but your friendship with Braddock B. Kong and some things about you make this a viable option.
Warning: stat training is still inefficent ,especially without proper tools,e xercises and facilities,but Spiritual . This trait will grow and evolve as your relationship with Kong deepens and certain things about you are revealed.
Skill experience gained!
You've used your skills a decent bit during this...you cannot call what you did to those Hollows anything other than a curbstomping. How exactly you know what a curbstomping is is another matter, and probably another topic to delve into later, what with how you just remembered that stuff about Journey To The West earlier.
+15 Experience to Spiritual Power Infusion!(now 55/100!)
+10 Experience to Lapine Claws, Lapine Punch and Lapine Kick!(now 60/100, 60/100,60/100)
+20 experience to ??? and ???. Technically, these are innate abilities, but since you rolled that memory roll earlier and something in this fight is triggering another, and all ??? abilities have ranks much like your skills, it gains exp. The exp meters for these abilities will not be fully revealed until you unlock them, but they seem to gain exp through things related to memory and bonds and weird soul shit. Make memory rolls and make friends and enemies, and do weird shit involving Souls, and you'll probably unlock these quicker.
Oh, aside from that, you can now deliberately invoke Memory Rolls by focusing on a subject you know about, though deliberately invoked memory rolls will take up an action when we start getting to the whole "plan your day/week/etc out what do you do" bits which are going to start happening now. You can roll a certain number of Deliberately Invoked memory rolls dependent on your ??? skill per Action when planning out periods of time, or one per vote if it's a combat/go do thing/ talk type vote. Current number of Memory Rolls per planning action is 2.
Also, while we're talking about mechanical stuff, Grail Bites can also be burned for skill exp, to force/force success on a Memory Roll, and for as yet unrevealed things! Also, the criteria for earning them isn't neccesarily just Omakes, but also things like...I dunno, coming up for Bankai and Shikai for Soul Reapers whose canon ones we never saw,alternate ones for ones who we saw in canon, thinking up possible Ressurecion for Hollows and Hollow OCS, creating well-crafted OCs (Magi,Soul Reapers, Hollows, Church Executors, Dead Apostles, Fullbringers, Bounts,etc), reminding the QM about cool things and characters from either setting that's been mashed into this one, Artwork, and the like. This quest isn't super active discussion wise yet, but I want to have the framework for that kind of engagement to be rewarded set up,ya know? Congrats, that lucky crit really made us make out like bandits with a plan that could have easily attracted bigger Hollows and landed us in deep shit!
~~~
As my companion and I left the blood-soaked scene, I was kinda disturbed at how all the blood had simply...seeped into the sand so quickly, vanishing from the sight of the two of us. We began walking towards one of the silvery trees, miles away across the endless sands of Hueco Mundo. I was sure Kong had spotted the determined, somewhat greedy look in my eyes as I stared at the strange crystalline plant that seemed so small from this distance. How? He didn't even ask where we were going or why. He just grinned and followed, keeping an eye out for any threats that might've cropped up. We hadn't made it too far, though, before the strange sensation in my head revealed itself. Pain struck me, and then I started to hear it, or rather them. The "weight" was in fact voices in my head, so many that it was hard to count them. Liar! Cheat! Strong Body, WEak mind! Fuck, what's that weird shit in your soul and why does it radiate fucking purity? LET ME OUT! FOOL, I'll take your body! Nyan Nyan Nyan Nyan! Fuck you, and fuck your mother, whore! Shit-cunt-whore-motherfucker-bitch- SHUT THE FUCK UP, THIS IS MY BODY AND I'M IN FUCKING CHARGE! I"M THE BOSS HERE, AND YOU'RE ALL UNINVITED GUESTS!
Needless to say, it was distracting and I could barely hear my own thoughts. I needed to deal with it, but how? As absorbed as I was in my inner struggle, I still saw Kong look at me with concern as I grabbed my head. I needed these voices to be silent, 'cause I was gonna go crazy otherwise. Huh, maybe that's why most Hollows were a little batshit? If that was the case, how could Kong manage it and still be this affable? AAAAAAAAAAAAA. EAT SHIT AND DIE! Deathbloodseveringcorruptiondesctructiondeathbloodbloodfleshvengeancehorrorflesh- Hah, weakling. Ok, I really needed to do something about these voices. It was going to be an issue, and I really didn't like being yelled at, let alone yelled at by voices in my own freaking head. I had to settle this, and I had to do it now, before this became a serious issues.
Do I attempt to....
[ ] Dominate them? (High DC, doesn't permanently deal with problem, problem will get worse as we grow and you'll have to make a check every so often and during some high-intenstity moments to retain control) Decent option, but honestly still risky, and I don't like the idea of dominating a bunch of minds even if they're in my headspace.
[ ] Expel them? (Draw on the power of the Soul/Bond related ??? to expel these voices from your head. Middling DC, higher degrees of success having more interesting results, gets rid of the voices permanently.) Risky, but potentially very profitable. may have unintended options. This right here is what we would call a Mystery Box option.
[ ] Establish a consensus with them? (Lowish dc, must roll control any time the voices within don't agree with your course of action, constant struggle with the voices) NOT RECCOMENDED. Very dangerous and probably unrewarding, but could be interesting.
[ ] Write In! Keep it in line with the above options, but also keep in mind our stated affinities(Soul, Emotion, Bonds, etc) and the conceptual bullshit related to the moon in the Nasuverse and Bleachverse when doing so!
Also,there's a free memory roll on the nature of Spiritual Power and Pressure attached to this vote, no matter which option you pick. Yay! Sorry for taking so long on this, but I've been working on getting my move to my new apartment set up! Have fun voting!
DragonGrimoire
Half Dragon, Half Cat, Half Spellbook, All Cute
- Location
- On Your Lap, Sleeping
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Hers
closing vote and writing now! congrats, Veekie,your vote won, even if the dice kinda made the results..interesting.
Purification 1 Hour Remix
DragonGrimoire
Half Dragon, Half Cat, Half Spellbook, All Cute
- Location
- On Your Lap, Sleeping
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Hers
Final Vote Tally:
Dominate Them received no votes
Expel Them received 1 vote (though it was originally 2) on Spacebattles, for a total of 1 vote!
Establish A Consensus received one vote on Spacebattles, for a total of 1 vote!
Purify them. Sort them by how cooperative they are. The least cooperative get to be dismantled, broken up until they lose coherence, then the bits sorted by type, you'll figure out which bits you want to keep and expel the undesirable types. received 3 votes on Spacebattles and 1 on Sufficient Velocity, for a total of 4 votes!
This option won!
~~~~
Our Rolls
Purification 93
+5 (??? The soul/bond one) +5(MY BODY. MINE.)
Result=103
Don't Be Overwhelmed by Hollow Resistance:28
+5 Home FIeld Advantage , +5 Purifying Moon, -5 Holy Shit There's A Lot Of You
Result=33
Memory Roll: 78
+ 5 ???-Memory Power,+5 I Already Know Stuff About This
Result=88
vs
Hollow Roll
Resist Purification:23
+5 We Have Reserves, -5 Unfamiliar Territory
Result=23
So with 103, 33, 88 vs DC 50, 23, DC 55, we have Crushing Success, Bare Success, Greater Success vs DC EXCEEDED, Bare Failure, DC EXCEEDED
~~~
The voices in my head kept up their unending chorus, and I didn't quite know what to do. One of them had mentioned purity within me, right? And Hollows are weak to Purification, it's painful to the corrupted souls and reverts them to Pluses in sufficient amounts. That's how Shinigami deal with us, anyways, since Zanpakuto all have the innate trait of purifying spirits of corruption. I had to reach for that purity within, and use it to deal with the problem. I could feel it, silvery moonlight glowing within me, a key part of that power within me that governed Souls and Bonds. I reached for it, pulling deeply into myself, as far as I could go. It was...odd, seeing the manifestation of my inner self, the form of my soul.
I stood on top of a castle, in the center of a city. The city was a strange mishmash of architectural styles and aesthetics of different places and eras, with some straight out of fantasy. Skyscrapers of metal and glass, stone arches and palisades, crystal spires that stretched towards the heavens, streets that went from asphalt to cobblestone to dirt to stranger substances. An entire city block seemed to be carved out of thick white ice, snow hanging from the awnings and piling on the sidewalks of that portion of the city. Gargoyles adorned some buildings, in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and in many different materials. Statues of figures with unclear features stood in parks and public places, and I felt a deep ache as I could tell that the subjects of them had once been important to me. Abandoned vehicles and empty homes of all kinds, giving the feeling of a quiet and dead city that had once been vibrant.
The city was surrounded by an endless forest, full of trees and bushes of all kinds, from those bearing fruit and nuts to those actively dangerous, like the Devil's Walking Stick. The forest had different sections, some marshy, some your standard temperate forest, a few that were tropical or boreal, and at least one spot full of strange silvery crystalline trees that gleamed in the moonlight. The forest was cut through by roads and paths spidering out from the city, allowing access to the wild. Clearings were scattered throughout the forest, though it seemed there wasn't much in the way of animal life in my inner world, which made sense to me, since it wasn't technically a real world. I looked up at the night sky of my inner world, and I saw.
The bright silver moon hanging overhead had streaks of black and brown across it like tarnish on metal, and the more I looked around, the more evidence of corruption I saw in my inner world, this manifestation of my soul. Trees blighted with whiteflies or fungus, paths in disrepair, piles of bleached white bones in the clearings. There were broken windows and busted doors, houses falling apart with holes in their walls or ceilings. There were destroyed or rusted-out vehicles and roughed-up roads. In a far corner of the city, I noticed a small, somewhat dinged up statue of myself, of what I was quite sure I'd looked like upon arriving in this strange place, before my body warped into a Hollow's, and what I wasn't sure I'd look like ever again. It was made of ceramic, painted with bright colors, and my chest ached as I saw at least, some version of myself. I hopped over and examined it closely, wanting to get a good look and maybe remember more about myself.
The statue of myself had long thick brown hair that spilled down its chest and over my back, thick glasses framing brown eyes. There was a slightly prominent brow ridge that gave the statue a large forehead, coupled with a strong chin and soft, somewhat puffy cheeks. An awkward, shy smile. A tall, large frame, with broad shoulders, a long torso and wide hips, long arms that reached a bit past its waist tipped with large hands that had long fingers that seemed somewhat like an artisan's despite their thickness. Long, thick legs that still luckily managed to be well proportioned.The outfit was nice, too, a leather jacket over some kind of mesh shirt that itself covered some sort of bra or bustier, coupled with a short, pleated skirt, thigh-high socks, and lace-up boots with a thick, wedgelike heel. I faintly remembered that people had told me, in my former life, that i'd make a pretty woman. I'd leave that judgment up to others, I suppose, but the swirl of feelings in my chest told me this was certainly how I saw myself, or at least wanted to look like. Hell, if the statue was true to life, I'd been around 6 feet tall before I became what I was now! That strength within me, the one governing memory,seemed to resonate with this statue, making me wonder if this statue was the representation of it.
I stared at the statue for some time, enjoying the peace of my inner world, before the Hollows came out of the forest, walking, crawling, jumping and flying toward the city. I leapt away from the statue, going to meet them as that pure silver light that I'd called upon cloaked me in an aura of moonlight. That power, derived from the power of bonds and souls that slept within me, placidly swam around me, like a predator waiting for the right time to strike. It carried more than purification, drawing a bit on what I could tell were other aspects of the ability, but I wasn't too concerned about that, as I had a more pressing concern.
Here, within my soul, there were more Hollows than the ones I'd devoured! Probably the Soul-Scape/Inner World/Whatever considering the minds of devoured Hollows trapped within these weaklings to be separate souls, the same way it treated these Hollow's souls as separate from mine. Whatever the case, it seemed that I'd have to deal with these Hollows, and I figured the purification would work. Seeing the hostile stances of some, the wariness of others, and the quiet waves and cheerful greetings of others, I came up with a plan.
The worst souls, the least cooperative, the ones that glowed with an aura of sin and gave off a feeling of evil when I looked at them through my cloak of silver light, were the the ones that had committed the worst sins in life. It was an instinctual knowledge, like the hunger swirling in my chest or the flashes of memory that filled me when I seemed to need them, or the natural understanding I somehow had of that purifying power that swirled around me, now. Many lacked this, their sins and evil less deep, less part of them, seemingly gained during their time as Hollows. Many of these, and most of the rest who weren't the terrifyingly evil ones, seemed to mostly do these things to survive, or because having so many voices in their heads had driven them to desperation, and not because they found joy in it. There even seemed to be some like my simian friend, who'd retained much of their humanity and failed to be driven to the worst, who'd only unfortunately fallen to their greed when presented with such an opportunity.
So obviously, I'd crush the absolute worst souls into fragments with my power, taking from them what I wanted and discarding the rest. I'd purify the rest to a gentler degree, cleaning the corruption and emptiness of Hollowfication from their souls, and seeing what would happen. Perhaps I'd even keep a few souls that weren't so bad in here, as long as they helped clean up the city and didn't make a mess of things. It'd certainly be interesting to see the results of that. I had the feeling, though, that even if purification was survived, many of the souls would leave once what happened, happened. I could tell they knew it too, and as I advanced toward them and the silver light flared, the Hollows began to resist, some even attacking me!
But honestly, they had to know that wasn't going to work. They'd failed before, and this time the home field advantage was really mine! I flared the silver light cloaking me out, smashing it into the Hollows as I physically struck back at those stupid enough to strike me. The battle went back and forth, the sheer might of numbers attacking me nearly bringing me under, but I persevered, and in the end, the Hollows were all unconscious, knocked off their feet, or willingly kneeling. I was pretty battered up too, and it'd take a bit if I needed to be able to fight, up there on the outside, but I'd managed to subdue them all, if barely. The silver light flickered and seemed to reach towards the Hollows, as if it were hungry.
(Artemis Bare Success, Hollows Bare Failure)
As such, I gathered the ones with the worst sins, pulling them forwards and infusing my Spiritual Power into my fists as I focused the pulsing silver light into a thin sheen of silver coating my fists, striking them with gleaming silver blows. As I slowly destroyed the least cooperative, the foul beings who'd become parasites in my soul, I reached for the other power within, the power relating to Memory and Knowledge. With the two working together,I gathered the fragmented bits of soul and began to sort them.
First there were the desires. The base instincts of every person. Of course, there were the typical things you'd expect, the desires to breed, to feed, to fight and kill, to put oneself before others, jealousy, rage, pain, graphic tortures and sadism and schadenfreude. But even here, in those who were so terrible, there were the other base human instincts. Joy and laughter, the desire to share one's accomplishments, compassion and protectiveness, learning and love and the songs and dances and stories everyone carries in our hearts. That basic human desire for friends, to be cared for and appreciated. Most people spent their lives believing that only the inner darkness of humans was innate, but the truth was that we had prospered due to all aspects of what it meant to be human.
I sorted the shards of emotions, what didn't fit being allowed to dissipate and the rest gathering together before splitting into flows that fed themselves into me and the standing Hollows. There was still much left, memories belonging to those I'd shattered. Skills and experiences, echoes of hopes and heartbreaks. Humans fighting each other, fighting Phantasmal Beasts, fighting Hollows and things they couldn't quite comprehend. There were vampiric monsters, known as Dead Apostles, killing Magi as easily as a well-trained soldier kills civilians. All sorts of spiritual and physical beings, from the Heroic Spirits to Phantoms to Homunculi.
The memories flickered and seemed to shed parts under the influence of the twin powers, much of the personal fading to leave behind raw knowledge. Events and places and people, skills and stories.
I was the master of Lancer, in the Second Holy Grail War. From birth, I was shaped and sculpted for it, knowing nothing else. My name is Adelfried Von Einzbern, and above all else, I was a Magus. I grew up dreaming of fighting Hollows and Dead Apostles, of becoming an Enforcer of the Clock Tower. I summoned Lancer ahead of time, and he grew angry at the way my family had sculpted me into a weapon, citing his own origins as the man who rose to be king of a warrior kingdom as the source of his distaste. Despite his build and his brash attitude, Lancer treated me well, and to keep him sustained through that war I did horrible things. Worse, my dying resentment at losing him, the only one who'd ever bothered to see me as a person, turned me into this. I have scrabbled among the sands of Hueco Mundo for decades, scarcely remembering myself.
Knowledge of Magecraft, of the Holy Grail War, Homunculi and the Clock Tower slipped into me, nudging memories of my own into accessibility. What impressions I had seemed different from the ones in this fallen Magus's memories, but I'd have to set aside time to really unearth the relevant memories later, as I was processing more and more , discarding what needed to be discarded,
I was a soldier, fighting in The Great War. I went home when the war ended, and I died of illness not too long ago. There's another great war brewing, and my people were already at war with China when I passed. Among men, guns and planes and bombs reign supreme, and the bloody waltz of death we danced with blades and bayonets in the trenches is not likely to be a feature of war any longer.
I was a Sōhei of Mount Hiei, fighting in the rebellion against the Kamakura Shogunate. I had honed my skills with knife and sword and spear for decades, carrying my Tanto and Tachi and Naginata with me as I went from one who followed the precepts of Buddhism to one caked in the blood of many. I betrayed my brother monks to the shogunate, and suffered a traitor's reward. My name was Iwaki Katakiyo, and no one remembers me.
I was a martial artist who wandered Japan, learning various ways to fight. I was mostly skilled in jujutsu and the skill that has come to be known as Karate, but my skills with the bow were respected as well. I was Kagawa Hisami, the daughter of a minor Samurai, and I ran away from home after killing the old freak that my father had attempted to marry me off to. From there, I wandered Japan, slowly going from one who stood up for the common people and women to a woman drowning in booze and blood, executed by my own father after I fell victim to the same iniquities I'd once fought against.
I was a chef and a Magus, dabbling in interesting ingredients and the use of Magecraft and Spiritual Power in cooking. I didn't care at all for the Root, seeking to make food people enjoyed, but after a great personal tragedy I delved into poison and caused much pain in my research fueled by hate and grief. Eventually, I was consumed by a Dead Apostle.
These, and other stories and names flashed through me, stirring memories of my own and providing the basis to develop or improve skills, since the raw knowledge did include a lot that would be of use. I hoped that with the personalities and darker experiences no longer attached, this wouldn't affect my personality too much, but right now it was too early to tell, and I had my own memories to worry about. When I was done with those who carried such evil, I started in on the rest, though with them my methods were different.
I pulled them in and pulsed the purifying light through them gently, clearing away the corruption of their Hollowfication. Hollow flesh pulsed and warped, growing or shrinking as needed, as their bodies reshaped themselves back to humanity. Skin faded back to the natural tones, clothes that seemed to have been there the whole time re-emerging as the limbs it covered returned. Masks didn't break, instead melting in a flow of white and patching the holes in these Hollow's chests, the glowing yellow of their eyes returning to greens and blues and browns.Their Spiritual Pressures shrank to just a little more than a basic Plus. as their Spiritual Power had been taken when they were devoured. So, apart from the basic sliver of power they'd retain, they couldn't even take Spiritual Power from me now, as what had been theirs was that of a Hollow, even if it had been purified and assimilated by me. Furthermore, they would not be able to stay in my soul, as the inner world of a Hollow was antithetical to Pluses. Those who were consumed in the human world invariably ending up corrupted by the Hollow that had consumed them, or at least none of the ones who'd ended up consumed by me had been able to escape that fate.
Some individuals, those few that had firmly held onto their humanity, didn't revert, keeping their forms and their places in my Inner World, though given their weak Spiritual Pressures they'd need to start all the way over from the bottom in terms of gaining strength, One by one, they knelt. A hollow whose form resembled an overly large housecat, the boar-like Hollow who'd been smart enough to ask questions, another whose form resembled an anthromorphized gliding lizard, one whose form seemed to resemble a strange creature of vaguely humanoid frame, with the upper body covered in Hollow Bone with a rock-like texture, weird rocky fin-thing attached to the upper arms and shoulders and a furry lower half , and one who resembled nothing more than an overly large otter.
"....Looks like you're sticking around, then?" I asked the remaining few.
The rocky one blinked. "Yeah. Hollows can't really keep evolving the normal way after even a bit of them's been eaten, so." His voice caught me off guard, as I wasn't expecting a voice that was deep, arrogant, and somewhat smooth to come out of someone who looked like that.
The others nodded along, not really feeling the need to elaborate on the rock-like hollow's statement. They got up from their kneeling postures, eyeing me curiously with the yellow eyes so common among Hollows, especially the low-level ones. The cat seemed especially relieved, having had the hardest time kneeling.
"Ugh, fine. But if you're squatting in my soul, you gotta take care of the place. Clean and repair what you can, observe how my actions out there affect stuff in here, all that stuff."
The five blinked at me, taken somewhat off-guard, but then turned to each other and whispered in tones I didn't quite catch. It seemed to take them a bit, but with the situation being what it was, the conclusion they'd come to was pretty obvious. I couldn't bring myself to purify them in the way that'd destroy them, and if I attempted to revert them to Pluses against their will it could do more harm than good, so this was the only real choice for now.
" Whatever y' say, Miss. Just as long as we've got the tools and trainin' to do it." The boar-like Holow said, relief and a bit of reverence in her voice.
I considered that and nodded, accepting their intentions. It would probably help me in the long run, and I kinda wanted to see the results of what would happen. If they ended up pushing me further towards corruption or damaged my soul with their presence or actions, I could always give them the boot, but there was definitely a possibility of really interesting stuff happening, or at least I wanted to believe that.
(Artemis Crushing Success, DC EXCEEDED)
"Well..ok, that works. Make yourselves at home, I'm gonna be in here for a little bit before I go back up top." I said, somewhat distractedly as I wandered off.
Not quite sure what I was seeking, I relaxed and just kinda went where I felt like going. Very quickly, I was back at that statue that'd resonated with my memory-related power, the one that was probably the spiritual representation of it. A Magus would have probably had some sort of long-winded technical explanation if the knowledge that I'd taken just previously was anything to go by, but I wasn't one and had other priorities at the moment. I felt the power resonating, and some earlier thoughts on the nature and uses of Spiritual Power and Spiritual Pressure were the center of it. I sat there and thought about it, what it all meant. What I already knew, what I'd absorbed from those whose souls i'd just shattered, and memory were coming together, though my own memories seemed to disagree on certain points with what I'd learned.
Reiryoku, or Spiritual Power, is pretty much the same thing as Od, to the extent that they're generally considered to be the same energy under different names, and can be used in ways that are much the same, with the major difference being that Od tends to be filtered through Magic Circuits while Spiritual Power is usually directly handled by the soul and the willpower of the user. Even their uses are nearly indentical, and one who possesses significant Spiritual Power can also be considered to possess a significant amount of Od, though refinining Od from raw Magical Energy or Reishi aka Spirit Particles two other energies with similar origins, uses, and functions, requires a living body, whereas refining Spiritual Power from Reishi does not and is quite easily undertaken by Spiritual bodies such as Shinigami, Hollows, and Spirits.
Whether the Kido Spells of Shinigami or the Magecraft of Magi, the two use their respective energies to enact Mystery, and the boosts to strength, speed, and other bodily aspects one can gain via control and infusion of Spiritual Power are very similar to Reinforcement Magecraft. While most Magi never get quite good enough to manage the equivalent of the Flash Step, the Flash Step is merely high-speed movement and not teleportation, and as such can be acheived if a Magus is sufficiently strong and/or uses Spiritual Energy as a supplement to their Magic Circuits, a favored tactic among the less close-minded Magi as Spiritual Power is significantly more responsive to training than Magic Circuits and if trained alongside the usage of such circuits, will gradually improve the quality and capacity of them as it does the rest of the body and spirit, and help with the Magus's overall fitness, enabling Magi as a whole to keep up with the other human and non-human factions who trouble the living and the dead, and both could be used to power items of power such as Zanpakuto and Mystic Codes.
My own memories seemed to disagree with this, noting that while they were fundamentally similar, they should be separate things. Images flashed in my head, scenes of a teenage Soul Reaper with an oversized sword fighting Hollows juxtaposed with scenes of a young man holding twin falchions and attempting to fight off what I instinctively knew was a Heroic Spirit and her Master. Images of different figures drawn in similar styles explaining the respective natures of each energy, in ways that mostly agreed but slightly clashed with what I'd found out. Images of other Hollows and Shinigami, Magi and Heroic Spirits, battling it out. Well drawn images that showed off the action well, and seemed to be paired with sound, but images nonetheless. A strange thing, and I'd really have to dig into my memories more to find out why, but the more I learned about this world the more the memories I unearthed from within myself had some incongruities with it. Maybe it had to do with how I ended up here with suppressed memories in the first place? Regardless, the information from both within and without was very useful, and that was even before I delved into Spiritual Pressure.
Spiritual Pressure, or Reiatsu, was the pressure exerted by the natural emission of one's Spiritual Power, and could be toned up or down, even to the point of entirely hiding it or openly broadcasting it. When one had greater Spiritual Pressure than the opponent, it was easier to hurt them and hard to be hurt, the the fact that enough released Spiritual Pressure eventually took on a shape of its own, and that it can be used to stun or knock an opponent unconcious.
What I didn't know until these newly emerged me, however was that in addition to the passive defensive effects, one could actively use it to bolster one's defenses or to repel an attack. In addition, its offensive uses fell into two distinct categories: psychological and physical. The psychological effects were the obvious stunning, but also the fact that to anyone who could sense Spiritual Pressure, an amount significantly higher than their own would strike fear into them, though this could be opposed by willpower. As well, one could paralyze an opponent with significantly weaker Spiritual Pressure, rendering them unable to move unless they had sufficient willpower, or cause phantom pains, like feeling as if one was being stabbed or burned or had a weapon held to one's neck if the user of the Spiritual Pressure was strong and hostile enough.
The physical-type included direct physical damage, whether by focusing one's Spiritual Pressure through a medium to enhance the effect of the attack, using it in focused shockwaves or simply blasting it out, potentially doing lethal damage if the strength gap was enough, and if one had a strong elemental affinity, one's Spiritual Pressure would take on its aspects when used offensively. This was pretty interesting stuff, and convinced me that I'd been WAY underestimating the usefulness of it. Hell, the information from the Magi who'd been unfortunate enough to end up getting shattered into bits of soul told me that Spiritual Pressure was even used to reinforce or weaken the effects of Magecraft! Wow, this was pretty useful information and some of the images I'd seen felt pretty important, like they held some sort of significance! Regardless, I finished my meditation by sorting through what I'd gained previously, hoping it'd be useful. It'd been pretty tiring, but overall pretty beneficial. I focused and began to slip out of my inner world, my vision blurring as the sands of Hueco Mundo reasserted themselves in my sight.
(Artemis Great Success, DC EXCEEDED)
~~~~
Skills Unlocked! Skill Experience Gained! Abilities Revealed!
Lapine Martial Arts: With the combination of your own self-created attacks, the memories of at least one good Martial Artist, and the infusion of Spiritual Power, you may execute various unarmed physical techniques and infuse them with Spiritual Power to strengthen the blows, break through enemy defenses, and the like. Rank F.
Lapine Martial Arts has gained 150 experience from assimilating your previous skills and from you beginning to assimilate the skills of those you broke down into shard of memory, bringing it to 150/200.
Spiritual Infusion Cooking: due to the experiences of that Magus Chef and the slight stirring it gave your own memories of cooking, you've gained some basic cooking skills and the ability to infuse your own Spiritual Energy into dishes you make! Requires the neccesary utensils, tools, and materials to cook a meal. Rank F.
Spiritual Infusion Cooking has not gained any experience, but the assimilated cooking experience will make it grow faster as you do practice cooking.
As for the sword/spear/gun/other weapon skills that were in there: if you want those, get weapons and practice with them, and it'll greatly speed the training process in those specific regards, Artemis's mind is kinda putting it on a drip-feed so she doesn't get overwhelmed. Same goes for Kido/Magecraft, once you get a capable trainer in those.
???-Memory is revealed to be Memoria!
Memoria: This power is the power of Memory, something so important to you. La Memoria can be used to awaken memory, whether in yourself or others, and it can also be used to suppress it, though this is much more difficult. Rank F.
Memoria has gained 140 experience from you using it to assimilate all those memories, that last memory roll, and from you kinda subconsciously nudging the memories of those you didn't make into paste around. If you want to grow La Memoria further, use it to roll Memory Rolls for yourself or bring back the memories of others. 160/200.
???-Soul/Bond is revealed to be La Alma!
La Alma: You have an innate power over and understanding of Souls and the emotional and other bonds between them, As of now, you can use this power to manipulate Souls, with your easiest method being purification, though more complex manipulation methods are likely possible, such as direct healing of the soul, though you don't really know if you can do stuff like that yet. The other known ability of La Alma is to transfer emotional bonds between Souls into strength, manifesting in you gaining traits and other bonuses from others as your bond with them grows. In return, they also gain similar from you. Both functions have more intricacies that have to be explored and unlocked! Rank F.
La Alma has gained 170 experience from your purification spree and deft manipulation of Souls, bringing it to a total of 190/200!
The Caretakers are now taking care of your inner world! Your actions will affect your inner world and them, and for now they aren't really capable of leaving it! When they are, your relationship meter with them will be unlocked and all relationship points applied. If you want to interact with them, you must enter your inner world! One of them is a canon character, and the others are all OCs, and I would appreciate it if y'all helped me spitball ideas for names, backgrounds, powers and the like for them!
Spiritual Power Infusion has gained 45 experience from your purification spree combined with a few relevant memories, pushing it up to rank E!
Some Memory Roll keywords have been added to the list on the Character Sheet! When making a memory roll attempt that isn't one prompted by plot or character presence, pick one from the list!
~~~~
As my vision cleared, I saw Braddock B. Kong looking at me, the two of us surrounded by a fairly large group of confused and slightly panicking Pluses. Of course, I couldn't really abandon them here, in this place where Hollows would just eat-and-corrupt them after I'd JUST got done purifying them, so what was I to do? How exactly could I solve this? Hell, they all had just a smidge more Spiritual Power than the average Plus, meaning they had growth potential and would go hungry if my information was correct.
Should I...
[ ] Take them to the Human World in small groups, while Kong watches over the large group. (not too hard but no a great option long-term as they could easily be eaten or corrupted again and likely will be if a Soul Reaper doesn't locate them in time)
[ ] While Kong guards the Pluses, Go to the Human World and use myself as bait to lure out a Soul Reaper, explain the situation to them, and then have them perform Konsou on the group(Risky, but has the highest chance of permanently helping these ex-Hollows and has the chance of establshing good relations with said individual Soul Reaper and possibly Soul Reapers overall)
[ ] Escort them to the human world as one large group, repulsing threats there until a Soul Reaper shows up and explaining the situation (Very difficult, still has a good chance of helping them permanently but will make it harder to keep them safe in the process, though probably making it easier to convince the Shinigami)
[ ] Write-In
Sorry for the lateness and length, folks! Typically updates are more frequent and shorter, but I've been prepping to move,moving, and recovering from moving for the last week, so this took longer than I wanted and ended up really long! Again, helping me come up with names/powersets/etc for the Caretaker Hollows is appreciated.
Dominate Them received no votes
Expel Them received 1 vote (though it was originally 2) on Spacebattles, for a total of 1 vote!
Establish A Consensus received one vote on Spacebattles, for a total of 1 vote!
Purify them. Sort them by how cooperative they are. The least cooperative get to be dismantled, broken up until they lose coherence, then the bits sorted by type, you'll figure out which bits you want to keep and expel the undesirable types. received 3 votes on Spacebattles and 1 on Sufficient Velocity, for a total of 4 votes!
This option won!
~~~~
Our Rolls
Purification 93
+5 (??? The soul/bond one) +5(MY BODY. MINE.)
Result=103
Don't Be Overwhelmed by Hollow Resistance:28
+5 Home FIeld Advantage , +5 Purifying Moon, -5 Holy Shit There's A Lot Of You
Result=33
Memory Roll: 78
+ 5 ???-Memory Power,+5 I Already Know Stuff About This
Result=88
vs
Hollow Roll
Resist Purification:23
+5 We Have Reserves, -5 Unfamiliar Territory
Result=23
So with 103, 33, 88 vs DC 50, 23, DC 55, we have Crushing Success, Bare Success, Greater Success vs DC EXCEEDED, Bare Failure, DC EXCEEDED
~~~
The voices in my head kept up their unending chorus, and I didn't quite know what to do. One of them had mentioned purity within me, right? And Hollows are weak to Purification, it's painful to the corrupted souls and reverts them to Pluses in sufficient amounts. That's how Shinigami deal with us, anyways, since Zanpakuto all have the innate trait of purifying spirits of corruption. I had to reach for that purity within, and use it to deal with the problem. I could feel it, silvery moonlight glowing within me, a key part of that power within me that governed Souls and Bonds. I reached for it, pulling deeply into myself, as far as I could go. It was...odd, seeing the manifestation of my inner self, the form of my soul.
I stood on top of a castle, in the center of a city. The city was a strange mishmash of architectural styles and aesthetics of different places and eras, with some straight out of fantasy. Skyscrapers of metal and glass, stone arches and palisades, crystal spires that stretched towards the heavens, streets that went from asphalt to cobblestone to dirt to stranger substances. An entire city block seemed to be carved out of thick white ice, snow hanging from the awnings and piling on the sidewalks of that portion of the city. Gargoyles adorned some buildings, in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and in many different materials. Statues of figures with unclear features stood in parks and public places, and I felt a deep ache as I could tell that the subjects of them had once been important to me. Abandoned vehicles and empty homes of all kinds, giving the feeling of a quiet and dead city that had once been vibrant.
The city was surrounded by an endless forest, full of trees and bushes of all kinds, from those bearing fruit and nuts to those actively dangerous, like the Devil's Walking Stick. The forest had different sections, some marshy, some your standard temperate forest, a few that were tropical or boreal, and at least one spot full of strange silvery crystalline trees that gleamed in the moonlight. The forest was cut through by roads and paths spidering out from the city, allowing access to the wild. Clearings were scattered throughout the forest, though it seemed there wasn't much in the way of animal life in my inner world, which made sense to me, since it wasn't technically a real world. I looked up at the night sky of my inner world, and I saw.
The bright silver moon hanging overhead had streaks of black and brown across it like tarnish on metal, and the more I looked around, the more evidence of corruption I saw in my inner world, this manifestation of my soul. Trees blighted with whiteflies or fungus, paths in disrepair, piles of bleached white bones in the clearings. There were broken windows and busted doors, houses falling apart with holes in their walls or ceilings. There were destroyed or rusted-out vehicles and roughed-up roads. In a far corner of the city, I noticed a small, somewhat dinged up statue of myself, of what I was quite sure I'd looked like upon arriving in this strange place, before my body warped into a Hollow's, and what I wasn't sure I'd look like ever again. It was made of ceramic, painted with bright colors, and my chest ached as I saw at least, some version of myself. I hopped over and examined it closely, wanting to get a good look and maybe remember more about myself.
The statue of myself had long thick brown hair that spilled down its chest and over my back, thick glasses framing brown eyes. There was a slightly prominent brow ridge that gave the statue a large forehead, coupled with a strong chin and soft, somewhat puffy cheeks. An awkward, shy smile. A tall, large frame, with broad shoulders, a long torso and wide hips, long arms that reached a bit past its waist tipped with large hands that had long fingers that seemed somewhat like an artisan's despite their thickness. Long, thick legs that still luckily managed to be well proportioned.The outfit was nice, too, a leather jacket over some kind of mesh shirt that itself covered some sort of bra or bustier, coupled with a short, pleated skirt, thigh-high socks, and lace-up boots with a thick, wedgelike heel. I faintly remembered that people had told me, in my former life, that i'd make a pretty woman. I'd leave that judgment up to others, I suppose, but the swirl of feelings in my chest told me this was certainly how I saw myself, or at least wanted to look like. Hell, if the statue was true to life, I'd been around 6 feet tall before I became what I was now! That strength within me, the one governing memory,seemed to resonate with this statue, making me wonder if this statue was the representation of it.
I stared at the statue for some time, enjoying the peace of my inner world, before the Hollows came out of the forest, walking, crawling, jumping and flying toward the city. I leapt away from the statue, going to meet them as that pure silver light that I'd called upon cloaked me in an aura of moonlight. That power, derived from the power of bonds and souls that slept within me, placidly swam around me, like a predator waiting for the right time to strike. It carried more than purification, drawing a bit on what I could tell were other aspects of the ability, but I wasn't too concerned about that, as I had a more pressing concern.
Here, within my soul, there were more Hollows than the ones I'd devoured! Probably the Soul-Scape/Inner World/Whatever considering the minds of devoured Hollows trapped within these weaklings to be separate souls, the same way it treated these Hollow's souls as separate from mine. Whatever the case, it seemed that I'd have to deal with these Hollows, and I figured the purification would work. Seeing the hostile stances of some, the wariness of others, and the quiet waves and cheerful greetings of others, I came up with a plan.
The worst souls, the least cooperative, the ones that glowed with an aura of sin and gave off a feeling of evil when I looked at them through my cloak of silver light, were the the ones that had committed the worst sins in life. It was an instinctual knowledge, like the hunger swirling in my chest or the flashes of memory that filled me when I seemed to need them, or the natural understanding I somehow had of that purifying power that swirled around me, now. Many lacked this, their sins and evil less deep, less part of them, seemingly gained during their time as Hollows. Many of these, and most of the rest who weren't the terrifyingly evil ones, seemed to mostly do these things to survive, or because having so many voices in their heads had driven them to desperation, and not because they found joy in it. There even seemed to be some like my simian friend, who'd retained much of their humanity and failed to be driven to the worst, who'd only unfortunately fallen to their greed when presented with such an opportunity.
So obviously, I'd crush the absolute worst souls into fragments with my power, taking from them what I wanted and discarding the rest. I'd purify the rest to a gentler degree, cleaning the corruption and emptiness of Hollowfication from their souls, and seeing what would happen. Perhaps I'd even keep a few souls that weren't so bad in here, as long as they helped clean up the city and didn't make a mess of things. It'd certainly be interesting to see the results of that. I had the feeling, though, that even if purification was survived, many of the souls would leave once what happened, happened. I could tell they knew it too, and as I advanced toward them and the silver light flared, the Hollows began to resist, some even attacking me!
But honestly, they had to know that wasn't going to work. They'd failed before, and this time the home field advantage was really mine! I flared the silver light cloaking me out, smashing it into the Hollows as I physically struck back at those stupid enough to strike me. The battle went back and forth, the sheer might of numbers attacking me nearly bringing me under, but I persevered, and in the end, the Hollows were all unconscious, knocked off their feet, or willingly kneeling. I was pretty battered up too, and it'd take a bit if I needed to be able to fight, up there on the outside, but I'd managed to subdue them all, if barely. The silver light flickered and seemed to reach towards the Hollows, as if it were hungry.
(Artemis Bare Success, Hollows Bare Failure)
As such, I gathered the ones with the worst sins, pulling them forwards and infusing my Spiritual Power into my fists as I focused the pulsing silver light into a thin sheen of silver coating my fists, striking them with gleaming silver blows. As I slowly destroyed the least cooperative, the foul beings who'd become parasites in my soul, I reached for the other power within, the power relating to Memory and Knowledge. With the two working together,I gathered the fragmented bits of soul and began to sort them.
First there were the desires. The base instincts of every person. Of course, there were the typical things you'd expect, the desires to breed, to feed, to fight and kill, to put oneself before others, jealousy, rage, pain, graphic tortures and sadism and schadenfreude. But even here, in those who were so terrible, there were the other base human instincts. Joy and laughter, the desire to share one's accomplishments, compassion and protectiveness, learning and love and the songs and dances and stories everyone carries in our hearts. That basic human desire for friends, to be cared for and appreciated. Most people spent their lives believing that only the inner darkness of humans was innate, but the truth was that we had prospered due to all aspects of what it meant to be human.
I sorted the shards of emotions, what didn't fit being allowed to dissipate and the rest gathering together before splitting into flows that fed themselves into me and the standing Hollows. There was still much left, memories belonging to those I'd shattered. Skills and experiences, echoes of hopes and heartbreaks. Humans fighting each other, fighting Phantasmal Beasts, fighting Hollows and things they couldn't quite comprehend. There were vampiric monsters, known as Dead Apostles, killing Magi as easily as a well-trained soldier kills civilians. All sorts of spiritual and physical beings, from the Heroic Spirits to Phantoms to Homunculi.
The memories flickered and seemed to shed parts under the influence of the twin powers, much of the personal fading to leave behind raw knowledge. Events and places and people, skills and stories.
I was the master of Lancer, in the Second Holy Grail War. From birth, I was shaped and sculpted for it, knowing nothing else. My name is Adelfried Von Einzbern, and above all else, I was a Magus. I grew up dreaming of fighting Hollows and Dead Apostles, of becoming an Enforcer of the Clock Tower. I summoned Lancer ahead of time, and he grew angry at the way my family had sculpted me into a weapon, citing his own origins as the man who rose to be king of a warrior kingdom as the source of his distaste. Despite his build and his brash attitude, Lancer treated me well, and to keep him sustained through that war I did horrible things. Worse, my dying resentment at losing him, the only one who'd ever bothered to see me as a person, turned me into this. I have scrabbled among the sands of Hueco Mundo for decades, scarcely remembering myself.
Knowledge of Magecraft, of the Holy Grail War, Homunculi and the Clock Tower slipped into me, nudging memories of my own into accessibility. What impressions I had seemed different from the ones in this fallen Magus's memories, but I'd have to set aside time to really unearth the relevant memories later, as I was processing more and more , discarding what needed to be discarded,
I was a soldier, fighting in The Great War. I went home when the war ended, and I died of illness not too long ago. There's another great war brewing, and my people were already at war with China when I passed. Among men, guns and planes and bombs reign supreme, and the bloody waltz of death we danced with blades and bayonets in the trenches is not likely to be a feature of war any longer.
I was a Sōhei of Mount Hiei, fighting in the rebellion against the Kamakura Shogunate. I had honed my skills with knife and sword and spear for decades, carrying my Tanto and Tachi and Naginata with me as I went from one who followed the precepts of Buddhism to one caked in the blood of many. I betrayed my brother monks to the shogunate, and suffered a traitor's reward. My name was Iwaki Katakiyo, and no one remembers me.
I was a martial artist who wandered Japan, learning various ways to fight. I was mostly skilled in jujutsu and the skill that has come to be known as Karate, but my skills with the bow were respected as well. I was Kagawa Hisami, the daughter of a minor Samurai, and I ran away from home after killing the old freak that my father had attempted to marry me off to. From there, I wandered Japan, slowly going from one who stood up for the common people and women to a woman drowning in booze and blood, executed by my own father after I fell victim to the same iniquities I'd once fought against.
I was a chef and a Magus, dabbling in interesting ingredients and the use of Magecraft and Spiritual Power in cooking. I didn't care at all for the Root, seeking to make food people enjoyed, but after a great personal tragedy I delved into poison and caused much pain in my research fueled by hate and grief. Eventually, I was consumed by a Dead Apostle.
These, and other stories and names flashed through me, stirring memories of my own and providing the basis to develop or improve skills, since the raw knowledge did include a lot that would be of use. I hoped that with the personalities and darker experiences no longer attached, this wouldn't affect my personality too much, but right now it was too early to tell, and I had my own memories to worry about. When I was done with those who carried such evil, I started in on the rest, though with them my methods were different.
I pulled them in and pulsed the purifying light through them gently, clearing away the corruption of their Hollowfication. Hollow flesh pulsed and warped, growing or shrinking as needed, as their bodies reshaped themselves back to humanity. Skin faded back to the natural tones, clothes that seemed to have been there the whole time re-emerging as the limbs it covered returned. Masks didn't break, instead melting in a flow of white and patching the holes in these Hollow's chests, the glowing yellow of their eyes returning to greens and blues and browns.Their Spiritual Pressures shrank to just a little more than a basic Plus. as their Spiritual Power had been taken when they were devoured. So, apart from the basic sliver of power they'd retain, they couldn't even take Spiritual Power from me now, as what had been theirs was that of a Hollow, even if it had been purified and assimilated by me. Furthermore, they would not be able to stay in my soul, as the inner world of a Hollow was antithetical to Pluses. Those who were consumed in the human world invariably ending up corrupted by the Hollow that had consumed them, or at least none of the ones who'd ended up consumed by me had been able to escape that fate.
Some individuals, those few that had firmly held onto their humanity, didn't revert, keeping their forms and their places in my Inner World, though given their weak Spiritual Pressures they'd need to start all the way over from the bottom in terms of gaining strength, One by one, they knelt. A hollow whose form resembled an overly large housecat, the boar-like Hollow who'd been smart enough to ask questions, another whose form resembled an anthromorphized gliding lizard, one whose form seemed to resemble a strange creature of vaguely humanoid frame, with the upper body covered in Hollow Bone with a rock-like texture, weird rocky fin-thing attached to the upper arms and shoulders and a furry lower half , and one who resembled nothing more than an overly large otter.
"....Looks like you're sticking around, then?" I asked the remaining few.
The rocky one blinked. "Yeah. Hollows can't really keep evolving the normal way after even a bit of them's been eaten, so." His voice caught me off guard, as I wasn't expecting a voice that was deep, arrogant, and somewhat smooth to come out of someone who looked like that.
The others nodded along, not really feeling the need to elaborate on the rock-like hollow's statement. They got up from their kneeling postures, eyeing me curiously with the yellow eyes so common among Hollows, especially the low-level ones. The cat seemed especially relieved, having had the hardest time kneeling.
"Ugh, fine. But if you're squatting in my soul, you gotta take care of the place. Clean and repair what you can, observe how my actions out there affect stuff in here, all that stuff."
The five blinked at me, taken somewhat off-guard, but then turned to each other and whispered in tones I didn't quite catch. It seemed to take them a bit, but with the situation being what it was, the conclusion they'd come to was pretty obvious. I couldn't bring myself to purify them in the way that'd destroy them, and if I attempted to revert them to Pluses against their will it could do more harm than good, so this was the only real choice for now.
" Whatever y' say, Miss. Just as long as we've got the tools and trainin' to do it." The boar-like Holow said, relief and a bit of reverence in her voice.
I considered that and nodded, accepting their intentions. It would probably help me in the long run, and I kinda wanted to see the results of what would happen. If they ended up pushing me further towards corruption or damaged my soul with their presence or actions, I could always give them the boot, but there was definitely a possibility of really interesting stuff happening, or at least I wanted to believe that.
(Artemis Crushing Success, DC EXCEEDED)
"Well..ok, that works. Make yourselves at home, I'm gonna be in here for a little bit before I go back up top." I said, somewhat distractedly as I wandered off.
Not quite sure what I was seeking, I relaxed and just kinda went where I felt like going. Very quickly, I was back at that statue that'd resonated with my memory-related power, the one that was probably the spiritual representation of it. A Magus would have probably had some sort of long-winded technical explanation if the knowledge that I'd taken just previously was anything to go by, but I wasn't one and had other priorities at the moment. I felt the power resonating, and some earlier thoughts on the nature and uses of Spiritual Power and Spiritual Pressure were the center of it. I sat there and thought about it, what it all meant. What I already knew, what I'd absorbed from those whose souls i'd just shattered, and memory were coming together, though my own memories seemed to disagree on certain points with what I'd learned.
Reiryoku, or Spiritual Power, is pretty much the same thing as Od, to the extent that they're generally considered to be the same energy under different names, and can be used in ways that are much the same, with the major difference being that Od tends to be filtered through Magic Circuits while Spiritual Power is usually directly handled by the soul and the willpower of the user. Even their uses are nearly indentical, and one who possesses significant Spiritual Power can also be considered to possess a significant amount of Od, though refinining Od from raw Magical Energy or Reishi aka Spirit Particles two other energies with similar origins, uses, and functions, requires a living body, whereas refining Spiritual Power from Reishi does not and is quite easily undertaken by Spiritual bodies such as Shinigami, Hollows, and Spirits.
Whether the Kido Spells of Shinigami or the Magecraft of Magi, the two use their respective energies to enact Mystery, and the boosts to strength, speed, and other bodily aspects one can gain via control and infusion of Spiritual Power are very similar to Reinforcement Magecraft. While most Magi never get quite good enough to manage the equivalent of the Flash Step, the Flash Step is merely high-speed movement and not teleportation, and as such can be acheived if a Magus is sufficiently strong and/or uses Spiritual Energy as a supplement to their Magic Circuits, a favored tactic among the less close-minded Magi as Spiritual Power is significantly more responsive to training than Magic Circuits and if trained alongside the usage of such circuits, will gradually improve the quality and capacity of them as it does the rest of the body and spirit, and help with the Magus's overall fitness, enabling Magi as a whole to keep up with the other human and non-human factions who trouble the living and the dead, and both could be used to power items of power such as Zanpakuto and Mystic Codes.
My own memories seemed to disagree with this, noting that while they were fundamentally similar, they should be separate things. Images flashed in my head, scenes of a teenage Soul Reaper with an oversized sword fighting Hollows juxtaposed with scenes of a young man holding twin falchions and attempting to fight off what I instinctively knew was a Heroic Spirit and her Master. Images of different figures drawn in similar styles explaining the respective natures of each energy, in ways that mostly agreed but slightly clashed with what I'd found out. Images of other Hollows and Shinigami, Magi and Heroic Spirits, battling it out. Well drawn images that showed off the action well, and seemed to be paired with sound, but images nonetheless. A strange thing, and I'd really have to dig into my memories more to find out why, but the more I learned about this world the more the memories I unearthed from within myself had some incongruities with it. Maybe it had to do with how I ended up here with suppressed memories in the first place? Regardless, the information from both within and without was very useful, and that was even before I delved into Spiritual Pressure.
Spiritual Pressure, or Reiatsu, was the pressure exerted by the natural emission of one's Spiritual Power, and could be toned up or down, even to the point of entirely hiding it or openly broadcasting it. When one had greater Spiritual Pressure than the opponent, it was easier to hurt them and hard to be hurt, the the fact that enough released Spiritual Pressure eventually took on a shape of its own, and that it can be used to stun or knock an opponent unconcious.
What I didn't know until these newly emerged me, however was that in addition to the passive defensive effects, one could actively use it to bolster one's defenses or to repel an attack. In addition, its offensive uses fell into two distinct categories: psychological and physical. The psychological effects were the obvious stunning, but also the fact that to anyone who could sense Spiritual Pressure, an amount significantly higher than their own would strike fear into them, though this could be opposed by willpower. As well, one could paralyze an opponent with significantly weaker Spiritual Pressure, rendering them unable to move unless they had sufficient willpower, or cause phantom pains, like feeling as if one was being stabbed or burned or had a weapon held to one's neck if the user of the Spiritual Pressure was strong and hostile enough.
The physical-type included direct physical damage, whether by focusing one's Spiritual Pressure through a medium to enhance the effect of the attack, using it in focused shockwaves or simply blasting it out, potentially doing lethal damage if the strength gap was enough, and if one had a strong elemental affinity, one's Spiritual Pressure would take on its aspects when used offensively. This was pretty interesting stuff, and convinced me that I'd been WAY underestimating the usefulness of it. Hell, the information from the Magi who'd been unfortunate enough to end up getting shattered into bits of soul told me that Spiritual Pressure was even used to reinforce or weaken the effects of Magecraft! Wow, this was pretty useful information and some of the images I'd seen felt pretty important, like they held some sort of significance! Regardless, I finished my meditation by sorting through what I'd gained previously, hoping it'd be useful. It'd been pretty tiring, but overall pretty beneficial. I focused and began to slip out of my inner world, my vision blurring as the sands of Hueco Mundo reasserted themselves in my sight.
(Artemis Great Success, DC EXCEEDED)
~~~~
Skills Unlocked! Skill Experience Gained! Abilities Revealed!
Lapine Martial Arts: With the combination of your own self-created attacks, the memories of at least one good Martial Artist, and the infusion of Spiritual Power, you may execute various unarmed physical techniques and infuse them with Spiritual Power to strengthen the blows, break through enemy defenses, and the like. Rank F.
Lapine Martial Arts has gained 150 experience from assimilating your previous skills and from you beginning to assimilate the skills of those you broke down into shard of memory, bringing it to 150/200.
Spiritual Infusion Cooking: due to the experiences of that Magus Chef and the slight stirring it gave your own memories of cooking, you've gained some basic cooking skills and the ability to infuse your own Spiritual Energy into dishes you make! Requires the neccesary utensils, tools, and materials to cook a meal. Rank F.
Spiritual Infusion Cooking has not gained any experience, but the assimilated cooking experience will make it grow faster as you do practice cooking.
As for the sword/spear/gun/other weapon skills that were in there: if you want those, get weapons and practice with them, and it'll greatly speed the training process in those specific regards, Artemis's mind is kinda putting it on a drip-feed so she doesn't get overwhelmed. Same goes for Kido/Magecraft, once you get a capable trainer in those.
???-Memory is revealed to be Memoria!
Memoria: This power is the power of Memory, something so important to you. La Memoria can be used to awaken memory, whether in yourself or others, and it can also be used to suppress it, though this is much more difficult. Rank F.
Memoria has gained 140 experience from you using it to assimilate all those memories, that last memory roll, and from you kinda subconsciously nudging the memories of those you didn't make into paste around. If you want to grow La Memoria further, use it to roll Memory Rolls for yourself or bring back the memories of others. 160/200.
???-Soul/Bond is revealed to be La Alma!
La Alma: You have an innate power over and understanding of Souls and the emotional and other bonds between them, As of now, you can use this power to manipulate Souls, with your easiest method being purification, though more complex manipulation methods are likely possible, such as direct healing of the soul, though you don't really know if you can do stuff like that yet. The other known ability of La Alma is to transfer emotional bonds between Souls into strength, manifesting in you gaining traits and other bonuses from others as your bond with them grows. In return, they also gain similar from you. Both functions have more intricacies that have to be explored and unlocked! Rank F.
La Alma has gained 170 experience from your purification spree and deft manipulation of Souls, bringing it to a total of 190/200!
The Caretakers are now taking care of your inner world! Your actions will affect your inner world and them, and for now they aren't really capable of leaving it! When they are, your relationship meter with them will be unlocked and all relationship points applied. If you want to interact with them, you must enter your inner world! One of them is a canon character, and the others are all OCs, and I would appreciate it if y'all helped me spitball ideas for names, backgrounds, powers and the like for them!
Spiritual Power Infusion has gained 45 experience from your purification spree combined with a few relevant memories, pushing it up to rank E!
Some Memory Roll keywords have been added to the list on the Character Sheet! When making a memory roll attempt that isn't one prompted by plot or character presence, pick one from the list!
~~~~
As my vision cleared, I saw Braddock B. Kong looking at me, the two of us surrounded by a fairly large group of confused and slightly panicking Pluses. Of course, I couldn't really abandon them here, in this place where Hollows would just eat-and-corrupt them after I'd JUST got done purifying them, so what was I to do? How exactly could I solve this? Hell, they all had just a smidge more Spiritual Power than the average Plus, meaning they had growth potential and would go hungry if my information was correct.
Should I...
[ ] Take them to the Human World in small groups, while Kong watches over the large group. (not too hard but no a great option long-term as they could easily be eaten or corrupted again and likely will be if a Soul Reaper doesn't locate them in time)
[ ] While Kong guards the Pluses, Go to the Human World and use myself as bait to lure out a Soul Reaper, explain the situation to them, and then have them perform Konsou on the group(Risky, but has the highest chance of permanently helping these ex-Hollows and has the chance of establshing good relations with said individual Soul Reaper and possibly Soul Reapers overall)
[ ] Escort them to the human world as one large group, repulsing threats there until a Soul Reaper shows up and explaining the situation (Very difficult, still has a good chance of helping them permanently but will make it harder to keep them safe in the process, though probably making it easier to convince the Shinigami)
[ ] Write-In
Sorry for the lateness and length, folks! Typically updates are more frequent and shorter, but I've been prepping to move,moving, and recovering from moving for the last week, so this took longer than I wanted and ended up really long! Again, helping me come up with names/powersets/etc for the Caretaker Hollows is appreciated.
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
[ ] While Kong guards the Pluses, Go to the Human World and use myself as bait to lure out a Soul Reaper, explain the situation to them, and then have them perform Konsou on the group(Risky, but has the highest chance of permanently helping these ex-Hollows and has the chance of establshing good relations with said individual Soul Reaper and possibly Soul Reapers overall)
ayy lmao , time to roll the dice
ayy lmao , time to roll the dice
[X] Escort them to the human world as one large group, repulsing threats there until a Soul Reaper shows up and explaining the situation (Very difficult, still has a good chance of helping them permanently but will make it harder to keep them safe in the process, though probably making it easier to convince the Shinigami)
DragonGrimoire
Half Dragon, Half Cat, Half Spellbook, All Cute
- Location
- On Your Lap, Sleeping
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Hers
Current Tally is
2 for Baiting The Soul Reaper
1 for Escorting
4 for Arrkhon's Write-In:
Take the pluses to a church, the clergy should be more than capable of taking care of them
gonna give it a good bit and then close the vote
2 for Baiting The Soul Reaper
1 for Escorting
4 for Arrkhon's Write-In:
Take the pluses to a church, the clergy should be more than capable of taking care of them
gonna give it a good bit and then close the vote
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Ya know, this is a pretty interesting quest, with a pretty decent premise. Bit of a shame there ain't more discussion.
Eh, whatever
Anyways, my bets are on weird rock guy being Edrad Liones, since the qm's description was pretty close to the description his Hollow form had, though im guessing the differences are there to account for not having evolved beyond base level Hollow yet. Gillian are super weird, if ya think about it. Ya lose all identifying features except the mask until you hit Adjuchas level.
Eh, whatever
Anyways, my bets are on weird rock guy being Edrad Liones, since the qm's description was pretty close to the description his Hollow form had, though im guessing the differences are there to account for not having evolved beyond base level Hollow yet. Gillian are super weird, if ya think about it. Ya lose all identifying features except the mask until you hit Adjuchas level.
DragonGrimoire
Half Dragon, Half Cat, Half Spellbook, All Cute
- Location
- On Your Lap, Sleeping
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Hers
Closing the vote and writing/rolling now! Expect the update by either late tonight or sometime tommorow, depending on a couple factors.
A Familiar City
DragonGrimoire
Half Dragon, Half Cat, Half Spellbook, All Cute
- Location
- On Your Lap, Sleeping
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Hers
Final Vote Tally:
Take them to the Human World in small groups, while Kong watches over the large group. (not too hard but no a great option long-term as they could easily be eaten or corrupted again and likely will be if a Soul Reaper doesn't locate them in time)
Recieved 0 Votes for a total of 0 Votes!
While Kong guards the Pluses, Go to the Human World and use myself as bait to lure out a Soul Reaper, explain the situation to them, and then have them perform Konsou on the group(Risky, but has the highest chance of permanently helping these ex-Hollows and has the chance of establshing good relations with said individual Soul Reaper and possibly Soul Reapers overall)
Recieved 1 Vote on Spacebattles and one On Sufficient Velocity, for a total of 2 votes!
Escort them to the human world as one large group, repulsing threats there until a Soul Reaper shows up and explaining the situation (Very difficult, still has a good chance of helping them permanently but will make it harder to keep them safe in the process, though probably making it easier to convince the Shinigami)
Recieved 1 Vote On Sufficient Velocity for a total of 1 vote!
Write-In (from Arrkhon)
Take the pluses to a church, the clergy should be more than capable of taking care of them
Recieved 4 votes on Spacebattles for a total of 4 votes!
~~~~~
Our Rolls
Sneak through the city roll
77 -15 (bigass Hollow leading a crowd of Pluses)+5 (Blessed by the Hunt Goddess)+5(Rabbits are sneaky)
=72
Persuasion Roll
40+5(He can feel the purity) +5(Helping others) +5(Not your typical Hollow) -5(Still A Hollow)
=50
Memory Roll (The Priest) 18
+5 (Oddly familiar) +5 (Fuyuki Related Memory bits)
=28
Priest
Don't be persuaded by the Hollow
10 +5(She's a Hollow)+5(-5(Weird Purity)
So with 72, 50, 28 vs DC 70, 10, DC 65, we have Bare Success, Greater Success, Greater Failure vs DC EXCEEDED, Greater Failure, DC NOT MET
~~~
Relevant Music
I reached out and grabbed a few Pluses, feeling happy that I either lacked the acidic touch i'd seen Hollows display in the assimilated memories or that that ability had to be purposefully activated if I did. I certainly had little reason to test it currently. I phased between worlds, in the way Hollows who hadn't yet reached Menos status did. It had the advantage of not being as obvious as other methods, but unlike those methods, it wouldn't enable me to move these pluses through all at once. It was a labor of gradual shiftings and careful restraining of Spiritual Pressure, but after some time we had the entire group clustered in,...a shopping district? We snuck the large group through the city we were in, looking for local ghosts to ask questions to. Sure, we probably tripped a few magecraft-based alarms, and the same sense that allowed the sensing of Spiritual Pressure warned me that there were..a lot of tiny, evil-feeling spiritual pressures scattered around, but no Hollows found us, and that's absolutely important. Fortunately, we managed to not be attacked as we explored the city, looking for the right place to go. I was informed by a slightly terrified local Plus that the local Church pretty frequently housed Pluses who were waiting for closure or Konsou. That was definitely a better idea than using myself as bait to attract a Soul Reaper and probably piss off the spiritually aware community of Fuyuki City. Sure, I'd grasped the Japan part before even asking anyone, but Fuyuki City? That sounded oddly familiar.
The church was weirdly placed, having been built across the river from the city proper, in an area that hadn't been inhabited for a long time. Apparently, there were plans to eventually make something of the empty land, but nothing would likely come of that for a while. We managed to make it to the church after a bit of exploring, and we managed to not be found by any Hollow close to the relative strength of myself or Kong, though that was to be expected given the habits of stronger Hollows. Those worms had sure felt weird to the same sense that allowed me to sense spiritual beings and spirtual pressure, and the little bird with jewel-like eyes that'd been tailing me had felt...similar, but different. Where the worms had felt of rot and corruption, this bird's Spiritual Pressure was clean, though it felt very odd. A strange mix of elemental and crystalline, like a warm breeze being forced through a porous gemstone. It wasn't something I was going to let bother me, however, as I assumed the strange little creatures were related to Magi in some way, some form of Magecraft-created servant creature? If the memories that'd been triggered earlier were correct, these entities were called Familiars. If the Magi themselves weren't acting, I didn't need to be worried.
(Bare Success, DC EXCEEDED)
Stepping ahead of the crowd of Pluses, I climbed the fence and opened the gate, leading them onto the church property and up the path to the church. Strange, a bit, to see a western-style church in Japan, especially one this ornate, but I supposed it didn't matter. Carefully squeezing past the statue, I knocked on the large wooden doors, and then stood there waiting, hoping the answer would be a greeting and not some sort of weapon or spirit-related Mystic Code. I looked around as I waited, just examining this place through my senses, natural and otherwise. There seemed to be a slightly repulsive feeling in the air, though it wasn't quite that bad, at least not for me. It also felt a little...comfortable, compatible with me in some way. My simian friend seemed to be suffering from it worse than me, but he held up pretty admirably, pushing out a bit of Spiritual Pressure to bear it a little easier. His staff didn't seem to be negatively affected, quietly drinking in some of the ambient Spirit Particles and Prana as I'd half-noticed it do when he was recovering earlier. As for why it did that, I hadn't really asked, but maybe it had something to do with the fact that he pulsed Spiritual Power and Pressure through it during fights?
I didn't have too long to think about it, though as a voice came from the other side of the doors. "....Come in, I suppose. No Hollow would be foolish enough to guide this many souls to a church without good reason." A sigh echoed, and then the magnificent wooden edifice opened, surprisingly quietly for something so big. I gestured to the Pluses and they followed inside, with Kong staying outside to guard the door. I closed the door once all the Pluses were inside, and adressed the priest. He was an Asian man in his 30s, dressed in a black cassock with a purple scarf and a cross necklace. He had very dark brown hair and somewhat familiar facial features, resembling Steven Seagal, apparently. The aura of his not-inconsiderable Spiritual Pressure was...interesting. It was warm and welcoming, a feeling of light and safety, with a slight scholarly bent to it. He stood before me, knowing how much stronger I was than him, with a fearless and tolerant grin on his face.
"Thank you, Reverend uh... I don't actually know your name." I said, grinning under the mask, feeling the damn thing warp and shape what had been intended to be comforting into ghoulish horror.
"Kotomine. Risei Kotomine, Miss." He gave a slight nod, as if he weren't talking to a horrifying monster born out of the corruption of a human soul, as if my voice weren't eerily reverberating due to the stupid fucking mask.
"Artemis-" my old name tried to struggle to my lips, but I couldn't manage it.even if I could fully remember the rest of it, it didn't define me any more. "Coinen Ban. Anyways, I brought these people here since they need to receive Konsou, and I figured taking them to a holy place for them to wait would be better than trying to bait out a Soul Reaper."
Kotomine raised an eyebrow, but didn't burst out laughing or raise his spiritual pressure, so I felt pretty good about my chances.
"Why the rush, Miss Ban? Surely these souls can wait around a short time like the local ghosts do, unless you have greater concerns?" The raised eyebrow went down, and he was now giving me a rather intense, yet still affable and dignified look that said it'd be best to answer him. After all, weren't priests supposed to look after the well-being of their flock?
"They...they used to be Hollows. I imagine you're feeling something in my Spiritual Pressure, something....pure? Long story short, I have abilities relating to the manipulation of Souls and the bonds between them," The priest didn't even raise his eyebrows this time, content to merely give me a look of curiosity and anticipation. " The most major manifestation of which, and the primary one so far, is the ability to purify corruption. I can do this in a violent manner that reduces a Soul to floating shards of being and memory, or in a peaceful way that cleans away the corruption, though I'm not sure if the part where it drained the majority of their Spiritual Power was due to them having been devoured and thus ending up in my inner world, or simply a natural function of the ability."
The priest nodded, seeming to have no issue accepting this. "Well, that would explain why they all still have higher-than-average Spiritual Pressure. While many people in Fuyuki are Spiritually Aware or have higher-than-usual numbers of Magic Circuits due to living on one of Japan's major leyline convergences and the presence of...a certain object of great power attracting the attentions of Hollows and other such beings, these Souls are not local."
An object of great power....like the Wish Granting Grail I'd seen in Adelfried Von Einzbern's memories, and in the flashes of memory of my own with the red-haired teenager and the blond lady knight? If i remembered correctly, the war Adelfried and his beloved Lancer had fought in had been in Fuyuki.
"You mean the Holy Grail, Father Kotomine?" I said, my tone of voice cheeky. This time? The grin was completely intended to be eerie. What can I say? I wanted to ruffle the man's figurative feathers a little, so I did.
The priest was shocked, and flared his Spiritual Pressure, strange black swords abruptly appearing between his fingers. He looked at me with suspicion and a slight bit of fear, the latter hidden beneath the soft and affable dignity he wore as comfortably as his cassock.
"And how, my dear Hollow, do you know about that? Your kind typically don't retain memories of their mortal lives, and you don't seem to be the type who'd otherwise know about it. Your aura shows no signs of Magecraft, you aren't even a Menos yet, you are certainly not part of the Burial Agency or a Fullbringer, and you bear no Zanpakuto." His expression and tone still carried affable dignity, but his Pressure abruptly sharpened, the warmly affable scholar of his God showing off his edge. The warm, friendly light blazed into a a bonfire, and the sharpness in it expressed that compassion and a bright mind were in fact, this man's greatest weapons. "So tell me, how did some nobody of decent strength acquire information of that importance? Do us both a favor and do not lie to me. I would hate to miss such a novel experience as getting to know someone like you, Artemis Coinen Ban." The threat, such as it was, was delivered with no trace of malice.
"Oh, that's pretty simple! You see, I was and am amnesiac, like most other Hollows. But here's the thing? Another aspect of my weird soul powers governs memory. With effort, care, luck, and the right triggers, I can restore my own memories, integrate the memories of destroyed Souls, and I'm pretty sure I can restore the memories of other people. Haven't tried that one out much yet, though." I said, grinning affably (or my nearest approximation) and flaring my own pressure to just above the level he was pushing his out at, white-and-silver meeting and clashing with the gentle blueish-white glow that vaguely seemed to take on the priest's own appearance, though flickering and shifting, as if his body was a lantern, sheltering the light within. The both of us let the pressure die down, the giant rabbit and the flaming priest vanishing abruptly.
Risei Kotomine grinned at me, in a way that tugged and pulled at memories, and I saw flashes of another mawho quite resembled him, but entirely lacked the warmth and scholarly nature of the man who, as more flashes went through and I saw a much aged version of the man in front of me, was his father. This other Kotomine, who smiled so sadistically, was someone I'd have to think about. I was pretty sure that whoever he was, he was important. This was especially so, given that it implied that at least some of my memories came from decades in the future. Well, maybe just the ones that had that certain artistic style were from there? I'd have to experiment more.
(Memory Roll DC not met. Only partial information given.)
"I see, and you absorbed the memory of a contestant from....most likely The Third Grail War?It was the most recent." He seemed slightly skeptical, but also seemed willing to trust that I wasn't lying. I supposed i'd made a good impression on him or something of that nature.
"The Second, actually. Adelfried Von Einzbern. He should have been significantly more powerful based off his memories, but something about his method of dying drastically weakened his Soul, and thus his Hollow, as far as I can tell from his memories."
"Ah yes, the master of the Second War's Lancer, Spartacus. That was decades ago, before I was even born. A bloody business, with every single Master dying and the grail granting no wish." Risei shook his head, his tone and solemn expression conveying his disgust for the senseless loss of life. (Artemis Greater Success, Kotomine Greater Failure)
"It was horrible, seeing it through that man's eyes. He did so many things that went against his own morals and those of his Servant, just to keep him by his side. It's no small wonder he Hollowfied so quickly, and even less of a wonder that the aura of sin around him was so thick that, were he to be purified, a Hell Gate would come and take him. So....ultimately, his fate was kinder than he otherwise deserved. Though his memories became part of me, based on the knowledge I assimilated from him and the others who'd have been sent to to Hell, enough should have returned to Akasha to be recycled. Long story short, though? I know what the Grail and the War are, and you say there's been a Third one?" I rambled a bit, getting a little lost in the knowledge i'd digested mere hours before and was still kinda assimilating.
"I suppose it's a kinder fate than he deserves. Regardless, the third war happened over 10 years ago, in 1944,during what is now referred to as World War II, and the war is supposed to happen ever 60 years or so." Kotomine sighed. "I was the Supervisor of that war, in an attempt by the Church to prevent disaster. It worked, I suppose." He gave me a sad smile, seeming to be reminiscing on the events of the prior decade.
"Huh. Interesting. You must have been even younger than myself then, father Kotomine. We'll have to chat about various subjects in the Moonlit World later, see if we can trigger more of my memories. But to get back to my initial point..do you have a way to perform Konsou, or to contact a Shinigami for such a purpose?" I asked, wanting to sit in this church and chat with this honestly rather handsome priest for a long while.
"Yes! In my capacity as a monk, not only do I travel around the world, retrieving and collecting relics and other curiosities for the Church, I also fight Hollows and help Souls pass on. Among the Church's various sacraments, there is one that's nearly identical in effect to Konsou, but it's rather draining, even for one of my relative strength, and has some risks, especially used on this many souls at once." He grimaced, and then grinned. "However, I possess some contacts among Shinigami, for the purposes of dealing with larger threats and Mass Konsou. The Soul Reaper assigned to Fuyuki currently, however, is a deceased member of one of one of Fuyuki's two major Magi lineages, the Matou, and as such would likely involve her disgusting ancestor into this."
Matou...the name sounded vaguely familiar. Wasn't sure from entirely where, but it definitely tugged at memories that were mine, and not just Von Einzbern's vituperative hatred of the clan and the ancient Magus who led it, who Adelfried's memories referred to as The Old Worm. "....It would be good, to avoid that family's involvement, if the remnants of a dead man's rage speak true. So, contact this person then, if they're a better choice." I said, wondering who in the world it was, and what they'd inevitably bring to the table.
Risei Kotomine nodded, and pulled out a badge with a bucket hat and sandals emblazoned on it. "I'll warn you right now. For all he's going to seem like some eccentric shopkeeper, this man is intelligent, capable, and very dangerous. "He said, rather casually, as if we were simply discussing having lunch. "Hey, old man! Get your wrinkly ass over to Fuyuki Church, there's a bunch of Souls and a very interesting lady I'm sure you'd like to meet! "My recent acquaintance spoke into the badge after pouring a little bit of Spiritual Power into it, his speech looser and less formal than when he'd just been speaking to me. "No, I don't care that you're physically only in your late 20s! It doesn't count when you're going to look that way for at least another century!" A muffled series of noises came from the badge, which Kotomine seemed to be responding to. "I grasp Shinigami aging! I also grasp that you're deflecting! Get your old bones over here before I have to tell her you're dawdling around when there are things that need to be done." Risei seemed exasperated at this point, and the noises coming out of the badge became slightly more aggressive sounding.
"Excuse me, Father Kotomine, but what is your relationship to this man?" I asked, looking to head whatever the fuck this was off.
Risei Kotomine turned to me, stopping the pulse of energy into the badge. "He's not any sort of blood relation, but he taught me a lot about fighting, critical thinking, and life in general after a chance meeting in my childhood. I consider him something between a teacher and an eccentric uncle." He gave me a grin,one lacking his usual affable dignity, that carried a sort of easygoing confidence.
"I see, so he's somebody you trust and care about. I'm sure he'll be quite interesting." I cocked my head to the side in a way I hoped showed my curiosity in a cute and appealing way, but that was probably ruined by the fact that my body frame was well..what it was. That aside, it seemed all I could do was wait for this strange man.
"Yes, he should be here within a few hours, if you don't mind the wait, Miss Ban." Risei Kotomine inclined his head slightly, and the two of us set to waiting, while the former Hollows and Braddock dawdled about, seemingly chatting about whatever came to mind.
//Author's note: picture something halfway between John Tenniel's drawings of The White Rabbit, and an Antylamon in terms of looks, but you know ,not as weirdly skinny. Still kinda weird proportions because Hollow, but you know. Giant white rabbit lady with weird proportions and a creepy bone mask. Also, while we're discussing appearances,Here's a rough idea what the statue in the inner world looks like. Art credit to @UntitledSunny on Twitter, who's an absolute dear about my commissioning her.//
~~~
Memoria gained 10 EXP from this unfortunately flubbed memory roll! Don't worry though, more memory rolls are coming up! (170/200)
New Memory Roll keywords have been unlocked!
(Sorry this is so late, I got employed, turned 24, had a lot of schedule changes, and have had to recover from a concussion at work! Next update should be much, much faster, and updates should consistently come fast from here on out.
~~~
While I wait for this new and hopefully helpful stranger do I....
[] Ask Father Kotomine For a Spar out back behind the church while you wait. (Pro: he looks like a fun fight, combat experience, he's fairly tough. Possible memory roll trigger. Cons: The local Magi and other spiritually aware individuals will take notice of you and have a rough idea of your power if you and Father Kotomine go at it. Also, that's basically begging a strong Hollow to come over here and throw hands. Or worse, attracting the attention of that Matou Soul Reaper, and thus her creepy worm-riddled ancestor.)
[] Ask Braddock if you can use Memoria on him. If he says yes, awaken some or all of his missing memories. (Pros: Some success guaranteed. The higher the roll, the more success. Reveals some personal secrets of Braddock B. Kong, including his actual name, likely to increase your friendliness with him Cons: Some success guaranteed. Braddock may not neccesarily like what he remembers, or may have a drastic personality change. Proceed with caution, however, as neither of these are guaranteed. Most likely, there will be some positive and some negative results.)
[] Try out your new cooking skills in the church's kitchen, which is somehow big enough to fit you in it. You will have to persuade Father Kotomine to allow this, but it may make a good impression on his contact. Choose a traditional Japanese or Western European meal to make. (Pros: EXP+ to Spiritual Infusion Cooking. Test out the skill. Positive boost to reputation with Father Kotomine's Mysterious Contact, and with Father Kotomine himself. Cons: Roll low enough and you damage Father Kotomine's kitchen. Depending on dish made, DC is variable, and any effects the dishes may have are dependent on DC and degree of success.)
[] Write In
Take them to the Human World in small groups, while Kong watches over the large group. (not too hard but no a great option long-term as they could easily be eaten or corrupted again and likely will be if a Soul Reaper doesn't locate them in time)
Recieved 0 Votes for a total of 0 Votes!
While Kong guards the Pluses, Go to the Human World and use myself as bait to lure out a Soul Reaper, explain the situation to them, and then have them perform Konsou on the group(Risky, but has the highest chance of permanently helping these ex-Hollows and has the chance of establshing good relations with said individual Soul Reaper and possibly Soul Reapers overall)
Recieved 1 Vote on Spacebattles and one On Sufficient Velocity, for a total of 2 votes!
Escort them to the human world as one large group, repulsing threats there until a Soul Reaper shows up and explaining the situation (Very difficult, still has a good chance of helping them permanently but will make it harder to keep them safe in the process, though probably making it easier to convince the Shinigami)
Recieved 1 Vote On Sufficient Velocity for a total of 1 vote!
Write-In (from Arrkhon)
Take the pluses to a church, the clergy should be more than capable of taking care of them
Recieved 4 votes on Spacebattles for a total of 4 votes!
~~~~~
Our Rolls
Sneak through the city roll
77 -15 (bigass Hollow leading a crowd of Pluses)+5 (Blessed by the Hunt Goddess)+5(Rabbits are sneaky)
=72
Persuasion Roll
40+5(He can feel the purity) +5(Helping others) +5(Not your typical Hollow) -5(Still A Hollow)
=50
Memory Roll (The Priest) 18
+5 (Oddly familiar) +5 (Fuyuki Related Memory bits)
=28
Priest
Don't be persuaded by the Hollow
10 +5(She's a Hollow)+5(-5(Weird Purity)
So with 72, 50, 28 vs DC 70, 10, DC 65, we have Bare Success, Greater Success, Greater Failure vs DC EXCEEDED, Greater Failure, DC NOT MET
~~~
Relevant Music
I reached out and grabbed a few Pluses, feeling happy that I either lacked the acidic touch i'd seen Hollows display in the assimilated memories or that that ability had to be purposefully activated if I did. I certainly had little reason to test it currently. I phased between worlds, in the way Hollows who hadn't yet reached Menos status did. It had the advantage of not being as obvious as other methods, but unlike those methods, it wouldn't enable me to move these pluses through all at once. It was a labor of gradual shiftings and careful restraining of Spiritual Pressure, but after some time we had the entire group clustered in,...a shopping district? We snuck the large group through the city we were in, looking for local ghosts to ask questions to. Sure, we probably tripped a few magecraft-based alarms, and the same sense that allowed the sensing of Spiritual Pressure warned me that there were..a lot of tiny, evil-feeling spiritual pressures scattered around, but no Hollows found us, and that's absolutely important. Fortunately, we managed to not be attacked as we explored the city, looking for the right place to go. I was informed by a slightly terrified local Plus that the local Church pretty frequently housed Pluses who were waiting for closure or Konsou. That was definitely a better idea than using myself as bait to attract a Soul Reaper and probably piss off the spiritually aware community of Fuyuki City. Sure, I'd grasped the Japan part before even asking anyone, but Fuyuki City? That sounded oddly familiar.
The church was weirdly placed, having been built across the river from the city proper, in an area that hadn't been inhabited for a long time. Apparently, there were plans to eventually make something of the empty land, but nothing would likely come of that for a while. We managed to make it to the church after a bit of exploring, and we managed to not be found by any Hollow close to the relative strength of myself or Kong, though that was to be expected given the habits of stronger Hollows. Those worms had sure felt weird to the same sense that allowed me to sense spiritual beings and spirtual pressure, and the little bird with jewel-like eyes that'd been tailing me had felt...similar, but different. Where the worms had felt of rot and corruption, this bird's Spiritual Pressure was clean, though it felt very odd. A strange mix of elemental and crystalline, like a warm breeze being forced through a porous gemstone. It wasn't something I was going to let bother me, however, as I assumed the strange little creatures were related to Magi in some way, some form of Magecraft-created servant creature? If the memories that'd been triggered earlier were correct, these entities were called Familiars. If the Magi themselves weren't acting, I didn't need to be worried.
(Bare Success, DC EXCEEDED)
Stepping ahead of the crowd of Pluses, I climbed the fence and opened the gate, leading them onto the church property and up the path to the church. Strange, a bit, to see a western-style church in Japan, especially one this ornate, but I supposed it didn't matter. Carefully squeezing past the statue, I knocked on the large wooden doors, and then stood there waiting, hoping the answer would be a greeting and not some sort of weapon or spirit-related Mystic Code. I looked around as I waited, just examining this place through my senses, natural and otherwise. There seemed to be a slightly repulsive feeling in the air, though it wasn't quite that bad, at least not for me. It also felt a little...comfortable, compatible with me in some way. My simian friend seemed to be suffering from it worse than me, but he held up pretty admirably, pushing out a bit of Spiritual Pressure to bear it a little easier. His staff didn't seem to be negatively affected, quietly drinking in some of the ambient Spirit Particles and Prana as I'd half-noticed it do when he was recovering earlier. As for why it did that, I hadn't really asked, but maybe it had something to do with the fact that he pulsed Spiritual Power and Pressure through it during fights?
I didn't have too long to think about it, though as a voice came from the other side of the doors. "....Come in, I suppose. No Hollow would be foolish enough to guide this many souls to a church without good reason." A sigh echoed, and then the magnificent wooden edifice opened, surprisingly quietly for something so big. I gestured to the Pluses and they followed inside, with Kong staying outside to guard the door. I closed the door once all the Pluses were inside, and adressed the priest. He was an Asian man in his 30s, dressed in a black cassock with a purple scarf and a cross necklace. He had very dark brown hair and somewhat familiar facial features, resembling Steven Seagal, apparently. The aura of his not-inconsiderable Spiritual Pressure was...interesting. It was warm and welcoming, a feeling of light and safety, with a slight scholarly bent to it. He stood before me, knowing how much stronger I was than him, with a fearless and tolerant grin on his face.
"Thank you, Reverend uh... I don't actually know your name." I said, grinning under the mask, feeling the damn thing warp and shape what had been intended to be comforting into ghoulish horror.
"Kotomine. Risei Kotomine, Miss." He gave a slight nod, as if he weren't talking to a horrifying monster born out of the corruption of a human soul, as if my voice weren't eerily reverberating due to the stupid fucking mask.
"Artemis-" my old name tried to struggle to my lips, but I couldn't manage it.even if I could fully remember the rest of it, it didn't define me any more. "Coinen Ban. Anyways, I brought these people here since they need to receive Konsou, and I figured taking them to a holy place for them to wait would be better than trying to bait out a Soul Reaper."
Kotomine raised an eyebrow, but didn't burst out laughing or raise his spiritual pressure, so I felt pretty good about my chances.
"Why the rush, Miss Ban? Surely these souls can wait around a short time like the local ghosts do, unless you have greater concerns?" The raised eyebrow went down, and he was now giving me a rather intense, yet still affable and dignified look that said it'd be best to answer him. After all, weren't priests supposed to look after the well-being of their flock?
"They...they used to be Hollows. I imagine you're feeling something in my Spiritual Pressure, something....pure? Long story short, I have abilities relating to the manipulation of Souls and the bonds between them," The priest didn't even raise his eyebrows this time, content to merely give me a look of curiosity and anticipation. " The most major manifestation of which, and the primary one so far, is the ability to purify corruption. I can do this in a violent manner that reduces a Soul to floating shards of being and memory, or in a peaceful way that cleans away the corruption, though I'm not sure if the part where it drained the majority of their Spiritual Power was due to them having been devoured and thus ending up in my inner world, or simply a natural function of the ability."
The priest nodded, seeming to have no issue accepting this. "Well, that would explain why they all still have higher-than-average Spiritual Pressure. While many people in Fuyuki are Spiritually Aware or have higher-than-usual numbers of Magic Circuits due to living on one of Japan's major leyline convergences and the presence of...a certain object of great power attracting the attentions of Hollows and other such beings, these Souls are not local."
An object of great power....like the Wish Granting Grail I'd seen in Adelfried Von Einzbern's memories, and in the flashes of memory of my own with the red-haired teenager and the blond lady knight? If i remembered correctly, the war Adelfried and his beloved Lancer had fought in had been in Fuyuki.
"You mean the Holy Grail, Father Kotomine?" I said, my tone of voice cheeky. This time? The grin was completely intended to be eerie. What can I say? I wanted to ruffle the man's figurative feathers a little, so I did.
The priest was shocked, and flared his Spiritual Pressure, strange black swords abruptly appearing between his fingers. He looked at me with suspicion and a slight bit of fear, the latter hidden beneath the soft and affable dignity he wore as comfortably as his cassock.
"And how, my dear Hollow, do you know about that? Your kind typically don't retain memories of their mortal lives, and you don't seem to be the type who'd otherwise know about it. Your aura shows no signs of Magecraft, you aren't even a Menos yet, you are certainly not part of the Burial Agency or a Fullbringer, and you bear no Zanpakuto." His expression and tone still carried affable dignity, but his Pressure abruptly sharpened, the warmly affable scholar of his God showing off his edge. The warm, friendly light blazed into a a bonfire, and the sharpness in it expressed that compassion and a bright mind were in fact, this man's greatest weapons. "So tell me, how did some nobody of decent strength acquire information of that importance? Do us both a favor and do not lie to me. I would hate to miss such a novel experience as getting to know someone like you, Artemis Coinen Ban." The threat, such as it was, was delivered with no trace of malice.
"Oh, that's pretty simple! You see, I was and am amnesiac, like most other Hollows. But here's the thing? Another aspect of my weird soul powers governs memory. With effort, care, luck, and the right triggers, I can restore my own memories, integrate the memories of destroyed Souls, and I'm pretty sure I can restore the memories of other people. Haven't tried that one out much yet, though." I said, grinning affably (or my nearest approximation) and flaring my own pressure to just above the level he was pushing his out at, white-and-silver meeting and clashing with the gentle blueish-white glow that vaguely seemed to take on the priest's own appearance, though flickering and shifting, as if his body was a lantern, sheltering the light within. The both of us let the pressure die down, the giant rabbit and the flaming priest vanishing abruptly.
Risei Kotomine grinned at me, in a way that tugged and pulled at memories, and I saw flashes of another mawho quite resembled him, but entirely lacked the warmth and scholarly nature of the man who, as more flashes went through and I saw a much aged version of the man in front of me, was his father. This other Kotomine, who smiled so sadistically, was someone I'd have to think about. I was pretty sure that whoever he was, he was important. This was especially so, given that it implied that at least some of my memories came from decades in the future. Well, maybe just the ones that had that certain artistic style were from there? I'd have to experiment more.
(Memory Roll DC not met. Only partial information given.)
"I see, and you absorbed the memory of a contestant from....most likely The Third Grail War?It was the most recent." He seemed slightly skeptical, but also seemed willing to trust that I wasn't lying. I supposed i'd made a good impression on him or something of that nature.
"The Second, actually. Adelfried Von Einzbern. He should have been significantly more powerful based off his memories, but something about his method of dying drastically weakened his Soul, and thus his Hollow, as far as I can tell from his memories."
"Ah yes, the master of the Second War's Lancer, Spartacus. That was decades ago, before I was even born. A bloody business, with every single Master dying and the grail granting no wish." Risei shook his head, his tone and solemn expression conveying his disgust for the senseless loss of life. (Artemis Greater Success, Kotomine Greater Failure)
"It was horrible, seeing it through that man's eyes. He did so many things that went against his own morals and those of his Servant, just to keep him by his side. It's no small wonder he Hollowfied so quickly, and even less of a wonder that the aura of sin around him was so thick that, were he to be purified, a Hell Gate would come and take him. So....ultimately, his fate was kinder than he otherwise deserved. Though his memories became part of me, based on the knowledge I assimilated from him and the others who'd have been sent to to Hell, enough should have returned to Akasha to be recycled. Long story short, though? I know what the Grail and the War are, and you say there's been a Third one?" I rambled a bit, getting a little lost in the knowledge i'd digested mere hours before and was still kinda assimilating.
"I suppose it's a kinder fate than he deserves. Regardless, the third war happened over 10 years ago, in 1944,during what is now referred to as World War II, and the war is supposed to happen ever 60 years or so." Kotomine sighed. "I was the Supervisor of that war, in an attempt by the Church to prevent disaster. It worked, I suppose." He gave me a sad smile, seeming to be reminiscing on the events of the prior decade.
"Huh. Interesting. You must have been even younger than myself then, father Kotomine. We'll have to chat about various subjects in the Moonlit World later, see if we can trigger more of my memories. But to get back to my initial point..do you have a way to perform Konsou, or to contact a Shinigami for such a purpose?" I asked, wanting to sit in this church and chat with this honestly rather handsome priest for a long while.
"Yes! In my capacity as a monk, not only do I travel around the world, retrieving and collecting relics and other curiosities for the Church, I also fight Hollows and help Souls pass on. Among the Church's various sacraments, there is one that's nearly identical in effect to Konsou, but it's rather draining, even for one of my relative strength, and has some risks, especially used on this many souls at once." He grimaced, and then grinned. "However, I possess some contacts among Shinigami, for the purposes of dealing with larger threats and Mass Konsou. The Soul Reaper assigned to Fuyuki currently, however, is a deceased member of one of one of Fuyuki's two major Magi lineages, the Matou, and as such would likely involve her disgusting ancestor into this."
Matou...the name sounded vaguely familiar. Wasn't sure from entirely where, but it definitely tugged at memories that were mine, and not just Von Einzbern's vituperative hatred of the clan and the ancient Magus who led it, who Adelfried's memories referred to as The Old Worm. "....It would be good, to avoid that family's involvement, if the remnants of a dead man's rage speak true. So, contact this person then, if they're a better choice." I said, wondering who in the world it was, and what they'd inevitably bring to the table.
Risei Kotomine nodded, and pulled out a badge with a bucket hat and sandals emblazoned on it. "I'll warn you right now. For all he's going to seem like some eccentric shopkeeper, this man is intelligent, capable, and very dangerous. "He said, rather casually, as if we were simply discussing having lunch. "Hey, old man! Get your wrinkly ass over to Fuyuki Church, there's a bunch of Souls and a very interesting lady I'm sure you'd like to meet! "My recent acquaintance spoke into the badge after pouring a little bit of Spiritual Power into it, his speech looser and less formal than when he'd just been speaking to me. "No, I don't care that you're physically only in your late 20s! It doesn't count when you're going to look that way for at least another century!" A muffled series of noises came from the badge, which Kotomine seemed to be responding to. "I grasp Shinigami aging! I also grasp that you're deflecting! Get your old bones over here before I have to tell her you're dawdling around when there are things that need to be done." Risei seemed exasperated at this point, and the noises coming out of the badge became slightly more aggressive sounding.
"Excuse me, Father Kotomine, but what is your relationship to this man?" I asked, looking to head whatever the fuck this was off.
Risei Kotomine turned to me, stopping the pulse of energy into the badge. "He's not any sort of blood relation, but he taught me a lot about fighting, critical thinking, and life in general after a chance meeting in my childhood. I consider him something between a teacher and an eccentric uncle." He gave me a grin,one lacking his usual affable dignity, that carried a sort of easygoing confidence.
"I see, so he's somebody you trust and care about. I'm sure he'll be quite interesting." I cocked my head to the side in a way I hoped showed my curiosity in a cute and appealing way, but that was probably ruined by the fact that my body frame was well..what it was. That aside, it seemed all I could do was wait for this strange man.
"Yes, he should be here within a few hours, if you don't mind the wait, Miss Ban." Risei Kotomine inclined his head slightly, and the two of us set to waiting, while the former Hollows and Braddock dawdled about, seemingly chatting about whatever came to mind.
//Author's note: picture something halfway between John Tenniel's drawings of The White Rabbit, and an Antylamon in terms of looks, but you know ,not as weirdly skinny. Still kinda weird proportions because Hollow, but you know. Giant white rabbit lady with weird proportions and a creepy bone mask. Also, while we're discussing appearances,Here's a rough idea what the statue in the inner world looks like. Art credit to @UntitledSunny on Twitter, who's an absolute dear about my commissioning her.//
~~~
Memoria gained 10 EXP from this unfortunately flubbed memory roll! Don't worry though, more memory rolls are coming up! (170/200)
New Memory Roll keywords have been unlocked!
(Sorry this is so late, I got employed, turned 24, had a lot of schedule changes, and have had to recover from a concussion at work! Next update should be much, much faster, and updates should consistently come fast from here on out.
~~~
While I wait for this new and hopefully helpful stranger do I....
[] Ask Father Kotomine For a Spar out back behind the church while you wait. (Pro: he looks like a fun fight, combat experience, he's fairly tough. Possible memory roll trigger. Cons: The local Magi and other spiritually aware individuals will take notice of you and have a rough idea of your power if you and Father Kotomine go at it. Also, that's basically begging a strong Hollow to come over here and throw hands. Or worse, attracting the attention of that Matou Soul Reaper, and thus her creepy worm-riddled ancestor.)
[] Ask Braddock if you can use Memoria on him. If he says yes, awaken some or all of his missing memories. (Pros: Some success guaranteed. The higher the roll, the more success. Reveals some personal secrets of Braddock B. Kong, including his actual name, likely to increase your friendliness with him Cons: Some success guaranteed. Braddock may not neccesarily like what he remembers, or may have a drastic personality change. Proceed with caution, however, as neither of these are guaranteed. Most likely, there will be some positive and some negative results.)
[] Try out your new cooking skills in the church's kitchen, which is somehow big enough to fit you in it. You will have to persuade Father Kotomine to allow this, but it may make a good impression on his contact. Choose a traditional Japanese or Western European meal to make. (Pros: EXP+ to Spiritual Infusion Cooking. Test out the skill. Positive boost to reputation with Father Kotomine's Mysterious Contact, and with Father Kotomine himself. Cons: Roll low enough and you damage Father Kotomine's kitchen. Depending on dish made, DC is variable, and any effects the dishes may have are dependent on DC and degree of success.)
[] Write In