[X] Elizabeth Brooks [X] 12: Too young to be thrown into the mystical line of fire? Probably, but for whatever reason, somebody thought you were old enough to be sent here. Lots of people condescend to you, but because of that they probably won't give you lots of trouble. [X] Nightmare: Your dearest reality disappears under the sea of black water at the foot of an insurmountable peak. You have three lives. [X] Devoted: You're your family's golden child, and they'd do anything for you. They fret about you a lot. [X] Incredibly: You're once in a generation! [x] Eighteen months: You've lasted long enough to realise that eighteen months doesn't actually make you a veteran. [X] Idolisation: There's a mass of myths, legends and histories about frightening prodigies and people with an overbearing innate spark which blots out everyone else's aspirations. If you ritualistically reenact their most famous feats, then you can capture a fraction of their power. Or so they say. (jack of all trades, as long as someone's done it before)
[X] You've always wanted to be a hero like in the stories...things didn't turn out exactly like how you expected, but you are now uncomfortably aware of how close disaster can strike your family. If you don't do it, who will?
Sorry for the change. Miss understood and selected the options that were personally my favorite rather than voting by plan.
I should probably explain my reasoning. It just amuses me to think of a tiny twelve year old girl with possible seniority, definite Raw power over some of these older girls taking a lead, as well as the thought that he was stalking her as his next target and the moment she had her eyes on him he backed out and lied to cover his intentions out of fear of what she could do to him if he didn't have the absolute drop on her.
[X] Elizabeth Brooks [X] 12: Too young to be thrown into the mystical line of fire? Probably, but for whatever reason, somebody thought you were old enough to be sent here. Lots of people condescend to you, but because of that they probably won't give you lots of trouble. [X] Nightmare: Your dearest reality disappears under the sea of black water at the foot of an insurmountable peak. You have three lives. [X] Devoted: You're your family's golden child, and they'd do anything for you. They fret about you a lot. [X] Incredibly: You're once in a generation! [x] Eighteen months: You've lasted long enough to realise that eighteen months doesn't actually make you a veteran. [X] Idolisation: There's a mass of myths, legends and histories about frightening prodigies and people with an overbearing innate spark which blots out everyone else's aspirations. If you ritualistically reenact their most famous feats, then you can capture a fraction of their power. Or so they say. (jack of all trades, as long as someone's done it before)
[X] You've always wanted to be a hero like in the stories...things didn't turn out exactly like how you expected, but you are now uncomfortably aware of how close disaster can strike your family. If you don't do it, who will?
Sorry for the change. Miss understood and selected the options that were personally my favorite rather than voting by plan.
Thanks for that, and sorry for not having a clearer idea of how exactly this would work out before we started! I'm a little surprised all the votes started coming in after day 2 or 3. I want to get things started tomorrow, but going by plan voting there's a three way tie between @WanderingTwix's altered Nayna vote, @Nevill's Ellie Ward vote and @veekie's Elizabeth Brooks vote. If that's resolved, I should write the next update and a bunch of info in the reserved posts tomorrow; if it isn't we'll go to runoffs between those three (or maybe a shock fourth vote???)
Thanks for that, and sorry for not having a clearer idea of how exactly this would work out before we started! I'm a little surprised all the votes started coming in after day 2 or 3. I want to get things started tomorrow, but going by plan voting there's a three way tie between @WanderingTwix's altered Nayna vote, @Nevill's Ellie Ward vote and @veekie's Elizabeth Brooks vote. If that's resolved, I should write the next update and a bunch of info in the reserved posts tomorrow; if it isn't we'll go to runoffs between those three (or maybe a shock fourth vote???)
That happens sometime when the original post time aligns with the heavier quest traffic between 1 PM and 11 PM. Honestly wished I had found this earlier or I'd make my own vote and Write In but it's a bit late now. Unfortunetly I don't like contracts, and 18 is way to far off my desire for a pintsized magical menace, and I like the Idea of incredibly to compensate for the nightmare difficulty, so no switching to the others for me.
[ ] Your Terrible childhood left you with a lot of spite and defiance. Your therapist insists you need to learn to channel those positively. Magical heroism seems fitting, and you really don't want to get into societal reform before your 20s.
[X] Elizabeth Brooks [X] 12: Too young to be thrown into the mystical line of fire? Probably, but for whatever reason, somebody thought you were old enough to be sent here. Lots of people condescend to you, but because of that they probably won't give you lots of trouble. [X] Nightmare: Your dearest reality disappears under the sea of black water at the foot of an insurmountable peak. You have three lives. [X] Devoted: You're your family's golden child, and they'd do anything for you. They fret about you a lot. [X] Incredibly: You're once in a generation! [x] Eighteen months: You've lasted long enough to realise that eighteen months doesn't actually make you a veteran. [X] Idolisation: There's a mass of myths, legends and histories about frightening prodigies and people with an overbearing innate spark which blots out everyone else's aspirations. If you ritualistically reenact their most famous feats, then you can capture a fraction of their power. Or so they say. (jack of all trades, as long as someone's done it before)
[X] You've always wanted to be a hero like in the stories...things didn't turn out exactly like how you expected, but you are now uncomfortably aware of how close disaster can strike your family. If you don't do it, who will?
Adhoc vote count started by RandyTrevelyan on Aug 26, 2021 at 7:11 AM, finished with 23 posts and 16 votes.
[x] Ellie Ward [x] 18: The age of majority in the so-called sane and stable world (a world you can never fully ignore or run away from…), but older than many of your peers in the enchanting and ethereal world. [x] Terrible: You are going to cut these people off as soon as possible. [x] Very: People see you as particularly good. They ask you for tips to help them improve and get jealous of you. [x] Eighteen months: You've lasted long enough to realise that eighteen months doesn't actually make you a veteran. [x] Reversal: Something about the values of this world is deeply repugnant to you, something about you is deeply repugnant to the world. Maybe the world's corrupt, maybe you're corrupt, but for whatever reason, your magic makes your values reality and turns everything around you upside-down. (delay on the operation of common sense and law, anti-social presence but you can turn lies into truth, interference with other magic-users) [x] Your magic is a dangerous thing, and you feel the need to make some difference with it. You need affirmation that you aren't the one who is in the wrong.
[X] Elizabeth Brooks [X] 12: Too young to be thrown into the mystical line of fire? Probably, but for whatever reason, somebody thought you were old enough to be sent here. Lots of people condescend to you, but because of that they probably won't give you lots of trouble. [X] Nightmare: Your dearest reality disappears under the sea of black water at the foot of an insurmountable peak. You have three lives. [X] Devoted: You're your family's golden child, and they'd do anything for you. They fret about you a lot. [X] Incredibly: You're once in a generation! [x] Eighteen months: You've lasted long enough to realise that eighteen months doesn't actually make you a veteran. [X] Idolisation: There's a mass of myths, legends and histories about frightening prodigies and people with an overbearing innate spark which blots out everyone else's aspirations. If you ritualistically reenact their most famous feats, then you can capture a fraction of their power. Or so they say. (jack of all trades, as long as someone's done it before)
[X] You've always wanted to be a hero like in the stories...things didn't turn out exactly like how you expected, but you are now uncomfortably aware of how close disaster can strike your family. If you don't do it, who will?
[X] Nayna Vesuvius
[X] 15
[X] Nightmare
[X] Terrible
[X] Very [X] Six months
[X] Contracts [X] Recently, you've been learning just dangerous the world is. For yourself, your loved ones, and everyone else. So if you can save other girls, it's worth putting yourself in danger.
[X] Michelle Broussard
[X] 15
[X] Terrible
[X] Kinda
[X] Two weeks
[X] Radiance
[X] You never was close with your parents. You spent more times on the streets or the homes of like-minded friends. Bit of a weird behavior for a 15-year old. But hey, everyday's an adventure. Better then being with your mom. (Dad always came home late.)
[X] Carol Merlo
[X] 18
[X] Terrible
[X] Very
[X] Two weeks
[X] Contracts
[X] Becoming a Magical Girl was the best thing that had ever happened to you. You'll be damned if you let a serial killer put a stop to it!
[X] Nayna Vesuvius [X] 15: In the middle of your teenage years. About the average age for a magical girl. [X] Nightmare: Your dearest reality disappears under the sea of black water at the foot of an insurmountable peak. You have three lives. [X] Okay: They're your family. You love them, and they love you. [X] Kinda?: You are nothing special, but neither are most of your peers. [X] Six months: You've been crushing evil in the name of good for some time. [X] Idolisation: There's a mass of myths, legends and histories about frightening prodigies and people with an overbearing innate spark which blots out everyone else's aspirations. If you ritualistically reenact their most famous feats, then you can capture a fraction of their power. Or so they say. (jack of all trades, as long as someone's done it before) [X] Recently, you've been learning just dangerous the world is. For yourself, your loved ones, and everyone else. So if you can save other girls, it's worth putting yourself in danger.
[X] Mora Derringer
[X] 18 [X] Okay
[X] Kinda [X] Six months [X] Reversal [X] How could you sleep at night knowing your friends are being targeted by a maniac? Plus, the ten thousand in cash is definitely alluring for you with college coming up.
[X] Nayna Vesuvius [X] 12: Too young to be thrown into the mystical line of fire? Probably, but for whatever reason, somebody thought you were old enough to be sent here. Lots of people condescend to you, but because of that they probably won't give you lots of trouble. [X] Nightmare: Your dearest reality disappears under the sea of black water at the foot of an insurmountable peak. You have three lives. [X] Devoted: You're your family's golden child, and they'd do anything for you. They fret about you a lot. [X] Incredibly: You're once in a generation! [x] Eighteen months: You've lasted long enough to realise that eighteen months doesn't actually make you a veteran. [X] Idolisation: There's a mass of myths, legends and histories about frightening prodigies and people with an overbearing innate spark which blots out everyone else's aspirations. If you ritualistically reenact their most famous feats, then you can capture a fraction of their power. Or so they say. (jack of all trades, as long as someone's done it before)
4 votes for Ellie Ward, 4 votes for Elizabeth Brooks but there's a vote for the name Nayna but with a vote for Elizabeth Brooks. I really want to get this show on the road, so I'm going to close voting here and say the Elizabeth Brooks plan won, unless there are any major objections?
EDIT: Writing info into the reserved posts before writing the update, which should be up Friday evening. Your GM should sleep more. Or less?
[X] Elizabeth Brooks
[X] 12
[X] Nightmare
[X] Devoted
[X] Incredibly
[x] Eighteen months
[X] Idolisation
[X] You've always wanted to be a hero like in the stories...things didn't turn out exactly like how you expected, but you are now uncomfortably aware of how close disaster can strike your family. If you don't do it, who will?
"It's Elly Brooks."
Annette nods. "Is that your legal name?" You pause.
"No, that's Elizabeth, uh, Mitchelle, Brooks."
"I wasn't asking for your middle name. Can we call you Lizzie? We already have a name that's E, two consonants, I-E."
"Nobody calls me Lizzie."
"Perhaps you should be worrying about how to distinguish yourself from Mrs Kathavarayan over here," a taller blonde girl facing Annette says.
"I'm not that old, Heather," Anne says, as if uttering Heather would bring eternal misfortune on the seven of you.
"You're clearly married," Heather replies. You think back to the text message that lured you here. Getting something to eat at Barnaby's to build rapport. Getting something to eat at Barnaby's before discussing your eminent demise at the hands of a serial killer with a specific hatred for magical girls.
"I'd imagine that we'd be less touchy after marrying."
"You'd be an old hag by then! You'd spend all of your time studying the darkest of—"
"Shut up." The voice comes from Anne and Emmy's right, your left: the older and less gloomy one of the two quieter girls you think are about your age. "Shouko wants to say something."
Shouko is the wispy Asian girl behind you. Is the other girl just a telepath or does she know her? If they knew each other, you think they'd make a pair kind of similar to Anne and Emmy's. Anne and girl 7, last to be named, stronger, more confident, more awake, Emmy and Shouko perpetually tired, not so physically strong, smaller. Everyone turns to Shouko. She looks at her plate of melted ice cream.
"...We're not going to be very good at this if we hate each other, right?"
You briefly look back to your front. Anne nods. Heather smiles. Emmy isn't really paying attention. You turn back to Shouko.
"We won't hate each other." You smile as well. You hope you're being more genuine than Heather.
"That's good." Shouko doesn't really smile back at you.
"I'm not so sure, really," Heather replies. "There are lots of good reasons to hate Anne."
"Nobody asked," you snap back.
"Ooooh, you'll be asking me for a full list of later, please trust me."
"Why are you even here?"
"To cleanse the American continent of filth and prove myself capable of constructing an army of magical girls from Portland to Seattle, transcending the petty meandering of other groups."
Annette turns to Anne, asks "why did you even invite this girl."
Heather snaps back with a "and why did you show up?", which you think is dumb because Annette didn't even ask the question, you did.
"Because I want ten thousand dollars."
"You'd die for just ten thousand dollars?"
"Lots of people would die for just ten thousand dollars. People who need to send money over the ocean, people who can't pay for hospital bills..."
"And no higher goal?"
"Nope, don't need one."
Shouko nudges you. "And we won't hate each other?"
"I'll make sure of it."
Heather kind of laughs at Annette, then gets up. You cast a dampening spell to get rid of the... strange... adverse consequences of letting normal people learn about magical affairs. (-3 magic) "Very interesting! What about Anne? The crowd has so many questions for you—"
"I invited you because you're a genuinely powerful magician, and despite or maybe because of your myriad personal flaws, you're willing to take weird risks with no clear immediate reward."
"No, ah... that wasn't the question. The question was 'why are you here,' you and not any other magical girl from Southern California? And stop petting Emmy's hair, it annoys me!"
"You annoy me, and I haven't said anything..." girl 7 says, looking up past the pat pat pat of Anne's hand on Emmy's hair at Heather.
"I don't even know your name!"
"Carla Dryden."
"Heather van Buren at your service! You don't really annoy me. Well, you didn't..."
Apparently, Carla had kept a dessert menu, disposable compared to the laminated main menu. You realise this when she throws a paper airplane at Heather and it misses and hits Emmy's head. Anne seems more annoyed by this than by Heather's constant provocations, but composes herself. Not that she looked very decomposed. Discomposed? You're too old for vocab tests.
"I'm not friends with anyone killed by this person, so I'm not immediately vulnerable to emotional attacks."
"What do you mean, emotional attacks?" Heather asks. Emmy replies.
"She means that she'd like you to shut up so she can fully explain the situation."
Heather obliges and slides back into her chair. Anne gets up, drops Emmy on her chair, and stands behind her, leaning against it. She finally starts to debrief.
"As you probably know, magic is some reflection of human creativity."
"With the exception of girls whose powers derive from otherworld contracts instead of their own ability," Emmy says. You realise this explanation is going to go around in a duet. "You have so much ability, Emmy..."
"It taps into the thoughts and memories of not only its users but those living around them. It's the precise inverse of the techniques of our enemies, the 'nightmares' that bring humanity to its lowest point, the demons that feed on human misery and the spirits that use human conflicts for their own purposes." The spirits aren't usually classed alongside the demons; does she hate girls who make contracts or something?
"In Europe and the Americas, the usage of magic is largely confined to young women."
"In the past, these young women were often hated and despised by wider culture. Take the Salem witch trials for an example everyone knows..." Your mentor, a girl you saved without realising about a year and a half ago, taught you that girls who had enough time to waste studying these things were relatively certain that those trials were a mundane affair, although others were not.
"Today, we mostly get by due to obscurity. You'd seem insane if you saw magic and went running around telling others about it." ...don't they know about feedback?
"Mostly."
"People under the influence of demons, spirits and waking nightmares demonstrate some awareness of the existence of magic, but those people aren't very lucid, and forget about it entirely afterwards. Our target, on the other hand, has killed four girls in their sleep and five girls while they're engaged in combat, with the first killings in early April."
"How do we know they've been killed by the same person? 'Cause they've all been killed with the same method, an enchanted knife."
"Our gathering accomplishes two things. It creates a strong force of magical girls able to protect each other and magical girls across Los Angeles while sleeping or fending off the evils afflicting humanity, and it creates either an attractive target or a deterrent. Do you have that down?"
Everyone is silent for a second.
(Between closing the vote and writing this update, I also put some useful information in the reserved posts on the first page. Please check them out. If there's anything that isn't clear, feel free to ask or complain! Sorry for the delay. Reposted because I forgot to turn on voting...)
Vote for one response from the list given or a single write-in. Theoretically, a write-in can include as many questions as you want. Given how cohesive this group is, you suspect someone will interrupt you if you ask too many questions too quickly or say too much. Don't go for more than two?
Assent [X] Remain silent
[X] "Yeah."
Decent questions [X] "How did you get the photograph from earlier?"
[X] "How is the knife enchanted? Can this guy use magic?"
[X] "Are the girls killed related to each other? What about to the South Cali Witches' Federation?" (...is it even called that?)
Questions that give you interesting answers? [X] "Heather, you got awfully quiet awfully quickly...?"
[X] "Wait, earlier you said that people would seem crazy if they tried to tell people about magic, but letting people know about magic causes them to be infested by nightmares? In New York, at least."
[X] "What's your problem with spirits? I know plenty of girls with contracts and nothing too bad has happened to them..."
[X] "Yeah." [X] "How is the knife enchanted? Can this guy use magic?" [X] "How did you get the photograph from earlier?"
[X] "Cities are full of cars with at least 3 mirrors a piece. He has to be caught in one or two as he goes thru the day. Can't we work some sort of scrying spell and connect it to a map and the picture to pinpoint his routes or places he frequents thru the city?
[X] "Yeah."
[X] "Wait, earlier you said that people would seem crazy if they tried to tell people about magic, but letting people know about magic causes them to be infested by nightmares? In New York, at least."
[X] "Are the girls killed related to each other? What about to the South Cali Witches' Federation?" (...is it even called that?)
[X] "How is the knife enchanted? Can this guy use magic?" [X] "How did you get the photograph from earlier?"
[X] "Cities are full of cars with at least 3 mirrors a piece. He has to be caught in one or two as he goes thru the day. Can't we work some sort of scrying spell and connect it to a map and the picture to pinpoint his routes or places he frequents thru the city?
An interesting way to introduce the characters. It took me a while to remember who is who, but now I can almost differentiate them by tone, and there is only a single paragraph spent on their descriptions, if that.
"Today, we mostly get by due to obscurity. You'd seem insane if you saw magic and went running around telling others about it." ...don't they know about feedback?
[x] "How is the knife enchanted? Can this guy use magic?"
Probably not his doing. Someone did this for him. A possible lead?
[x] "Are the girls killed related to each other? What about to the South Cali Witches' Federation?" (...is it even called that?) [x] "Cities are full of cars with at least 3 mirrors a piece. He has to be caught in one or two as he goes thru the day. Can't we work some sort of scrying spell and connect it to a map and the picture to pinpoint his routes or places he frequents thru the city?
[X] "How is the knife enchanted? Can this guy use magic?"
[X] "Wait, earlier you said that people would seem crazy if they tried to tell people about magic, but letting people know about magic causes them to be infested by nightmares? In New York, at least."
[X] "Could this guy be linked to some anti-magic organization? Would explain how he got the knife, if he can't use magic himself, and how he's not been caught so far if he's got people in high places pulling the strings for him."
[X] "How is the knife enchanted? Can this guy use magic?"
[X] "Wait, earlier you said that people would seemcrazy if they tried to tell people about magic, but letting people know about magic causes them to be infested by nightmares? In New York, at least."
[X] "Could this guy be linked to some anti-magic organization? Would explain how he got the knife, if he can't use magic himself, and how he's not been caught so far if he's got people in high places pulling the strings for him."
"With the exception of girls whose powers derive from otherworld contracts instead of their own ability," Emmy says. You realise this explanation is going to go around in a duet. "You have so much ability, Emmy..."
"It taps into the thoughts and memories of not only its users but those living around them. It's the precise inverse of the techniques of our enemies, the 'nightmares' that bring humanity to its lowest point, the demons that feed on human misery and the spirits that use human conflicts for their own purposes." The spirits aren't usually classed alongside the demons; does she hate girls who make contracts or something?
"People under the influence of demons, spirits and waking nightmares demonstrate some awareness of the existence of magic, but those people aren't very lucid, and forget about it entirely afterwards. Our target, on the other hand, has killed four girls in their sleep and five girls while they're engaged in combat, with the first killings in early April."
I'm curious if he has been limiting himself to do sneak attacks or if we will face him in the open. Because of 'nightmare' mode I'm going to assume that he can face us head on while we will be required to be constantly vigilant.
[x] Remain silent
[X] "Are the girls killed related to each other? What about to the South Cali Witches' Federation?" (...is it even called that?)
[X][Write in] He killed multiple girls in combat. Do we know if they in combat with him or did he sneak up on them while they were fighting the normal stuff?
[X] "How is the knife enchanted? Can this guy use magic?"
[X] "Wait, earlier you said that people would seemcrazy if they tried to tell people about magic, but letting people know about magic causes them to be infested by nightmares? In New York, at least."
[X] "Could this guy be linked to some anti-magic organization? Would explain how he got the knife, if he can't use magic himself, and how he's not been caught so far if he's got people in high places pulling the strings for him."
one - highlight all the text and look for stuff that wasn't there before.
two - if a post has an eye symbol, that means it has invisi-text. click on it to reveal where it is.
An interesting way to introduce the characters. It took me a while to remember who is who, but now I can almost differentiate them by tone, and there is only a single paragraph spent on their descriptions, if that.
I was expecting everyone to only pick one set of questions or a write-in, but what you actually did is intuitive and makes more sense. I'll be reading the vote as follows.
[X] "Yeah."
If everyone else is in agreement, you're in agreement.
[7] "How is the knife enchanted? Can this guy use magic?"
[4] "Wait, earlier you said that people would seem crazy if they tried to tell people about magic, but letting people know about magic causes them to be infested by nightmares? In New York, at least."
You'll definitely try to mention these things.
[3] "Cities are full of cars with at least 3 mirrors a piece. He has to be caught in one or two as he goes thru the day. Can't we work some sort of scrying spell and connect it to a map and the picture to pinpoint his routes or places he frequents thru the city?
[3] "Are the girls killed related to each other? What about to the South Cali Witches' Federation?" (...is it even called that?)
[3] "Could this guy be linked to some anti-magic organization? Would explain how he got the knife, if he can't use magic himself, and how he's not been caught so far if he's got people in high places pulling the strings for him."
These questions ring in the back of your mind. If they come up, they come up, if they don't, you're out of luck.
[2] "How did you get the photograph from earlier?"
[1] "He killed multiple girls in combat. Do we know if they in combat with him or did he sneak up on them while they were fighting the normal stuff?"
You probably won't remember to ask this.
Probably shouldn't start writing so late. Update up tomorrow. I hope I can make the delay between closing votes and writing shorter in the future... STOP MAKING PROMISES YOU'RE TOO FRAUGHT TO KEEP
Definitely not gonna vote lock so early and then crash out next time. I'm very sorry about all this. Update in just a few hours, anyway. Wait, I've got it.
I thought I wrote this more explicitly, but it's Everything will be okay!, the only spell in your character sheet. You cast a spell on your family beforehand to make them think you were going to a summer camp so they wouldn't wonder why their beloved twelve year old daughter had suddenly run off. Since it's running indefinitely, the spell cost is marked via strike through from the max instead of just a section that doesn't regenerate.
It'd be pretty bad if someone cast anti-magic on you and made the spell wear off...
You break the silence by saying "yeah." Annette, Shouko and Carla follow along immediately. Heather takes a few seconds and then...
...yeah, of course she doesn't just say 'yeah.' Heather would never just go along with anything. Well, would she? You don't know her.
"That doesn't answer any of the important questions." She swivels her chair around to face Emmy, making this awful gr-gr-grinding sound on the crappy restaurant floor.
"Why not?" Emmy replies. Anne moves a little closer, as if to block Heather off from her.
"You shouldn't mention rare phenomena to fuck with me!"
"Emotional attacks are hardly rare."
"Do you or do you not know this guy's attacking pattern?"
"We were about to discuss information needed for combat, before you so kindly interrupted," Anne replies.
"In case you so kindly forgot, a single rogue emotional manipulator destroyed the Pacific Northwest Witches' Federation from the inside! And you all acted like this wasn't important, like it didn't matter to you, like you didn't care about our health, let alone not sacrificing Portland to darkness! And now someone with the same powerset is murdering girls one by one and... and... and... this is why I do everything my way, you know? You said you invited me because I'm capable, you totes don't care about anything I have to offer."
Heather says totes with an affected South Cali accent, a heresy against the soil you're all gathered on. She breathes heavily. Emmy looks over at Anne, Anne looks down at her. Anne points a finger-gun at the dusty lampshade hanging over your table. (Anne: -1 magic, -1 lucidity, -5 inspiration, Emmy: -4 magic)
The dusty blue light of the evening sun from the windows disappears. The lights on the ceiling disappear. The light of every other dusty lampshade disappears. Only the single light above Anne's head remains, radiant.
You want to yell 'what are you doing?' [Elly: 3d10: 7][Anne (+Emmy): 5d10: 37] Your voice disappears. Heather stops speaking, nobody else dares to. The shuffling of line cooks, the chattering of families, the giving and receiving of orders; this is all overwritten. Anne smiles. You can't really look away from her. She casually runs a hand through her own auburn hair before speaking.
"I care about everything you have to offer, okay? I'm going to explain everything in time. Please stop worrying."
Her smile's very warm. You feel at ease.
The lights go on.
Your head feels a little fuzzy. (-10 lucidity, -10 inspiration)
You try to piece yourself together.
"Yeah, uh... the knife's enchanted, right? Can he use magic? Toy with your emotions?"
Sure, speak as if Heather never said anything.
"Our killer has shown none of his own magical ability. However, nightmare events on nights where he's killed girls tend to take the form of lost loved ones. You probably understand how this destroys the effectiveness of missions against him, right?" Anne responds.
"Yeah."
Your mind escapes you. You blurt out the second thing on your mind, something that's just been bugging you. Who cares if it's relevant?
"Uh, has anyone ever told any of you about magical feedback?"
Everyone looks blankly at you. You catch yourself for a second. Why are you even saying this? Is it relevant to anything? Are you dumb or something? (-1 lucidity). Then you think about whatever Anne did to shut up Heather. You keep going.
"You know how if you're too flashy with your magic or you say something concerning magical affairs and someone overhears it, there's always a storm of nightmares around that person but whenever you find them they don't seem to remember anything?"
Carla interjects. "That's not a real phenomenon."
"But when I first became a magical girl I always made mistakes like that—"
"Nothing happens when you let people hear about magic?" Annette replies.
"Okay?"
Does magic just work differently on the West Coast? Are you just playing from a different rulebook to everyone else? Maybe it's because of the gap between your magical potential and everyone else's? That's kind of an egotistical thing to say.
"If such a phenomenon existed, the South Cali Witches' Association would surely be aware of it," says Anne.
"Such a phenomenon exists, and it should have punished you for whatever trick you pulled in front of everyone—"
Anne laughs at you.
"In case you somehow didn't notice, without some kind of order we're going to kill each other before we murder the murderer. What laws do you think govern magic and magical girls?"
"The law of bonds!"
"What do you mean?"
"We're governed by the same laws that govern other human interactions! We're made or broken by our ability to unite with and understand each other!"
"You seem to be awful at that," says Emmy. You look for support in the other four girls. They don't give you a knowing glance or anything. Each girl evaluates the situation in her own way.
"And your wife is a terrible leader!"
Heather claps for you. The always sleepy Emmy snaps awake, clasps her fists.
"She's my girlfriend, and she's a great leader!"
"A great leader doesn't have to silence everyone by force!"
"Lead us, then! What's your plan, E-li-za-be-ta?"
"Is anyone here good at scrying from mirrors?"
"I'm good at scrying. Not necessarily with mirrors, but I can figure something out," Carla replies.
"Every city has dozens of security cameras and thousands of cars. The guy I met—"
"Of course."
"Shut up, Anne. Anyway, the guy I met seems real and physical, not like an apparition or anything, and he like jogs regularly. He's definitely being caught by mirrors hundreds of times per day. We should be able to hunt him down pretty easily like this. Was that your plan?"
"We thought seeking him out was inadvisable," replied Emmy.
"Were we going to camp out until he came to us?" says Annette.
"Yeah?" says Anne.
"I agree with your girlfriend. Elizabeth should lead us. I prefer her plan to sitting around and waiting for a certain someone to try to kill us."
"I like her plan," says Shouko. Carla nods along.
"It's a good plan," says Heather. Something about her tone immediately irks you, but you can't figure out what it is.
"The South California Witches' Association is paying for the hotel."
"That's great. Let's go there!"
You get up from your seat and begin to walk to the exit. Shouko, then Carla, then Heather, then Annette immediately follow you.
"I don't actually know where I'm going," you tell everyone. Annette cups her hands around her mouth, calls for Anne and Emmy. They say that they're paying for the meal. With their money or the Federation's? (Association's?) You don't really know. You're kind of proud of yourself, so you don't really care.
Finally, you leave. Emmy says 'come with', you let Emmy show everyone the way, and begin to walk the streets of Burbank.
Silence, again. It doesn't actually feel welcome, even after the shouting matches and displays of magic earlier. It's a little disquieting.
You realise, you think everyone realises, that this mission will take a long few days.
(Again, really sorry for the wait, writing isn't so easy...)
You're not entirely sure of the effects of Anne's spell. It had some kind of mental effect on you, didn't it? You listened more to her and less to Heather, but everyone ended up turning against her. Did she falter? Is she just not good at magic?
Anyway, who do you want to talk to try to talk on your way to the hotel?
[X] Anne.
[X] Emmy.
[X] Heather.
[X] Annette.
[X] Shouko.
[X] Carla.
[X] Nobody. You're going to listen to a podcast.
[X] Nobody. You're going to get lost in your thoughts.
