Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Mostly. As in, I've started writing. You can vote, and I might use your input if convenient, but no guarantees.
Shards of a Broken Sun [Deprecated; see link in final post for remake]
- Thread starter Baughn
- Start date
- Crossover Sci-Fi
Highwind
To Rise From The Ashes
- Location
- Brazil
Thank you, but I guess I'll abstain for now and wait for the next voting period.
Truthfully, I mostly wished to add a vote to my first post in the thread so it contained something more than just a bad joke and some praise.
That said, I really enjoy this quest and I hope I can contribute something with actual value in the future.
Truthfully, I mostly wished to add a vote to my first post in the thread so it contained something more than just a bad joke and some praise.
That said, I really enjoy this quest and I hope I can contribute something with actual value in the future.
Tuesday's Disquiet 3
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
"Want me to poke around?" Takeba offered.
She thought about it for a second. Certainly, it made sense; Takeba had more experience at stuff like this than she did. On the other hand. Poke around, here? Split up, when the place was dark, and empty of people, and had shadows in every corner?
It wasn't that she was scared. Staying together made perfect sense, even; if some sort of demon showed up, it meant they could show a united front. Much better than searching alone, potentially being jumped… in the dark, from behind…
Her mind obligingly conjured up the right way to handle a group like theirs, if they were so foolish as to split up where someone could take advantage. It would be easy; the building blocked sight-lines, and she knew there were plenty of tactics to take someone down silently, even if she wasn't quite sure what they were. She'd never see it coming. Amu shivered a little at the thought.
Besides, shrines were often homes. Always, if you counted the gods that were meant to live there, but even without them there might still be a priest that would call the place 'home'. With that in mind, searching the place without even checking to see if someone was here would simply be rude.
"In a bit," she said, happy with that line of reasoning. "Let's see if someone lives here, first."
"Hello? Anyone… here?"
Silence. Nobody answered. (And to be fair, a corner of her mind noted, they'd have needed especially good ears. Her voice had barely rated a whisper.)
Amu gulped. She stood at the side of the shrine, pushing her back against a wooden post and feeling terribly exposed and alone, for the others had all gone their own way—first Takeba, then the rest. She should have protested, but she hadn't thought she'd need to, and before she'd known what was happening she was on her own. Alone. Save for Dia, but—
The pillar behind her creaked. She twirled, staring into the darkness at the edge of the shrine. Gravel crunched underfoot.
She saw nothing.
Dia was a presence at her side, but a passive one. She didn't have the same spark of life as Miki, and what she had was caught up in herself. Amu was, for all intents and purposes, on her own.
She wanted to deny that, to sit down and draw Dia out of her shell—metaphorically, today—but her heart was beating quickly, her ears perked up for the tiniest little sound. It was quiet today, without the noise of traffic or wind; so quiet she could almost hear herself breathe.
The shrine wasn't that big. Had all four of them really needed to split up?
...no-one outside. Nothing in the darkness, but for more darkness. She was being silly. But even tests of courage worked with pairs.
A breath of wind stole her softest sigh, the sound echoing oddly as she looked for a way inside. Okay. Okay...
"Excuse my intrusion~!"
The door hit the wall with a bang, and Takeba Yukari clicked her tongue. She'd used too much force; mildly annoying, to someone who liked to keep things clean. This was the fifth room she'd looked through, however, and the continued lack of response was starting to make her worry. The girl was right, there should have been a caretaker. More to the point…
She remembered the look on Amu's face when they'd split up. Hotsuin might be a genius, but—she was coming to learn—he was also an idiot, because that had been a perfectly normal reaction from a young girl. She was scared, the same way anyone her age would be scared of going somewhere spooky on their own. Yukari had made sure they'd split up anyway, because she'd wanted to take her measure and it had seemed safe enough, but she was starting to regret that decision.
Amu might actually be waiting outside, but even if she was, she should have seen or at least heard someone else by now. The shrine was large, but not this large; between the frankly enormous corridors, and the five equally large rooms she'd seen so far, she didn't think it could all fit in the building. That meant genuine spooks were afoot, and that, usually, meant the potential for combat.
Grumbling, she checked her evoker and bow. Both were as ready as they'd ever been. A moment's thought would flood her suit with willpower, but she'd feel really silly explaining the wear and tear if the place actually turned out to be safe, so she held off for now.
The others…
If she'd been Ken, then Yukari thought she'd have felt safe leaving Amu on her own, but she wasn't—so hopefully she'd stayed outside. Lt. Kato looked like he could handle himself; JPs' people generally could. Which left Nitta-san, and Yukari had seen the look in her eyes before. She might do something foolish.
Which meant it was time to leave. She turned around.
The door she'd just come in through…
"Well." Yukari clicked her tongue, turning in a slow circle. It had been a standard shrine room when she entered; shõji doors, fixed walls and very simple decorations; a mat to sit on, a lamp, a tea set in one alcove. Well, the tea set was still there, but the doors had gone missing. "I appreciate the restraint, but why don't you show yourself? What do you have against me, anyway?"
The answer came like a whisper, from no source she could tell.
"-forbidden thoughts, forbidden powers. No cause, no debt, but you must not assist. Take this in trade."
The tea pot wobbled, singing a high-pitched note as the ceramic turned in place, and she spotted a telltale trail of vapor. Moments later the smell of green tea reached her where she was standing. Bemused, she stepped over to look more closely.
"-good, stay. No debt, no exchange needed-"
She snorted. Sure there wasn't.
"I'm sure it's lovely, but I'm sorry, I'm on the clock." She unlimbered her bow. A moment later, the pink highlights on her suit (what had she been thinking) got just that much brighter. "Now, you can let me out, or else I'll find my own way."
Silence was her answer, and she mentally shrugged. They'd had their chance.
"Ugh," Io said in disgust, brushing a cobweb aside with her arm. Her lips curled, and she abandoned her attempt to push her way through yet another barely-passable corridor to give her clothing a quick pat-down. One thing was for sure, her school uniform would need some serious cleaning.
Finding the caretaker or shrine priest had seemed like a splendid idea, but it seemed more obvious with every second that this shrine hadn't seen either in years. And then, this—
She jerked her foot back with a shudder as a large spider skittered across the floor where she'd been standing.
It was a constant struggle not to incinerate the whole thing. Spiderwebs were supposed to be flammable, weren't they? And ever since that battle with—her mind blanked for a moment—she'd had a flame stuck in her head for a while, just begging to torch anything that so much as looked at her funny. The spiders certainly counted, if anything did. But, no, that would probably catch the building on fire right along with everything else. Which, she decided, might be an improvement.
Screw this, there had to be a better way, and her skin crawled at the thought of going on.
Io turned to leave, almost running in her haste to get out of there, then stopped at the first intersection. Now, how had she gotten here… she'd turned left, right?
She stopped.
She'd turned left. She was sure of that, which meant she should go right, but there wasn't a right. There was an "ahead", and a "left", both of which were caked with even more spiders than the corridor behind her. There wasn't a right, and she couldn't—she hit the wall, her fist going halfway through the wood and coming back covered in splinters of rot and tiny insects—her stomach burned, for there was nothing but absolute darkness behind it. Balefire flickered around her hands, the rot and decay disappearing in a trickle of cleansing flames.
Back up. One step—two—
Her back touched something unhealthy, something that pulsed and sloughed down on her neck and slithered down her back—
She screamed, and what had been a trickle became a torrent. The world around her—the air—the floor—even the breath in her lungs turned to flames, destroying everything that still dared to touch her. She shuddered, hugging her knees in the middle of an all-devouring ball of flame.
"Okay, if I were a shrine priest… where would I be."
Amu poked her head around the corner, eyeing a perfectly normal office. That was a little odd, to her mind; she hadn't realised there'd be something like that inside the shrine, but once she'd reached the interior rooms she found that most of them were surprisingly un-religious in nature. What there wasn't, however, was a priest.
"Mm… at home?" Dia suggested. "I mean, everyone else is…"
"And we haven't seen anything like a kitchen yet, or anything that would fit if he's living here," Amu said, nodding. "Makes sense. I was hoping he'd be here, but I guess not. Hey, Takeba!" She shouted. "Io! Kato-san!"
Nobody answered.
"Okay…" She said, if only to break the silence. "This place isn't that large, is it? Um. And it's not sound-proofed in the slightest. They should have heard me."
The only reaction to her statement was from Dia, who'd settled down on her shoulder now that she'd stopped moving for a moment.
"Er…"
Were they trying to pull a joke on her? No, that didn't make sense. She didn't know about the other two, but Lt. Kato at least would never have agreed.
Caution. Exa's voice was suddenly serious. I've detected a spatial warp, as well as several attempts to interface with your mind. This location is being altered.
A slight twinge in her mind—
She turned, just in time to see the doorway she'd come in through waver and shrink. It stopped, while she was looking directly at it, but now she could feel the same tell-tale, not-quite-like-a-chara twinge to her sides and behind her.
Entering combat time
The next several updates will likely be very short. In return, there will be one update each day; this will only be delayed in the event that there are no votes. Votes will otherwise be locked at 20:00 Irish Summer Time each day. The situation being what it is, Exalted-type stunts are encouraged and recommended.
You may choose to control two characters. In the event that you do so, the character you do not choose is guaranteed to make it out alive; I make no further guarantees. One of them must be Amu. Do not vote for all three.
Amu
[ ] Bravely run away, while the doorway is still open.
[ ] Check what's happening behind her.
[ ] Attempt to merge with Dia. Because… maybe that'll help?
[ ] Write-in
Yukari
[ ] Explode the wall with an arrow.
[ ] Explode the former doorway with an arrow.
[ ] Explode that entire side of the room, with her mind. And magarudyne. [0.8x]
[ ] Write-in
Io
[ ] Burn everything. Force her way straight through the walls, and whatever might be beyond.
[ ] Go through the corridors. Cleanse them with fire. [0.8x]
[ ] Pull up some demons instead, to save on energy. [0.5x]
[ ] Write-in
She thought about it for a second. Certainly, it made sense; Takeba had more experience at stuff like this than she did. On the other hand. Poke around, here? Split up, when the place was dark, and empty of people, and had shadows in every corner?
It wasn't that she was scared. Staying together made perfect sense, even; if some sort of demon showed up, it meant they could show a united front. Much better than searching alone, potentially being jumped… in the dark, from behind…
Her mind obligingly conjured up the right way to handle a group like theirs, if they were so foolish as to split up where someone could take advantage. It would be easy; the building blocked sight-lines, and she knew there were plenty of tactics to take someone down silently, even if she wasn't quite sure what they were. She'd never see it coming. Amu shivered a little at the thought.
Besides, shrines were often homes. Always, if you counted the gods that were meant to live there, but even without them there might still be a priest that would call the place 'home'. With that in mind, searching the place without even checking to see if someone was here would simply be rude.
"In a bit," she said, happy with that line of reasoning. "Let's see if someone lives here, first."
— — —
"Hello? Anyone… here?"
Silence. Nobody answered. (And to be fair, a corner of her mind noted, they'd have needed especially good ears. Her voice had barely rated a whisper.)
Amu gulped. She stood at the side of the shrine, pushing her back against a wooden post and feeling terribly exposed and alone, for the others had all gone their own way—first Takeba, then the rest. She should have protested, but she hadn't thought she'd need to, and before she'd known what was happening she was on her own. Alone. Save for Dia, but—
The pillar behind her creaked. She twirled, staring into the darkness at the edge of the shrine. Gravel crunched underfoot.
She saw nothing.
Dia was a presence at her side, but a passive one. She didn't have the same spark of life as Miki, and what she had was caught up in herself. Amu was, for all intents and purposes, on her own.
She wanted to deny that, to sit down and draw Dia out of her shell—metaphorically, today—but her heart was beating quickly, her ears perked up for the tiniest little sound. It was quiet today, without the noise of traffic or wind; so quiet she could almost hear herself breathe.
The shrine wasn't that big. Had all four of them really needed to split up?
...no-one outside. Nothing in the darkness, but for more darkness. She was being silly. But even tests of courage worked with pairs.
A breath of wind stole her softest sigh, the sound echoing oddly as she looked for a way inside. Okay. Okay...
— — —
"Excuse my intrusion~!"
The door hit the wall with a bang, and Takeba Yukari clicked her tongue. She'd used too much force; mildly annoying, to someone who liked to keep things clean. This was the fifth room she'd looked through, however, and the continued lack of response was starting to make her worry. The girl was right, there should have been a caretaker. More to the point…
She remembered the look on Amu's face when they'd split up. Hotsuin might be a genius, but—she was coming to learn—he was also an idiot, because that had been a perfectly normal reaction from a young girl. She was scared, the same way anyone her age would be scared of going somewhere spooky on their own. Yukari had made sure they'd split up anyway, because she'd wanted to take her measure and it had seemed safe enough, but she was starting to regret that decision.
Amu might actually be waiting outside, but even if she was, she should have seen or at least heard someone else by now. The shrine was large, but not this large; between the frankly enormous corridors, and the five equally large rooms she'd seen so far, she didn't think it could all fit in the building. That meant genuine spooks were afoot, and that, usually, meant the potential for combat.
Grumbling, she checked her evoker and bow. Both were as ready as they'd ever been. A moment's thought would flood her suit with willpower, but she'd feel really silly explaining the wear and tear if the place actually turned out to be safe, so she held off for now.
The others…
If she'd been Ken, then Yukari thought she'd have felt safe leaving Amu on her own, but she wasn't—so hopefully she'd stayed outside. Lt. Kato looked like he could handle himself; JPs' people generally could. Which left Nitta-san, and Yukari had seen the look in her eyes before. She might do something foolish.
Which meant it was time to leave. She turned around.
The door she'd just come in through…
"Well." Yukari clicked her tongue, turning in a slow circle. It had been a standard shrine room when she entered; shõji doors, fixed walls and very simple decorations; a mat to sit on, a lamp, a tea set in one alcove. Well, the tea set was still there, but the doors had gone missing. "I appreciate the restraint, but why don't you show yourself? What do you have against me, anyway?"
The answer came like a whisper, from no source she could tell.
"-forbidden thoughts, forbidden powers. No cause, no debt, but you must not assist. Take this in trade."
The tea pot wobbled, singing a high-pitched note as the ceramic turned in place, and she spotted a telltale trail of vapor. Moments later the smell of green tea reached her where she was standing. Bemused, she stepped over to look more closely.
"-good, stay. No debt, no exchange needed-"
She snorted. Sure there wasn't.
"I'm sure it's lovely, but I'm sorry, I'm on the clock." She unlimbered her bow. A moment later, the pink highlights on her suit (what had she been thinking) got just that much brighter. "Now, you can let me out, or else I'll find my own way."
Silence was her answer, and she mentally shrugged. They'd had their chance.
— — —
"Ugh," Io said in disgust, brushing a cobweb aside with her arm. Her lips curled, and she abandoned her attempt to push her way through yet another barely-passable corridor to give her clothing a quick pat-down. One thing was for sure, her school uniform would need some serious cleaning.
Finding the caretaker or shrine priest had seemed like a splendid idea, but it seemed more obvious with every second that this shrine hadn't seen either in years. And then, this—
She jerked her foot back with a shudder as a large spider skittered across the floor where she'd been standing.
It was a constant struggle not to incinerate the whole thing. Spiderwebs were supposed to be flammable, weren't they? And ever since that battle with—her mind blanked for a moment—she'd had a flame stuck in her head for a while, just begging to torch anything that so much as looked at her funny. The spiders certainly counted, if anything did. But, no, that would probably catch the building on fire right along with everything else. Which, she decided, might be an improvement.
Screw this, there had to be a better way, and her skin crawled at the thought of going on.
Io turned to leave, almost running in her haste to get out of there, then stopped at the first intersection. Now, how had she gotten here… she'd turned left, right?
She stopped.
She'd turned left. She was sure of that, which meant she should go right, but there wasn't a right. There was an "ahead", and a "left", both of which were caked with even more spiders than the corridor behind her. There wasn't a right, and she couldn't—she hit the wall, her fist going halfway through the wood and coming back covered in splinters of rot and tiny insects—her stomach burned, for there was nothing but absolute darkness behind it. Balefire flickered around her hands, the rot and decay disappearing in a trickle of cleansing flames.
Back up. One step—two—
Her back touched something unhealthy, something that pulsed and sloughed down on her neck and slithered down her back—
She screamed, and what had been a trickle became a torrent. The world around her—the air—the floor—even the breath in her lungs turned to flames, destroying everything that still dared to touch her. She shuddered, hugging her knees in the middle of an all-devouring ball of flame.
— — —
"Okay, if I were a shrine priest… where would I be."
Amu poked her head around the corner, eyeing a perfectly normal office. That was a little odd, to her mind; she hadn't realised there'd be something like that inside the shrine, but once she'd reached the interior rooms she found that most of them were surprisingly un-religious in nature. What there wasn't, however, was a priest.
"Mm… at home?" Dia suggested. "I mean, everyone else is…"
"And we haven't seen anything like a kitchen yet, or anything that would fit if he's living here," Amu said, nodding. "Makes sense. I was hoping he'd be here, but I guess not. Hey, Takeba!" She shouted. "Io! Kato-san!"
Nobody answered.
"Okay…" She said, if only to break the silence. "This place isn't that large, is it? Um. And it's not sound-proofed in the slightest. They should have heard me."
The only reaction to her statement was from Dia, who'd settled down on her shoulder now that she'd stopped moving for a moment.
"Er…"
Were they trying to pull a joke on her? No, that didn't make sense. She didn't know about the other two, but Lt. Kato at least would never have agreed.
Caution. Exa's voice was suddenly serious. I've detected a spatial warp, as well as several attempts to interface with your mind. This location is being altered.
A slight twinge in her mind—
She turned, just in time to see the doorway she'd come in through waver and shrink. It stopped, while she was looking directly at it, but now she could feel the same tell-tale, not-quite-like-a-chara twinge to her sides and behind her.
Entering combat time
The next several updates will likely be very short. In return, there will be one update each day; this will only be delayed in the event that there are no votes. Votes will otherwise be locked at 20:00 Irish Summer Time each day. The situation being what it is, Exalted-type stunts are encouraged and recommended.
You may choose to control two characters. In the event that you do so, the character you do not choose is guaranteed to make it out alive; I make no further guarantees. One of them must be Amu. Do not vote for all three.
Amu
[ ] Bravely run away, while the doorway is still open.
[ ] Check what's happening behind her.
[ ] Attempt to merge with Dia. Because… maybe that'll help?
[ ] Write-in
Yukari
[ ] Explode the wall with an arrow.
[ ] Explode the former doorway with an arrow.
[ ] Explode that entire side of the room, with her mind. And magarudyne. [0.8x]
[ ] Write-in
Io
[ ] Burn everything. Force her way straight through the walls, and whatever might be beyond.
[ ] Go through the corridors. Cleanse them with fire. [0.8x]
[ ] Pull up some demons instead, to save on energy. [0.5x]
[ ] Write-in
Uh...
Hmm...
Yukari can probably take care of herself, and their... host is trying to play nice with her while the others are being tested and/or attacked.
Amu.. not sure.
Tempted to try to get Io to calm down a bit and summon in some backup so she doesn't... I was going to say 'burn herself out' but argharghargh.
And now all I can think of are fire puns. Great.
But yeah, get her some support so she doesn't get blindsided by something that can actually take a massive fireball to the face.
Hmm...
Yukari can probably take care of herself, and their... host is trying to play nice with her while the others are being tested and/or attacked.
Amu.. not sure.
Tempted to try to get Io to calm down a bit and summon in some backup so she doesn't... I was going to say 'burn herself out' but argharghargh.
And now all I can think of are fire puns. Great.
But yeah, get her some support so she doesn't get blindsided by something that can actually take a massive fireball to the face.
Well on the Amu front, there's probably little point in running through that door. If it can rearrange space and rooms at will and considering she's probably walked a fair distance inside... well the next room over is probably already sealed up good.
In that light studying how these alterations are being done might be of more use, as they might give a clue on how to best extricate one out of this situation. Also one might want to be some what cautious about starting up a all to hostile situation, as that could have unknown ramifications for the others. Unless the plan could get you to them pretty quickly that is...
Third line of thinking is that up till now this entity hasn't taken very hostile actions, thus it's not necessarily looking for a fight at all. So negotiations might be possible? Discovering its motives might be helpful.
Any one have further thoughts on this?
In that light studying how these alterations are being done might be of more use, as they might give a clue on how to best extricate one out of this situation. Also one might want to be some what cautious about starting up a all to hostile situation, as that could have unknown ramifications for the others. Unless the plan could get you to them pretty quickly that is...
Third line of thinking is that up till now this entity hasn't taken very hostile actions, thus it's not necessarily looking for a fight at all. So negotiations might be possible? Discovering its motives might be helpful.
Any one have further thoughts on this?
Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
It looks like this is some kind of test?
Like, Yukari got a pass because she's already "Finished" her character arc and come out a better person?
Io likely had no resistance against hte "Test", and was confronted with her worst fear, while Amu is being more brute-forced?
Like, Yukari got a pass because she's already "Finished" her character arc and come out a better person?
Io likely had no resistance against hte "Test", and was confronted with her worst fear, while Amu is being more brute-forced?
Considering the failed mind connecting attempts, it might just not know much about Amu directly then... assuming that's the actual case.
Well, whatever's in the room with Amu doesn't seem to be immediately hostile, just trying to trap her there. Either because it doesn't want to hurt her or because it was denied mental access and is trying to figure out what to do instead. I'm leaning towards trying to work out how the place is being warped. First thing that comes to mind (which may or may not be relevant) is the Domains from SMTIV. Should that be the case, the fastest way would be to find the maker of the Domain and have them let us out. That would depend on why they're trapping us here.
Io looks like she got hit pretty hard by whatever mental thing was attempted, and the spiders are either part of it or at least are not helping. And something connected with fire has been stuck with her since a particular battle. Considering she has an affinity for channeling, that could be another cause of her being so nervous in here. Not just her, but whatever's with her doesn't like the place. And whatever's causing this might not want that there either.
Yukari, whatever's there seems to not want to mess with her. Doesn't seem to have anything against her, and from the sound of it that only applies to her. From the sound of it there's some sort of forbidden power and/or thoughts in the place that it wants gone. Since it seems to be specifically excluding Yukari from that (and is being somewhat hospitable towards her) it would seem like it's something about the other two that angers them. So the power of Persona doesn't bother it, while either the exaltation, Dia, or the modifications applied to Dia does, as well as either Io's Nicaea account or the somewhat irritable flame in her mind.
Also if everything's on Balefire, we might have some more serious problems.
Io looks like she got hit pretty hard by whatever mental thing was attempted, and the spiders are either part of it or at least are not helping. And something connected with fire has been stuck with her since a particular battle. Considering she has an affinity for channeling, that could be another cause of her being so nervous in here. Not just her, but whatever's with her doesn't like the place. And whatever's causing this might not want that there either.
Yukari, whatever's there seems to not want to mess with her. Doesn't seem to have anything against her, and from the sound of it that only applies to her. From the sound of it there's some sort of forbidden power and/or thoughts in the place that it wants gone. Since it seems to be specifically excluding Yukari from that (and is being somewhat hospitable towards her) it would seem like it's something about the other two that angers them. So the power of Persona doesn't bother it, while either the exaltation, Dia, or the modifications applied to Dia does, as well as either Io's Nicaea account or the somewhat irritable flame in her mind.
Also if everything's on Balefire, we might have some more serious problems.
Highwind
To Rise From The Ashes
- Location
- Brazil
From this part here,
We can assume whatever is in here has some form of connection or obsession with debt. Probably spiritual debt at that, but I can't say what exactly this means, other than that it is a clue for us to discover what kind of Demon we are dealing with.
Actually make that Demons. we can't assume it's just a single entity we are dealing with, and there are presences on Amu's sides as well as behind her.
Also, note it offered something for her to drink "No debt, no exchange needed" and invited her to stay? Yeah, that reminded me of that bit in the stories about the Fae where you shouldn't eat or drink anything they offer you. I think whatever that was couldn't mess directly with her mind and attempted to use the tea as a medium.
And I think that whatever is attacking Io appears to be baiting her into burning everything. The fact that she is dealing with thousands of spiders surrounding her makes me think whatever this is Wants her to burn everything around her.
Everyone here remembers how Lt. Kato (who is suspiciously absent, I must Add,) mentioned that it was possible the seal was in the Shrine's structures, right?
We can assume whatever is in here has some form of connection or obsession with debt. Probably spiritual debt at that, but I can't say what exactly this means, other than that it is a clue for us to discover what kind of Demon we are dealing with.
Actually make that Demons. we can't assume it's just a single entity we are dealing with, and there are presences on Amu's sides as well as behind her.
Also, note it offered something for her to drink "No debt, no exchange needed" and invited her to stay? Yeah, that reminded me of that bit in the stories about the Fae where you shouldn't eat or drink anything they offer you. I think whatever that was couldn't mess directly with her mind and attempted to use the tea as a medium.
And I think that whatever is attacking Io appears to be baiting her into burning everything. The fact that she is dealing with thousands of spiders surrounding her makes me think whatever this is Wants her to burn everything around her.
Everyone here remembers how Lt. Kato (who is suspiciously absent, I must Add,) mentioned that it was possible the seal was in the Shrine's structures, right?
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
I'm a bit bemused, because that wasn't supposed to be my intention; it was just skill crack: Agi.
But you may now be correct. The two cases would look pretty similar.
Highwind
To Rise From The Ashes
- Location
- Brazil
...Oh. That makes sense.
Wait, Skill Cracking is a thing? As in, Humans can learn Demon Skills just like that?
Well, when I say "just like that" i don't mean to say it is easy, or simple. I mean that your previous posts on the subject of Humans using Demon Magic made it sound like using it safely (as in, without Your Head Literally Exploding) was an achievement in and of itself.
Your latest post also implies that Io feels she confident she can burn the whole place to the ground using it. Even accounting for her being stressed and misjudging her limits, it still seems strange that she can use Agi that easily.
I recall you said the Summoning App makes using Magic easier. Is Skill Cracking specifically a function of the App, or can the cracked skill be used even without it?
Amu - Looks like we have three main ways to approach this:
1) Attempt to convince whatever force is behind this to stop messing with us. Would require that we permit the mental interface(but this also means it could do a lot of interesting things to us with our permission)
2) Attempt to understand what the hell is going on, probably should gattai with Dia
3) Amu Smash
Yukari - Left alone, it looks like she'd drill her way out eventually with arrows. Intervention unnecessary
Io - Left alone, she'd survive by burning the everything. Intervention recommended if we want the place to be intact.
Seems to be reacting to supernatural power? Someone elaborate on the differences between our shrine explorers?
1) Attempt to convince whatever force is behind this to stop messing with us. Would require that we permit the mental interface(but this also means it could do a lot of interesting things to us with our permission)
2) Attempt to understand what the hell is going on, probably should gattai with Dia
3) Amu Smash
Yukari - Left alone, it looks like she'd drill her way out eventually with arrows. Intervention unnecessary
Io - Left alone, she'd survive by burning the everything. Intervention recommended if we want the place to be intact.
Seems to be reacting to supernatural power? Someone elaborate on the differences between our shrine explorers?
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Everything I have said remains true. Alcor's summoning app is an achievement of highest bullshit that's nearly exaltation-worthy in itself, and so something which is in effect skill crack exists, although the exact game mechanics do not.
It should be clear by now, that Io does not need the app in order to control her magic, as it wouldn't be very useful in combat if she did. The jury is out on whether she can use it without having her cellphone on her. I will say, however, that although the fire won't hurt her--because it's hers, and because she's already too hard to hurt for something trivial like the temperature of the air she's breathing to matter--it's otherwise more akin to fiend-fyre than the sort of thing you'd find in your stove.
Io might also be over-estimating herself slightly. Or not. She's already survived one day's worth of this, and she's a magic-heavy build.
What you're looking at is just Agi, by the way. Agidyne or Maragi are different things entirely.
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As usual I can't help but notice alternate options that were missed.
4) Attempt to communicate with it via an alternate method. (It can manipulate the environment, Amu can talk, it's already demonstrated to understand talking... So there is no need to go via Mental)
5) Run away immediately, possibly via her budding understanding of certain spatial magics
6) Study The spatial warpings and learn more first, it might be dangerous to just try to forge your way through.
7) Just keep walking through the structure blindly or wait. Maybe your friends will eventually bail you out.
7) Combine several of the above options.
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I think I can describe Yukari and Io somewhat.
Yukari is a Persona-user, so her power is directly drawn from herself as a source. It's a reflection of her personality, and as such would probably be more difficult to change than other sources of power. In her case, she is pretty heavily focused on magic, specifically wind and healing. She's also pretty good with a bow, but her Persona doesn't really help much with physical skills or proficiency, so that's probably within normal human capabilities.
Io is using the Nicaea summoning app. So she can use that to summon demons under contract to follow her orders. It also allows for the user to access demon magic and skills as well, usually through analyzing said skills from a demon that can naturally use them. So she can amass a pretty decent skill set, but she (or possibly someone on the same 'network' as her) would have to find a demon with a particular skill, and personally defeat them in battle. There also may be a restriction on how many skills can be active at the same time. The stat requirements may still be in play, so as far as that goes, Io is mostly magic and strength focused (more so the former), though she does have not-terrible vitality and agility. Main thing might be the fact that she needs the phone on her person to use any of that. Without it working, she's (mostly) a normal human.
So the main thing I'm seeing is the thing's reaction seems to correspond to how integrated the power is into the person. Yukari: doesn't seem to have a problem with her at all. Amu: seems to be messing with her, but not overtly hostile. Io: spiders everywhere.
It should be noted that Yukari is both an end-game level PC(who seems to have been keeping in shape to avoid slacking-related level downs), and possesses spells that can cure various mental status effects. So whatever's here is going to have a hard time getting to her, let alone getting anything to stick.
Alternately poor Io is just the most vulnerable?
Since no-one has voted yet:
Amu
[x] Check what's happening behind her.
[x] If it's not immediately hostile, attempt to merge with Dia.
Reasoning: something is behind Amu and trying to run away without looking at it is a bad idea. Merging with Dia will help talk to whatever it is (if it's amenable to talking) or provide a non-trivial power boost otherwise.
Io
[x] Pull up some demons instead, to save on energy. [0.5x]
Reasoning: Io needs our help more that Yukari, and is more likely to damage something important by burning through the walls.
Amu
[x] Check what's happening behind her.
[x] If it's not immediately hostile, attempt to merge with Dia.
Reasoning: something is behind Amu and trying to run away without looking at it is a bad idea. Merging with Dia will help talk to whatever it is (if it's amenable to talking) or provide a non-trivial power boost otherwise.
Io
[x] Pull up some demons instead, to save on energy. [0.5x]
Reasoning: Io needs our help more that Yukari, and is more likely to damage something important by burning through the walls.
Amu
[X] Check what's happening behind her.
-[X] Ask Dia to keep an eye on the door first, and to yell if it starts closing again.
Still thinking about who to pick.
[X] Check what's happening behind her.
-[X] Ask Dia to keep an eye on the door first, and to yell if it starts closing again.
Still thinking about who to pick.
Amu:
[X] Check what's happening behind her.
[X] If it's not immediately hostile, attempt to merge with Dia.
She can already notice that something's going on with the space in the general area, so figuring out what it is would help with getting everyone out. Between the three of them, they should be able to get a workable idea of what's going on.
Io:
[X] Pull up some demons instead, to save on energy. [0.5x]
Having some backup might help keep her from losing her cool. And should the situation heat up, she'd have some (relatively) less destructive options to keep things from burning out of control. Not to mention something to put between her and the spiders. I only had two not terrible fire puns.
[X] Check what's happening behind her.
[X] If it's not immediately hostile, attempt to merge with Dia.
She can already notice that something's going on with the space in the general area, so figuring out what it is would help with getting everyone out. Between the three of them, they should be able to get a workable idea of what's going on.
Io:
[X] Pull up some demons instead, to save on energy. [0.5x]
Having some backup might help keep her from losing her cool. And should the situation heat up, she'd have some (relatively) less destructive options to keep things from burning out of control. Not to mention something to put between her and the spiders. I only had two not terrible fire puns.
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
And now is when I remind you that, in the current situation, stunts are a thing and will help. See http://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/Exalted_Stunts for details.
[X] Check what's happening behind her.
[X] If it's not immediately hostile, attempt to merge with Dia.
[X] Pull up some demons instead, to save on energy. [0.5x]
[X] If it's not immediately hostile, attempt to merge with Dia.
[X] Pull up some demons instead, to save on energy. [0.5x]
I shall make an attempt:
Amu
[x] Check what's happening behind her.
-[x] Reflexively, she spun around, scanning the room behind her for changes, trying to catch whatever was doing this in action.
[x] If it's not immediately hostile, attempt to merge with Dia.
-[x] She considered her options. Decisiveness felt like a good trait to have now, she certainly couldn't afford to waste time! "Dia?"
Io
[x] Pull up some demons instead, to save on energy. [0.5x]
-[x] Watching the all-devouring flames destroy the spiders was calming, but it quickly became clear she couldn't sustain this forever. She needed allies. She pulled out her phone.
*Looksat situation* *looks at dawn abilities* ... haha... fuck. ... *Looks at occult* Can we learn to cast spells on the fly?
This is going to end badly.
Also wanting to kick Hotsuin in the dick even more now.
This is going to end badly.
Also wanting to kick Hotsuin in the dick even more now.