Spinning Silver - Exalted/Worm

[ChaosMagic]

Nothing comes of the locker. Nothing will come of the locker. No proof. No witnesses. Nothing but your own words, drawn from you when you were too exhausted to filter. Accusations you know they'll find baseless.

You go home from the hospital, silently. You head up to your room, silently.

You can't talk to your dad, not now. Can't handle the rapid surge of his emotions - guilt, protective fury, self recrimination. You caused some of this, you know, by keeping your secrets for so long…

You're tired.

Sleep doesn't come that night. The next, you slip out after dad goes to bed, filled with a strange urge to follow the moon. To bathe in its light.

You walk as if in a trance, taking the bus where convenient, always keeping the moon in your sight, until you're at a desolated part of the docks, overlooking the Bay. The Ship's Graveyard. All the signs of everything wrong with this city - with this society - with this world. A decaying city that long ago abandoned hope, a society where the strong prey on the weak, a world spiraling down (you realize, in a way you've never properly grasped) to its inevitable final weak gasp.

Terrible, horrible things. You know they'll happen. You know all the forces of heroism and hope have only stemmed the tide.

You got nothing from the locker. Not a reprieve from the Trio, not restitution, not even powers. That's the nature of the world, isn't it? Suffering that only begets more suffering. Disintegration that weakens the rest of the structure.

You won't allow it.

The waters of the Bay seem agitated. Waves crash on the shore, and half-sunken ships groan in a high wind. You stare out at the moon, unaffected.

No. Fucking. More.

You have a week off from school, still. Time to rest. To recover yourself.

Time to make sure your enemies can't see you cowed.

You got nothing from the locker except misery. You won't allow this horrible cycle to continue, can't, and even if you can't wrest the world away from its path you can take control of your own damn life -

There's someone behind you.

You turn and blink. The - person - you want to say they're a parahuman. Obviously. They're floating and also glowing to match the moon still hovering over the Bay.

You have a strange feeling parahuman would be something of an insult. Like accusing a shining beacon of light of working for the cause of darkness. Absurd.

You turn more to the strange person, examining them, feeling oddly calm. Long, white hair - glowing - and pale skin - also glowing. Opalescent white irises. A grin on pale lips. The person looks male, maybe a young adult, to your eyes, despite the obvious swell of pregnancy. They're dressed in strange robes with no shoes.

"Who are you?" you ask, wary.

The person smiles more widely, leans in -

And kisses you.

You blink in shock, reeling back. The person laughs and vanishes.

And then the world falls away, stars and darkness surrounding you, a world spread out beneath your flying feet - machinery held in your body, holding back the tides that threaten to collapse the world, investigating the secrets in the darkest corners of Creation, searching endlessly for someone you love - someone you lost - playing host to your old enemies and allies alike -

You spin in free fall, slamming back into your body to fall to your knees -

And then you turn into a spider.

...This is the weirdest dream ever, you think.

Except…

You have a charge. A mission. And - you know who you are. The silver patterns on your spider-body give truth to that.

Who are you?

-

-

Thread game system: Exalted Second Edition. Also, extra charms/ knacks can be granted as story rewards, for repeated training, for exceptional actions, for completing goals, for finishing an arc, etc.

You don't need to own the Exalted source books to participate in this quest, and I'm hoping to make it doable even with zero familiarity with Exalted.

For voting: Your caste and sub-caste/theme will determine your starting stats and powers. You start with the appropriate caste tattoos - courtesy of your patron, Luna.


Motivation: You are someone who will…

[] Empower the powerless
[] Lead Brockton Bay to glory
[] Save the world


Caste: By the power of the…

[] Full Moon. The mightiest warriors in Luna's service, the Full Moon Lunars are Luna's Chosen at their strongest - as are the relentless tides of their enemies. You protect the body of the world. You will specialize in physical attributes.
-[] Child of the Burning Moon. No matter what, you will endure. Bullying. Indignation. Treachery. Deceit. The end of the world, if you must. Stamina comes most naturally to you. You're a juggernaut and a survivor.
-[] Luna's Blade. The insect has many lessons. One of those: wherever your enemy is, that is where you are not. Swatting flies has nothing on hitting you. Dexterity comes most naturally to you. You're a fighter and an acrobat.

[] Changing Moon. Luna's manipulators, seducers, and diplomats, the Changing Moon Lunars are at their most charming - as are the enemies that whisper in the ears of those around them. You protect the heart and soul of the world's people. You will specialize in social attributes.
-[] Child of the Shifting Moon. You've had long, long practice keeping your head down and pretending to be someone you're not. Manipulation comes most naturally to you - as does stealing the forms and lives of others. You're a spy and a weaver.
-[] Luna's Courtier. You have a message for the world - and they will listen. Charisma comes most naturally to you - as does swaying hearts and minds, naturally or not. You're a diplomat and a leader.

[] No Moon. Luna's strategists and sorcerers, the No Moon Lunars are at their cleverest - as are those who scheme in the shadows against them like two spiders weaving opposing webs. You ferret out the secrets of the world and its enemies, to protect all. You will specialize in mental attributes.
-[] Child of the Hidden Moon. You've had more than enough of being findable. No more - you operate from the shadows, from here on out. Your mind is keener than they can know, and your tracks are nonexistent. Intelligence comes most naturally to you - bringing with it the knowledge you might just need. You're the hidden hand that directs nations.
-[] Luna's Shadow. More than anything in your history - more than suffering, more than dreaming, more than yearning - you've watched. You've observed. You've seen every secret that whispers past you. Perception comes most naturally to you - as does every secret the world could have kept. You're the hunter and the explorer.

[] Casteless. Luna's wild cards, the Casteless Lunars are free spirits unbound by the yoke of expectation - but their greatest enemy is the pure chaos that threatens to rip them and their world to shreds. You roam restlessly, taking a charge wherever you might, as something changes within you. Your future is uncertain. Your nature is even more uncertain.
-[] Write-in. The nature of the Casteless is even more freedom from the bounds of fate than usual. Now is the time to seize that.


Reaction: Except...

[] This is definitely a dream. You're going to turn back into a human, go home, go to sleep, and pretend this never happened.
[] This is definitely your destiny. You know. You're going to turn back into a human, make a few excited noises, go home - and plan your future career as a superhero.
[] This is definitely something cool. You're going to head out into the Boat Graveyard and let loose. You've gotta have more powers than turning into a spider, right?
[] This is definitely incredibly weird. You're going to panic and freak out!

 

[ChaosMagic]

Overall System: Exalted Second Edition

Major Homebrew Rules Supplement: Terrifying Argent Witches

Major Personal Homebrew Modifications:

Taylor has three true forms, as per original Lunar rules: her true human form, her true spider form, and her true monstrosity/ war/ deadly beastman form. She does not need charms for any of these.

Taylor can take forms as small as a house fly, importing the original Lunar knack 'Emerald Grasshopper Form'. She does not need charms for this.

Most charms and some knacks will (likely with some modifications) be available from the original Lunar rules; I'm still working out which ones and whether I want to alter them at all.

Taylor can gain bonus charms as story rewards.

Taylor cannot learn sorcery at least not until the QM has enough of a break from nursing school to reread the sorcery stuff.


(this will eventually include more stuff)

 

[ChaosMagic]

[X] Plan: Empowering Shade
-[X] Empower the powerless
-[X] No Moon. Luna's strategists and sorcerers, the No Moon Lunars are at their cleverest - as are those who scheme in the shadows against them like two spiders weaving opposing webs. You ferret out the secrets of the world and its enemies, to protect all. You will specialize in mental attributes.
--[X] Luna's Shadow. More than anything in your history - more than suffering, more than dreaming, more than yearning - you've watched. You've observed. You've seen every secret that whispers past you. Perception comes most naturally to you - as does every secret the world could have kept. You're the hunter and the explorer.
-[X] This is definitely your destiny. You know. You're going to turn back into a human, make a few excited noises, go home - and plan your future career as a superhero.

'Luna's Blade' also got a decent number of votes, so Taylor will have ~any Dexterity/ related charms.

-


-

Okay, first thing: random glowing people kissing you was not one of the rumors you'd heard about how people get powers. (Also that was your first kiss. You should probably be more bothered by that, but: powers!) Except… You haven't actually heard much. You should probably research that.

...You should probably research a lot, except you are currently a spider, and spiders are both relatively slow and not good at using computers. You think.

It takes some focusing - and some tap-dance wiggling - but you manage to nudge a little mental switch in your brain by focusing really hard on what being human feels like. The world shifts around you, a bit disorientingly, and then you're Taylor Herbert again. Tall, gawky, looking out at a blurry world -

...What?

You take off your glasses, blinking, and -

Your vision's fixed, apparently.

You take a few deep breaths as it really hits you. You're a parahuman. A cape. Something everyone dreams of being - even if turning into a spider isn't as cool as having an Alexandria package, it's -

It's more than you'd dared hope for, lately. It's - it's hope. You laugh, frantically, desperately.

Nothing good came of your suffering for so long. You'd started to think - maybe nothing good could ever happen to you again.

Whatever this is… It's something good. And it feels right. Like it's who you're meant to be. Where you're meant to be. Like your destiny just woke up after spending your whole life sleeping in, yawned, stretched, and changed your world.

You're briefly embarrassed at how melodramatic that thought was, but… It, too, feels right.

You have a destiny now, the beaten down part of you exclaims. You have no idea why you're so sure about that - why turning into a spider feels so utterly monumental - but…

You want to seize this. Plan for it. Look at the world, like it's your web, and change it.

You take a few deep, steadying breaths, and -

You need to figure out what your powers are.

But before that… You need to plan. The Boat Graveyard's an obvious place to practice, for one, but that means probably people are watching it. You've heard rumors about gangs forcibly recruiting capes, after all. So you'll need somewhere less obvious. You'll need to not make your dad suspicious, too - which means returning home sooner rather than later. You've already been out and about for a while.

So you head home - and, on a whim, rather than risk waking your dad up by sneaking in normally, you go into your backyard, turn into a spider, and climb up to your bedroom window. You could get the hang of this, you think. Being a spider certainly helps some stuff.

-

You spend the night too jittery to sleep, really. You want to be a superhero. You have no idea how to be a superhero.

But… Well, you gotta start somewhere, right?

So you get out some of your spare notebooks, dedicating one to questions. (And hopefully eventually answers). This is the one you'll be taking to the library with you, so it needs to not be too suspicious - needs to look like you're a cape geek, maybe. (You title the first page 'Parahuman Studies 101, Week 1' with a smile on your face.)

How do people trigger? What does triggering feel like? What are the power classifications? Can capes have more than one power? Who are the major villains in Brockton Bay? Who are the major heroes?

And so on.

Another notebook - power testing results and ideas. Can turn into a spider. Don't need glasses?

A third - superhero plans. Cape names (you don't have any good ideas, but you label a page with that anyways) and costume sketches. What you'll want to bring with you on patrols. What you need to buy, what you can make yourself. How much it'll cost. (You don't know the answers to this, so it's mostly all just reminding yourself what you need to find out.)

So far… You can turn into a spider, and you don't need glasses. You're not sure if your vision is twenty-twenty or if it's better. Your night vision is probably better than it used to be…

Well, you're too jittery to sleep, and the library doesn't open until ten in the morning tomorrow, so you might as well experiment with the small things. Looking at stuff and turning into spiders can't be all that obvious; you should be able to do it without leaving your house.

You take your power testing notebook with you to the bathroom, first. You then stare at yourself in the mirror, lights off - and since the bathroom doesn't have its own window, it's really dark.

You fumble a bit, putting your notebook on the counter, then…

You want to read it. You want to know what it says. You want to see in the dark…

(There's a weird pressure behind your eyes. A sense of something more, like you could pull down moonbeams.)

And a silvery light surrounds you, bright enough to read by. You blink, look down at your notebook - and, yeah, you can read that. Though this probably isn't the best way to see in the dark if you're a stealthy sort of cape…

- Your notebook doesn't have a shadow. You wouldn't have noticed that, earlier, you don't think. You make the light fluttering around you brighter, lean around to look at the toothbrush holder, the soap, the towels…

The light around you isn't casting shadows, at all. It's just - illuminating things.

Cape powers: kinda weird, you decide, after examining the bathroom for a little while. You're unsure if this means only you can see the light, and you're unsure how to actually test that without revealing you're a cape.

Squinting a lot doesn't reveal any other weird sensory powers, at least not right away. It does reveal you're covered in weird swirly silver tattoos. Those might be awkward to hide - you're gonna have to be careful with your wardrobe, now.

Okay, so… Transforming.

You manage the spider trick a few more times. You seem to default appear on the floor, between your feet. You could probably play with that… But you want to see if you can change into anything else.

Still a spider, you scurry up to the bathroom countertop, squinting at yourself in the mirror. You're not sure why your vision doesn't seem any worse as a bug, though - okay actually your field of vision's wider. Weird. You're just processing all the extra stuff normally, apparently.

You look like a garden spider. Like a normal web one. You don't know spiders, but you vaguely know what jumping spiders look like, and that they're faster and probably don't weave webs, and you know what black widows look like.

Turning into either doesn't work. Apparently, you only have the one spider shape.

You can't turn into a cat, or a bat, or a rat, or a lizard when you remind yourself to stop rhyming. Which makes you think of things that rhyme with spider… Not many animals rhyme with spider.

This is a bit frustrating, and you're not sure what else to try.

-


-

Vote!

Rules update: this is still 2e, but a lot of character creation and charm stuff will be pulled from the Terrifying Argent Witches homebrew supplement, with modifications as outlined in the updated 'System Clarification' informational post. I'm still tweaking Taylor's character sheet; it'll be up soon, though.

You should… (Everything voted for will be tried, or at least thought of, with higher priority going to more popular votes)
[] Turn into a drider. That rhymes with spider, right? (You're not sure what a drider is.)
[] Turn into a spider plant. This is definitely a good idea and unlikely to backfire horribly.
[] Turn into a human and see if you can't turn a bit into a spider.
[] Try to perceive everything behind you without turning around. Everywhere your light touches, maybe?
[] See if you can shoot web
[] See if you can talk to that other spider up in the corner
[] Go to sleep. You need to be alert for the library tomorrow.
[] Write-in

Your tattoos...
[] Mark you as a No Moon Lunar and nothing else. They're easily hidden. (6 free background dots to be spent later)
[] Act as armor, against attack and toxin alike, and can turn into weapons on your hands. They're difficult to hide - you'll need to wear high collared long sleeve shirts and gloves. (Ties up 11 motes of Peripheral Essence. Gives you an artifact breastplate, collar of cleansing light, and self-repairing gloves of martial readiness.)
[] Include a really weird gem set into filigree bracers, and another really weird gem in an amulet. They're not trivial to hide - you'll need to wear collared long sleeve shirts. But you can cloak yourself in shadows whenever you like, and reroll failed rolls at a small cost (Ties up 5 motes of Peripheral Essence, but you regain an extra 7 motes per hour. Gives you a Hearthstone Amulet with a Gemstone of Shadows, and a Hearthstone Bracers with a Jewel of the Rabbit's Sword.)
[] Write-in (up to 6 dots of artifacts, following original Lunar tattoo artifact RAW. Unused dots will be treated as free background dots, to be spent later. Subject to QM veto. Few 4 or 5 dot artifacts will be allowed.)