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Summoner Quest (Celestial Menagerie)

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That will not work though, if we take both non repeatabe perks we go to the new table automaticaly, where our chances for choose 500 are much lower chance.
 
Vote closed. Winning vote: 600 Gigantification

This one was a long time coming. Finally, we got all the size modification powers. This means that there's only one unique power remaining: Summon x 7, before we gain access to the capstone list. It necessitates 700 points, however. Maybe you'll want to grab a Choose one before picking it. Also, it means that I don't need to roll for Power anymore; there are only three entries remaining.

Minor note: I finally got around to updating Nimue's loot list with an eye toward the future. You can find it here. Let me know if you think I forgot anything important. I only include useful stuff, not random creature parts.
 
Also, if for our next power roll we only have enough points for the choose 300 option, I beg you all to consider voting to skip....
 
Feather_Up said:
While we are on the subject, what does Gawain drop? Anything? His horns?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Good question, I'll consider it. The horns are the most obvious of course. Maybe it's his hide, you could make some powerful magic item from it.
The hooves too?
Beating him to access that loot is another matter, however. Gawain will always be Nimue's strongest boss after all, scaling with the Dungeon.
And he'll probably retreat before dying if you beat him anywhere but the last floor.
 
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Chapter 229: Celebration Party
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Power
    Power Roll: (640 points)
    Entry Roll D4=2
    700 Summon x 7 (Too expensive), 600 Gigantification, 400 Choose one (300)
    Sub-vote results: 600 Gigantification
    Banked: 040

    Okay, this is a little awkward. So you know I said that the romance with Crystal would mainly happen in the background. This chapter was supposed to be pretty short, just a summary of the party, with the highlight. Maybe even squeeze in the Sunday morning.
    That didn't happen, it's just that Alex and Crystal are so cute together. And then Neil and Sarah both want to have a few lines. Crystal's friends decided that they needed personality. And it snowballed from there, with more than 4K words.
    My apology to those who don't like the romance aspect. I promised I'd try to keep it to a minimum in the future. (Provided that my Characters allow me to do so.)
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Saturday, 05/21/2011 (8 PM)

    I parked in front of the Pelham residence exactly at eight, I hoped to arrive earlier but people were partying in the street all over town. Thankfully, I chose to depart early so I still managed to arrive on time, barely.

    Exiting the car, I had a good look at the house that my girlfriend called home. It wasn't a mansion by any means but it was a solid middle-class two stories house. Amusingly, it even includes the famous white picket fence.

    As I stepped foot on the path a window on the first floor opened, and a blonde and shapely missile hurled itself at me. I barely had time to react before Crystal was in my arms and kissing me fiercely. We only parted ways when we ran out of breath. Her smile was blinding as we looked into each other's eyes.

    I enjoyed the sound of her voice as she greeted me. "Hello, Honey."

    "Hello to you, too Beautiful." I chuckled. "I could certainly get used to such greetings."

    Her answering smile was wicked. "I should certainly hope so."

    She took a step back and looked at me up and down. "You seem fine. I watched the press conference so I knew it. But that doesn't prove anything, you have access to more healing powers than Amy." She gave me a piercing look that made her look even cuter in my eyes.

    "They never even saw us coming. I was wounded at the end of the operation because of an unexpected surprise but nothing I couldn't heal from. I'll tell you the whole story later."

    I received a sharp nod in answer. "Good!"

    She grabbed my hand and turned away. "Come on. I want you to meet my parents, and I need to finish getting ready."

    Glancing down I realized that she wasn't wearing shoes, instead she was flying a few centimeters above the ground. I also used the opportunity to have a good look at what she was wearing, namely, a tight dark red shirt that showed off her form without being outrageous, a pair of blue jeans that hugged her curves, her customary red headband, and a touch of makeup to highlight her blue eyes. Amusingly I noted that her lipstick was smudged, she'll need to redo it.

    "I've already met your parents. Multiple times."

    "Prat, you know what I mean. It's different." She stopped advancing and turned to face me again. Even though she tried to hide it I could detect her nervousness.

    I squeezed her hand. "Don't worry. It will be fine." I paused as one of my Minds brought up a worrying possibility. "Should I be worried about receiving a shovel speech from your dad?"

    She scoffed. "Humf, him? As if, no, he's already planning our wedding."

    I couldn't help but blush when hearing that word, and I wasn't the only one. We've only been dating for a week. This could wait. At least a few years.

    "No, it's Mom that you should be worried about. She's liable to interrogate you about your intentions. She's very protective of Eric and me. Even your reputation won't protect you."

    Her warning was still resonating through my head as she opened the door. I tried to distract myself by admiring the decor. The house's interior looked homely, with numerous family photos on the walls.

    Crystal guided me beyond the foyer into the living room. Neil Pelham was there, currently scrolling on his phone. He looked up when he heard us entering the room.

    That mountain of a man looked far more impressive than the last time I'd seen him. Maybe it was because I am now dating his daughter.

    "Here he is, the man of the hour!"

    He extended his hand and I shook it firmly. "Good Evening Mister Pelham. It's nice to see you."

    He gave me a genuine smile. "There's no mister between us. As my future son-in-law, you can call me Neil."

    This remark took me aback that I couldn't find the words to answer. A furiously blushing Crystal saved me from looking like a fool.

    "DAD! It's not funny!"

    Neil let out a booming laugh. "HA HA HA! But it is dear. You should have seen your face."

    This moment of levity allowed me to regain my composure. Clearing my throat I addressed the man. "Well, Neil, in that case, you call me Alex."

    Crystal appeared taken aback by my answer before giving me an appreciative glance.

    A woman's voice interrupted us at this point. "Let the poor boy alone Neil, and go get ready, we're leaving right after Crystal." Sarah Pelham entered the living room from what I presumed to be the kitchen, she wasn't looking at either of us. Instead, she was checking the contents of her purse.

    Looking at Sarah Pelham I couldn't help but admit that the women of New Wave were all beautiful. And if Crystal followed in her mother's footsteps she would mature to become even more beautiful as time passed.

    Lifting her head she also addressed her daughter. "And you too Crystal. We don't want to make Carol wait too much."

    And so a few seconds later I was left alone with the mother of my girlfriend.

    I addressed her as respectfully as possible. "Good Evening Ma'am."

    She gave a reassuring smile. "It's fine, you can call me Sarah. Despite the way, my husband said it, if you're dating our daughter, you can call us by our names."

    "Very well… Sarah. My name is Alex Crewser. But Alex is fine."

    Sarah appeared pleased by my answer. "You wouldn't believe our surprise when Crystal told us who she was dating. So I need to ask why the great Compendium wants to date Crystal Pelham?" Despite the words chosen her tone wasn't mocking.

    I swallowed my saliva, choosing my words carefully. "Compendium is not dating anyone. Alex Crewser is dating Crystal Pelham. And he's doing so because she's a great girl and because he thinks that there's some chemistry between them." It felt weird to speak of myself in the third person, but it seemed appropriate to the situation.

    She closed her eyes, seemingly deep in thought, before reopening them and peering into mine. "That's not a bad answer. But what would you say if Laserdream wished to date Compendium? She was raised as an open cape after all. Maybe she would appreciate the ability to spend time with her partner in both aspects of their lives."

    I could tell that this was mostly hypothetical. She didn't think that Crystal would request such a thing. The subject of secret identities came up when we talked. And while she didn't resent being an open cape, she did resent the fact that she wasn't given a choice. As such she wouldn't ask it of me.

    "That is something that would need to be discussed between the two of them." I paused. "However, I don't think Compendium would be opposed to it. As long as proper precautions were taken." It would make my life as Alex Crewser more complicated, but it wouldn't be insurmountable. I would certainly like to spend time with my girlfriend as Compendium without hiding. Once again it was far too soon to consider it.

    The smile that Sarah gave me was genuine. "I see. Thank you for answering me honestly."

    Noise from the stairs signaled the return of my girlfriend and her father.

    Before they reached us, Sarah said something else. "You did a good thing today. Thank you."

    This show of gratitude meant more to me than the majority of the ones I received today. I could only nod in response.

    A few seconds later Crystal was back by my side, her hand in mine. I learned that her parents would join the Dallon family for an impromptu dinner, to celebrate the occasion and that her brother was already gone to join one of the numerous parties taking place on the boardwalk.

    We bid our farewell to Neil and Sarah, and I guided Crystal toward the car.

    "I didn't say so earlier but that's a nice jeep. But you never told me that you got a car." She gave a curious glance.

    I faked a confused expression. "Whatever do you mean? I don't have a car."

    This appears to confuse her. Reflexively she points at the 4x4 park in front of her house. "What but…" She trailed off. "Don't tell me it's one of your partners?"

    "Go it in one!" I smirked.

    As I opened the door for her, an action that won me a quick kiss, she asked a follow-up question.

    "So which one is it?"

    I answered her once I was seated on the driver's side. "You may remember that during Leviathan's attack, I called a big group of giant teddy bears to guide civilians toward Bruce. That's the one."

    She snapped her finger. "Yes!" She looked at the interior of the car with curiosity. "So we're inside one of those teddy bears?"

    I nodded. "There's only one of him. He's called Bernie. It's just that for the attack I pulled another power to multiply him by a hundred."

    She frowned in though, a cute grimace forming on her face. "You didn't use that power on your giant lizard. I guess that you couldn't? A power limitation."

    I grinned. "There's a size limitation. A very low one. But by default, Bernie is the size of a normal teddy bear and it can become big. So I used the power, called Swarm, on him while he was small. Resulting in a hundred small teddy bears, and only then did they use their power to grow."

    "And thus bypassing the limit. Nice." She gave me a gigawatt smile. It felt good, I didn't much care for compliments about my powers, I didn't earn them, they were handed to me. But I appreciate ones about the ways I used them because that was all me. Even more so coming from people that I cared about.

    As we drove toward the campus she asked me about the attack on the Nine saying that she had seen footage of the crater on TV. I opt to not hide anything from her, apart from Manton's name. And I underplayed a little the damage dealt by the Siberian when she wounded me. She was appropriately shocked when I revealed that the Siberian was a Projection all along.

    She commented that it made some amount of sense, without a squishy human to protect under the power, a Projection could be much stronger than a Breaker effect.

    "I didn't know you were so well versed in Parahuman theory."

    She waved my comment away. "I'm not. But Vicky likes to ramble away about it. I picked a few things."

    On our way to the campus, we passed by even more parties than I had on my way to Pelham's house. It really slowed us down. Finally, we reached the vicinity of the university, and after searching for five minutes I found a place to park. Again I played the gentleman and opened the door for Crystal. She giggled at my antics.

    Arms in arms she guided me as we walked through the campus.

    "So what was this party about anyway?"

    "To be honest I'm not sure. I think it was for the birthday of the President of the sorority." She shot me a smirk. "But of course, it's not just about that anymore."

    Long before seeing the avenue for the parties, I saw the glow of numerous light spots, shining into the evening sky, and then I heard the sound of music at full blast and as a background the sound of a multitude of voices. When we turned a corner we could finally see the place, it was impossible to miss. A big building part dorm-room part mansion, with multiple banners on the front, multiple tents on the outside for a buffet and a bar, an improvised dance floor, and a hall full of cushions, chairs, and sofas.

    The banners confirmed that it was originally a birthday party for a certain Britney. A fair few, improvised ones, were about the death of the Nine. Sometimes verging on the macabre, with graphic depictions of their death in gruesome ways.

    "That's a lot bigger than I imagined."

    My tone of voice caught Crystal's attention. "If it's too overwhelming for you we can just find my friends and go elsewhere."

    I appreciate the sentiment but I shake my head. "Nah, it's fine. It's not my preferred setting, but It's not painful or anything. And I'm looking forward to dancing with you."

    She must have liked my answer because her smile became blinding. On an impulse, I kissed her. She reciprocates fervently. We only stopped when we were interrupted by hoots and catcalls coming from a group of guys that were passing by.

    Hurriedly we separated and walked away, both of us as red as tomatoes.

    "Hn, yes. Anyway, do you know where your friends are?"

    Crystal cleared her throat, trying to get past her embarrassment. "Yes, I texted Audrey earlier and she said that they would be waiting for us near the bar."

    As we approached it became clear that this was a very popular party, hundreds of people were there, and that was only those that I could see. Girls were in the majority, but plenty of guys were also present.

    Finding our way to the bar, through this crowd of people proved to be a challenge. In the end, we managed it and Crystal spotted her friends standing in a corner, glasses in their hands, and talking between themselves.

    As we approached I looked at these people that were my girlfriend's friends, people that I would necessarily interact with at least semi-frequently if our relationship continued. Something that I dearly wished for. The group was composed of four people, three girls and a guy.

    Crystal gave me a brief description earlier, so I was able to assign names to those faces.

    The short brunette wearing a green summer dress should be Audrey. Farah was the caramel-skinned and curvy woman, wearing a blouse and jeans. The black-haired and athletic girl by her side wearing a tank top and a pair of shorts was certainly Ericka. She was holding hands with a tall and thin blonde man, the last member of the group, Lars.

    Crystal dragged me in their direction while waving. "Hey, guys. We're here."

    Weirdly seeing Crystal's friends turning in our direction and looking curiously at me felt nearly as intimidating as when facing Neil earlier. Would I manage to get along with them? All the while hiding my identity.

    With a deep breath and an encouraging squeeze of my hand by my girlfriend, I stepped forward.

    It didn't take long to exchange greetings, I picked up a beer bottle at the bar, and we reallocated to the sitting area. We managed to find a corner with two two-seater sofas facing each other. At first, I thought that there wasn't enough room for all of us, but Crystal solved that issue by pushing me into one and then sitting in my lap with a giggle. I must admit that the sensation of my curvy girlfriend rubbing against me was an excellent way to distract me from my nerves, even if it made thinking harder.

    Lars and Ericka followed suit, cuddling together on the opposite sofas. Farah and Audrey took the two remaining seats.

    Once we were comfortable, we got talking. And of course, the main topic was me and my relationship with Crystal.

    The hostilities started with Audrey. "So Alex. How did you find yourself dating our superheroine friend?"

    Licking my lips I answered with the prepared scenario. "Well, I'm sure that Crystal told you all about it. But in summary, I was helping her out with some paperwork for the PRT. As she was leaving I somehow managed to gather enough courage to ask her out. By some miracle, she accepted. And… here we are. I still can't believe my luck." Crystal rewarded me with a quick kiss on my nose.

    "Silly. I'm the one that got lucky. Finding a guy that's not intimidated by my status is rare." It was my turn to kiss her, on the lips this time.

    "Ha, you're so cute together." Farah was wearing a big smile as she was looking at us. The others nodded in approval.

    The next question came from Audrey. "So you work for the PRT, are you a trooper? You got the muscle for it." Saying that she focused her attention on my biceps. Despite the fact that the vast majority of my increased strength came from exotic effects that weren't reflected on my physical body, all the exercises I had recently done noticeably improved my physical shape. I was wearing somewhat baggy clothes, a polo, and a pair of jeans, but wearing anything heavier would be hard to explain considering the weather. So it was easy to see my arms.

    This was another question that we expected. We've considered portraying me in that role before deciding that it was a role that would put me too close to the heroes. Instead, we stuck with my official cover identity.

    "Ha, no. I'll never have the courage to go on the field. I'm basically a gopher in the human resources department. I make coffee, I sort endless lists of names, I fetch things in the archives, and so on."

    They hummed in understanding and I continued. "As for the muscle, well thanks for the compliment, it's a pretty recent development. It turns out that all members of the PRT, even the civilians, are allowed to use the gyms scattered throughout the building during our off hours. I've been a frequent visitor since I was hired."

    Until now Lars has remained in the background, seemingly content to let the girls speak, it was the first time I heard his voice. "Well, it's definitely working man." Turning his head he addressed Ericka in his lap. "What do you think babe? Should I do the same?"

    She giggled and the other all laughed for reasons that escaped me. "Don't worry babe, I like you just the way you are."

    The next question came from Farah. "if you work for the PRT you must have met the Heroes on occasion. Armsmaster maybe? Or even Compendium?" The reverence for my hero-name in her voice was a little embarrassing. Crystal squeezed my hand in reassurance.

    "Well, hm, if you count crossing their paths in the corridors as they hurried away on some business or another as a meeting then yeah I've met a few of them, including Compendium. But talking with them no." I paused for effect before adding something. "Well, there was one time."

    They all wait with bated breath, eagerly anticipating my next words. "Velocity said thank you to me when I gave him some forms about training expenses."

    The collective groan of disappointment at that was music to my ears. Crystal's giggle was even better.

    With that the ice was truly broken and we got talking. I learned a fair bit about all of them. Audrey shared a lot of class with Crystal, she also intends to go into communication. She was kind of the leader of the group, mostly in that she was the one who liked to organize group outings. She was quick to ask for my numbers so I could be included.

    Ericka was into sports, she was part of the tennis team, but she didn't intend to get into it professionally. No, instead she wished to become a teacher at the kindergarten level. She loved children and wanted to have at least four of her own.

    Her boyfriend, Lars, was her opposite concerning physical activity, hence the earlier amusement. His passion was computers. He wants to become a programmer.

    I also learned that their relationship was very serious, much more than I expected for people of our ages. They've been together since middle school and were already living together in a small apartment near the campus. Crystal even whispered in my ear that Lars was saving to buy a ring.

    As for Farah, she was an artist, specifically an illustrator. She showed on her phone some of her pieces, and it was indeed very good work. She wasn't sure yet in which direction she would go but it would include drawing in one form or another. Amusingly some of her pieces included very good art for some of my partners, notably Rainbow.

    All in all, this was a solid group of friends. They all were welcoming to me. And I noted that made no particular mention of Crystal's status as a Parahuman. Something that I'm sure she appreciated.

    I didn't talk much about myself, only saying that I was still living with my mother for financial reasons.

    Of course, at some point, the discussion turned toward the defeat of the Nine. I remained silent for most of it, only stating that it came as a surprise for everyone in the department. They were all impressed by the footage of the attack, Farah in particular commented on the cleanliness of it.

    We stayed on the topic for a bit but after a while, Ericka got tired of it and asked Lars to dance. Following their example I invited Crystal. Audrey and Farah moved in sync to hunt down dance partners of their own.

    Dancing was an activity that I'd never given much thought to, good or bad. As it turns out, my improved physical ability made it somewhat fun. And dancing with Crystal was just awesome. Be it a fast-paced dance that allows me to watch her move or a slow one where she would be pressed against me.

    We must have spent at least an hour on the dance floor.

    The Menagerie tried to distract me with a new power called Gigantification. While it was nice, being able to transform into giants even my smallest partners was great, I didn't pay much attention to it.

    With Crystal's permission, I danced once each with Audrey and Farah. Both were friendly and funny girls, it was easy to see how they got along well with Crystal.

    I also danced once with Ericka while Crystal danced with Lars. The two of them were the cutest couple I ever met. So hopelessly in love with each other that it was diabetes-inducing. Ericka spent the whole time we were dancing exalting the virtue of her beau.

    To rest a little after dancing, we grabbed some snacks and found another place to sit down and talk some more.

    While the girls were talking about a class they have in common I drifted toward Lars and we got talking. I discovered that he played Cardstone, in fact, he was the one to initiate Crystal. We exchanged contact information, so that was one more person for me to play with. We weren't at the same level of play, it was purely casual for me while he was much more serious about it. I'm sure we'll be able to have some fun games anyway. I could see myself becoming friends with Lars in the future.

    After more talking and more dancing, Crystal and I left the party a little bit after midnight. Early by the standard of those parties but it was enough for us.

    As we drove away, the car was filled with contented silence, occasionally we exchanged glances and smiles but nothing more. We were just happy to be near each other.

    Upon reaching the Pelham's residence I once again opened the door for my girlfriend and welcomed her in my arms.

    "I had a great time tonight. Thank you for inviting me. Your friends are nice and I can see them becoming my friends too."

    For the umptieth time, I could only describe her smile as blinding. "I'm glad. I had a great time too."

    The next few minutes were spent exchanging soft kisses. I would never get tired of the taste of her lips.

    I was reluctant to see her go, but we couldn't stay in the street the whole night. With mutual regret, we parted ways.

    Before leaving, I asked her a question. "So I was thinking that I could make good on that promise I made to cook for you."

    Her smile was warm as she answered me. "Oh, I'd like that."

    "Great. How adventurous do you want to be?"

    She gave me a wary look. "What do you mean?"

    I drawled out. "Wellll. I don't know. What do you think of roasted giant spider legs?"

    Crystal gulped at the thought. But then she got a determined glint in her eyes. "You know what I'm game. Do your worst."

    "I promise you. It will be the best meal you've ever eaten. How does tomorrow evening sound? I'll pick you up at eight?"

    She bit her lips in the cutest manner possible before nodding. "Okay, I'll be ready. And you can teleport directly into the foyer if you want, I'll warn my parents. Easier that way."

    "Perfect."

    After one last lingering kiss, we unenthusiastically said our goodbyes. I watched as she walked toward the door of her house, opened it, and turned to give me one last look and a wave, before entering and closing the door behind her.

    With that also came a realization. I was falling in love with Crystal Pelham.

    Wordcount: 4248
    Excess words: 754
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    I know that I used the term "diabetes-inducing" in the chapter to describe the couple, Ericka and Lars. But at the rate they're going, it's Alex and Crystal that are going to give me diabetes. How did I find myself in such a situation?
    Anyway, hopefully, I didn't lose the interest of those who are here purely for the superhero part of the story. Don't it will come back. And we just finished a major boss fight. Granted it was a cakewalk, but that's scry-and-die for you.

    For the roll, 040 (Banked) + 480 (Chapter) + 0 (Excess words) = 520 points.

    [] Creature

    [] Power

    Voting will be closed Wednesday at 3 PM GMT

    Note:
    I discovered while writing this chapter, that there was an update to Don't Starve at the end of 2023, that added some skills to the character Willow. A number of which affected Bernie. In order to reflect that, Bernie will join the rank of the Grower creatures, those that can "level up".
    There will be no mention of this in the story; it will be retroactive.
     
    Last edited:
  • Threadmarks
    • However it goes, if we want to get a chose one (500) , we'll have to skip the next one. So we go for
    [X] Creature

    So that if we get a 500 points one that we like, we can substitute that for the Choose one. Otherwise we skip in order to get it
     
    [X] Creature
    I agree with @Vitellio. The only Power available is the lesser Choose One (300) and the QM has already mentioned he will be removing both if one gets picked. Better to save up the points. Also, does the vote get counted if you use a lower-case x in the brackets?

    As for the chapter, I have not much to say. It is a nice bit of slice-of-life and helps develop Alex and Crystal's relationship even if I'm not particularly interested in that aspect. I will note that I found the writing of the romance scenes to be improving with each instance in my opinion so good job author.
    Though this all does bring to mind the question of just how much of Alex's abilities are hereditary. Magic Circuits and Chakra both follow along family lines in their respective settings but given he got them from the Menagerie, I am not sure if Alex's descendants will possess them.
     
    Feather_Up said:
    Also, does the vote get counted if you use a lower-case x in the brackets?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    They do.

    Feather_Up said:
    As for the chapter, I have not much to say. It is a nice bit of slice-of-life and helps develop Alex and Crystal's relationship even if I'm not particularly interested in that aspect. I will note that I found the writing of the romance scenes to be improving with each instance in my opinion so good job author.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Thanks for the compliment.

    Feather_Up said:
    Though this all does bring to mind the question of just how much of Alex's abilities are hereditary. Magic Circuits and Chakra both follow along family lines in their respective settings but given he got them from the Menagerie, I am not sure if Alex's descendants will possess them.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    They're a lot of things that his descendant may inherit. Magic Circuit and Chakra are the most obvious.
     
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