[X] Ask For Time
-[X] if it will as a result not cost Will or an Action when you do it later.
[X] Contact the Diamond-Eyed Entity Again
-[X] If being more difficult in the future occurs regardless of whether we pick this, rather than being a consequence of trying.
 
[X] Plan Topple the head of the Wolf

I'd rather not contact Meta again right away, but otherwise this seems like a solid plan to me.
 
[X] Plan Topple the head of the Wolf

We need to get a couple of buckets of chris-blood for personal use and bargaining purposes. Not only is it likely to be magically powerful and symbolically meaningful, gothic class is coming up next year, and there's almost certainly going to be a vampire in there somewhere. Giving a vampire the blood of Christ could have some fun effects.
 
The Wolf's Last Howl
The Wolf's Last Howl

A war started developing, as stark lines were drawn in the sand. Across the Academy, the Theologians enacted a series of coordinated attacks on the Wolf's followers in shared spaces. Solomon, on support and battlefield control duty, oversaw the procession of events from a scrying basin full of Messianic blood - a dozen apertures like a security guard's television screens revealing scenes of abrupt, curt violence; each instance cut short within moments as the Quixotists fell; not dead, only subdued or unconscious.

Accessing other Levels of the Academy - those that didn't belong to your Theme - was difficult, as the doors wouldn't admit those of the wrong Class, and as a result, it often required the Educator's permission. However, there were loopholes and exceptions. Even if coerced, a group may be allowed in by someone of the correct Class, and some rare and unusual abilities allowed partial ingress. Solomon's control over Connections was among them.

A solid fraction of the Children's Fiction Class was soon carted in to Solomon's Tower, and over a sprawl of sigils glowing as blue as sapphires refracting light, he ritualistically manipulated the Thematic relations, conferring a connection to the Messiah, Justice, three of the Apostles, the Chariot, and the Emperor.

"It'll only last an hour," he explained once the rites were complete, and the light had died down. His Marids offered each of the team's members a bandoleer of marked potions: rapid healing, stamina recovery, a flashbang analogue, and minor stimulants.

"Let's make the most of it, then, and hunt down an evil beast," Chris concluded, and then swept everyone alongside Penelope in a flash of celestial thunder, flowing up through the ceiling and in the Academy's direction. Solomon returned to oversight duty, once more staring into his basin.

He observed through the ceilings, a faceless eye gazing from above, and saw as the strike team manifested on the Second Level, delivered there by lightning.

In moments, the doors opened. The Wolf, it seemed, wasn't content to await them.

He strode out of the doors with arms wide in greeting - an older man, about twenty-two or twenty-three, with a wild mop of unnaturally dark-gray hair - and grinned at them toothsomely, revealing a mouth full of fangs. Behind him stood the Engine, in a modified and more refined version of her suit from half a year ago, and one other: a half-rabbit half-man in a blue jacket with brass buttons with huge ears and a giant carrot that he slung over one shoulder, clearly intent on utilizing it as a bludgeoning weapon.

"Well, well, well!" the Wolf started jauntily. "A Christmas miracle came this year after all, if only a little late! Now, I am most humbled and happy to see the Messiah himself at our doorstep - but I've received a most troubling report that many of my friends were attacked... A misunderstanding must've led you to strike out against us, surely."

"Your reign of terror ends here," the Messiah simply said. "Release the Fearless Child, and we can end this diplomatically."

"Or, it could've been madness!" The Wolf started to laugh, a crescendo of amused sounds and chortles that soon made him unable to breathe. He inhaled, and exhaled, a plume of distorted wind coming out, and Solomon's eyes widened as he realized - at the same time as everyone else - what was about to happen. Before anyone could so much as dodge, the Wolf inhaled once more: an even deeper, lung-filling intake, as if gluttonous for oxygen, and then released it as a storming whirlwind of air.

At once, the battle started - Harrison translocating, avoiding the whirlwind, and emerging next to the Wolf, whose eyes widened in surprise. He launched a blow aimed at his throat. This was intercepted by the Engine, who smashed into him cruelly with her entire bulk, jets of steam coming out of her shoulders.

From there, the combat went down mostly in the strike team's favor - the Rabbit, although more agile and skilled with his giant carrot than looks suggested, and capable of healing by taking bites out of it, was no match for Penelope, who cut the carrot in half, concluding a brief engagement with the Apostles.

The Messiah and the Emperor, in the meantime, took on the Wolf and Engine in concert, with occasional interference from the Chariot, who tossed in elemental spells and the occasional hit-and-run shoulder charge on the Wolf, slowly pushing them back.

As the Messiah's stamina waned and flagged, he disengaged to consume one of Solomon's potions, granting the Wolf a fleeting moment of undisturbed focus.

In an instant, the Big Bad Wolf transformed, taking on a mien more lupine than human, a brutal war-form thrice as large with a hide covered in stringy hair and massive talons, launching into a frenzy of clawed slashes aimed at Noah and Harrison. With a knowing smile, Harrison swiftly touched Noah's shoulder, transporting them both out of harm's way, leaving empty space behind, and throwing the Wolf's equilibrium into turmoil. Racing, the Messiah dashed through right on the emptied space, fist already wound back.

He seized the advantage of their trajectory and sprang upward, delivering a divine uppercut. The Wolf's eyes widened in agony and disbelief as the strike connected with the base of its snout, near the throat. It was a sacred warrior's blow, a strike infused with holy might, a testament to unwavering courage that wished to undo all evil; an incandescently meaningful Biblical miracle in strike-form; snapping jaw bones and briefly illuminating the entire hall with a radiant beam of sacred light that revealed martial truths. Amidst an ethereal chorus of angelic 'hallelujahs,' the Wolf crumpled like a collapsible chair, its stomach bulging as a second devastating punch connected.

Its stomach now caved in, the Wolf's maw widened unnaturally to disgorge an unconscious young man, clothes frayed and covered in spittle, guts, and other excreta.

The Messiah caught the Fearless Child in his arms, and delivered a final roundhouse kick that sent the Wolf tumbling away. The Messiah summoned a restorative miracle, the Child's eyes opening once more, roused back to the waking land.

"I didn't know Jesus practiced martial arts," the Fearless Child said, once his spluttering was done.

"Once, in a cave, I defeated three dragons," Chris recounted, almost absentmindedly.

"How am I... alive?"

"A miracle. You are blessed to walk among us again. Have faith and rejoice, young one. The battle is not done." After pinning the Wolf down with a look and ensuring it wouldn't stand up once more, he looked across the room and smiled.

Justice stood and faced the Engine, now the only remaining member of the Wolf's retinue still standing.

"You're done for," said Penelope. "This little empire of self-indulgence you've built up? It's about to end."

"Heh, you think so?" answered the Engine, cocksure and likely smiling underneath the visor.

"Yeah-"

All of Penelope's wings unfolded and batted once so fast that Solomon almost missed it, a compression of force delivering her forward like a spear. Her fist struck the Engine's center of mass and sundered the entire cuirass, steel crumpled around hardened, blessed flesh like a watermelon's rind against a hydraulic press. A flat wing slashed out with feathers like a set of blades, severing a pauldron from the rerebrace, and then did the same for the other pauldron, disconnecting the steam vents the Engine used for offense. A final, second punch to the helmet sent her flying back several feet, utterly disarmed and disabled.

She stared at Penelope from the floor, eyes wide beneath that helmet, now visible underneath the ruined visor.

"-pretty much." Penelope stared down at her with mild disdain, then turned to nod to Chris. "I assume the other Quixotists won't be even half as problematic?"

"No, they won't," he affirmed. "We're rather done here, I think. The Apostles and I can handle the rest of the clean-up, unless you want to stick around?"

"Eh, always safer that way," she said. "Do you have cells for them?"

"Yes, in our homeroom," said Matthew, accepting the Child from the Messiah's arms. "You teleport, I'll show you?"

"Sure."

They picked up the Engine's battered form, the unconscious Wolf and Rabbit, and then disappeared in a thunderous flash. The Messiah and the others, in the meantime, advanced indoors to start addressing the rest of the Wolf's followers.

---

All's well that ends well. A clean operation, everything proceeded exactly as you had foreseen.

Now, choose your actions for March, April, and May - a whole seasonal segment. For each month, you have two (2) actions, and one (1) action devoted automatically to Exploration, unless you choose to pull out of the Surveyor's Club at some point.

Will: 125 / 205 / 285
Credit: 7.5
XP: 1,240

[ ] Classwork [-15 Will]
- Standardized and individualized. At least a single action should be devoted to this each turn unless you wish to fall behind: more if you wish to excel.

-[ ] Standardized - Attend classes, turn in your homework on time, and prepare for the upcoming pop quizzes and tests. Learn Tarot history, mysticism, occult meanings, and more standard subjects! Modest advancement in your Enrollment.

-[ ] Individualized [-15 Will] - A set of more individualized one-on-one sessions with the Educator. The extra Will cost represents the effort spent on studying and cramming to earn these sessions. Awesome advancement in your Enrollment, as efficient as about 2.5 classes of standardized Education.

-[ ] Remedial Classwork - Almost no effort expended on Enrollment, if any.

[ ] Improve Curriculum [-150 / 120 / 90 Will] - Move onto the second-year curriculum. Can be 'paid' in installments, but is only finalized once you foot the entire Will cost. Marginally increases the Will cost of lessons but also significantly raises the amount of XP reaped out of all collective endeavors, especially lessons. Cost slowly decreases on its own as you approach the second year of Education.

[ ] Derive Formula of Salvation [-80 Will] - Make an in-depth study of Abraham's metaphysiology, in an attempt to derive the magics of his spirit. Can eventually aid in the mitigation of his Life of Battle, if you feel like being helpful. Once you're done, you can initiate yourself into Soteriomancy. A complex action; it'll most likely take more than one month to finish your experiments at your current Arcanum, requiring you to accrue a sufficient 'quantity of success' that'll be rolled for. The Messiah's study lowered the DC and the Will cost.

[ ] Bonding [-5 Will]
-[ ] Write-in

[ ] Interaction [-10 Will]
-[ ] Write-in

[ ] Exploration [-20 Will]
- An exciting opportunity, as Fortuna can hide arcane secrets that lead to furthering Enrollment, as well as the occasional artifact or potential ally. Many of these can be kept post-graduation.
-[ ] Leave the Club - Leaving, at the moment, costs [80 Will]. As an essential asset, they'll do what they can to bribe you to stay.

[ ] Decompression [+10 Will] - Default if nothing is selected. Just slack off.

[ ] Write-in
 
[X] Prelude to the Doom
-[X] March:
-[X] Interaction
--[X] Fearless Child
---[X] Help him reclaim and reorganise the Quixotists recovering from the Wolf's hold on their theme together with the Theologians. Inform the Quixotists about Ohio together with Chris.
-[X] Bonding
--[X] Damien
---[X] Invite him to the Tower explorations, asking him to join the Surveyors. Show him Abraham and tell him he's free to try advance his Role by syphoning power from him to help keep him in check before he can be safely awakened.
-[X] April:
-[X] Improve Curriculum [-150 / 120 / 90 Will]
-[X] Remedial Classwork

--[X] Disclose to the Educator about the Diamond Eyed presence in the Architecture. Dwell on the question poised by them of the Armageddon and the second coming.
-[X] May:
-[X] Interaction
--[X] Work further in concert with the Theologians and Quixotists, putting the full might of the three classes towards the goal of continuing warning and effectively convincing Archetype and other important figures like Olympian of the doom of Ohio. Lest your earlier efforts are weighted down by Architectural gravity of the Armageddon. Pool respective talents and Roles together to see how further aid could be sent - exploring avenues like narrowing down Sandra's Death sense for instance.
-[X] Interaction
--[X] Diamond-Eyed Entity
---[X]Seek to know, after the Remedial class with Educator dwelling on the questions the entity posed.
-[X] Exploration 3x
--[X] See if the Surveyors can get special permission to visit Bible world using the Educator and Chris interactions. Employing Connections again to aid passage.
--[X] Otherwise.. Explore Fortuna for a change of pace if the trip to the Bible World falls through.
--[X] Visit the Astral Laboratory in Solomon's Tower to see if it can be utilized to help reaching out to the Diamond Eyed presence.
-[X] Sol to divide the six actions (3 Interactions, 2 Classwork, 1 Bonding) throughout the months based on how they connect with each other and urgency, and not necessarily adhering to given order.
 
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A war started developing, as stark lines were drawn in the sand. Across the Academy, the Theologians enacted a series of coordinated attacks on the Wolf's followers in shared spaces. Solomon, on support and battlefield control duty, oversaw the procession of events from a scrying basin full of Messianic blood - a dozen apertures like a security guard's television screens revealing scenes of abrupt, curt violence; each instance cut short within moments as the Quixotists fell; not dead, only subdued or unconscious.
Sol is right where he should be given his Role and abilities.

Accessing other Levels of the Academy - those that didn't belong to your Theme - was difficult, as the doors wouldn't admit those of the wrong Class, and as a result, it often required the Educator's permission. However, there were loopholes and exceptions. Even if coerced, a group may be allowed in by someone of the correct Class, and some rare and unusual abilities allowed partial ingress. Solomon's control over Connections was among them.
Connections is some really potent stuff.

"It'll only last an hour," he explained once the rites were complete, and the light had died down. His Marids offered each of the team's members a bandoleer of marked potions: rapid healing, stamina recovery, a flashbang analogue, and minor stimulants.
Yeah this is the kind of thing Sol is really good at.

He strode out of the doors with arms wide in greeting - an older man, about twenty-two or twenty-three, with a wild mop of unnaturally dark-gray hair - and grinned at them toothsomely, revealing a mouth full of fangs. Behind him stood the Engine, in a modified and more refined version of her suit from half a year ago, and one other: a half-rabbit half-man in a blue jacket with brass buttons with huge ears and a giant carrot that he slung over one shoulder, clearly intent on utilizing it as a bludgeoning weapon.
I'm guessing the Engine is one the heavy hitters of that class.

In an instant, the Big Bad Wolf transformed, taking on a mien more lupine than human, a brutal war-form thrice as large with a hide covered in stringy hair and massive talons, launching into a frenzy of clawed slashes aimed at Noah and Harrison. With a knowing smile, Harrison swiftly touched Noah's shoulder, transporting them both out of harm's way, leaving empty space behind, and throwing the Wolf's equilibrium into turmoil. Racing, the Messiah dashed through right on the emptied space, fist already wound back.

He seized the advantage of their trajectory and sprang upward, delivering a divine uppercut. The Wolf's eyes widened in agony and disbelief as the strike connected with the base of its snout, near the throat. It was a sacred warrior's blow, a strike infused with holy might, a testament to unwavering courage that wished to undo all evil; an incandescently meaningful Biblical miracle in strike-form; snapping jaw bones and briefly illuminating the entire hall with a radiant beam of sacred light that revealed martial truths. Amidst an ethereal chorus of angelic 'hallelujahs,' the Wolf crumpled like a collapsible chair, its stomach bulging as a second devastating punch connected.
Jesus knows Kung Fu.

All of Penelope's wings unfolded and batted once so fast that Solomon almost missed it, a compression of force delivering her forward like a spear. Her fist struck the Engine's center of mass and sundered the entire cuirass, steel crumpled around hardened, blessed flesh like a watermelon's rind against a hydraulic press. A flat wing slashed out with feathers like a set of blades, severing a pauldron from the rerebrace, and then did the same for the other pauldron, disconnecting the steam vents the Engine used for offense. A final, second punch to the helmet sent her flying back several feet, utterly disarmed and disabled.
Nice to see Penny getting even with the Engine.
 
[X] Get Smart
- March
-- [X] Interaction: Fearless Child

--- Offer aid in the reorganisation/rebuilding of the Quixotists and Inform him about Ohio and our plan with the Bible Class. Try to gain information on his Class's members and roles.
-- [X] Bonding: Damien
--- See how he is doing and spend some time with him; bring up the idea of joining the Surveyor's Club
- April
--[X] Improve Curriculum [-120 Will]
--[X] Remedial Classwork

--- Mention a Diamond Eyed Entity
- May
-- [X] Interaction: Symon

--- See how our little guy is doing
--[X] Remedial Classwork
--- Follow up on the Diamond Eyed Enity if need be
 
In that case won't it be better to max out on the Remedial Classes instead and conclude that plot arc?
 
[X] Prelude to the Doom
-[X] March
-[X] Interaction
--[X] Fearless Child
---[X] Help him reclaim and reorganise the Quixotists recovering from the Wolf's hold on their theme together with the Theologians. Inform the Quixotists about Ohio together with Chris.
-[X] Improve Curriculum [-150 / 120 / 90 Will]
-[X] April
-[X] Remedial Classwork
--[X] Disclose to the Educator about the Diamond Eyed presence in the Architecture. Dwell on the question poised by them of the Armageddon and the second coming.
-[X] Bonding
--[X] Damien
---[X] Invite him to the Tower explorations, asking him to join the Surveyors. Show him Abraham and tell him he's free to try advance his Role by syphoning power from him to help keep him in check before he can be safely awakened.
-[X] May
-[X] Interaction
--[X] The Messiah
---[X] Work further in concert with the Theologians and Quixotists, putting the full might of the three classes towards the goal of warning and convincing Archetype of the doom of Ohio. And actions that the Classes could pursue to help.
-[X] Interaction
--[X] Diamond-Eyed Entity
---[X]Seek to know, after the Remedial class with Educator dwelling on the questions the entity posed.
-[X] Exploration x3
--[X] See if the Surveyors can get special permission to visit Bible world using the Educator and Chris interactions. Otherwise explore Fortuna for a change of pace.
-[X] Sol to divide the six actions (3 Interactions, 2 Classwork, 1 Bonding) throughout the months based on how they connect with each other and urgency, and not necessarily adhering to given order.


Made some restructuring to the vote heeding the Magical Duck's wisdom. This seems more optimal to first help the Quixotists rebuild, and start the Curriculum early as possible. Invite Damien next and study Diamond eye's questions for a month in Class. And then talk to the Messiah and with the Quixotists in shipshape to tackle Ohio again as three classes united. And approach the Eye before the eve of the attempt.

Some of us wanted to explore Fortuna in case we don't get permission so added that bit in. It's vital though we secure passage to Bible world, before the Class graduates and the world falls into Night. We're already six months into the first year and now fast forwarding three months more. They'll be gone in potentially a few turns, and with them our chances to get things like Moses's Staff or the Seal of Solomon.
 
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...Prelude To Doom isn't valid as-written? we only have 125 Will in that month, which isn't enough for Improve Curriculum, which takes 150 in that Month. I suppose in theory the last provision handles that, but I'd think the original layout should at least be mechanically permissible.
 
Delaying Curriculum improvement by one month seems like it might cost us some edge before a big development like Ohio, we could potentially skirt by with Will debt and relying on esoterics if Sol can tolerate it. But I agree, better not risk it. I'm shifting Damien up in its place and putting it in the second month? Maybe this will give Damien an additional month to get himself in form like the Children's Stories Class.

...Prelude To Doom isn't valid as-written? we only have 125 Will in that month, which isn't enough for Improve Curriculum, which takes 150 in that Month. I suppose in theory the last provision handles that, but I'd think the original layout should at least be mechanically permissible.
 
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