...Was not expecting a guy calling himself the Flame Emperor to just not hire someone again after that degree of dumbassery. Bandits, no less - not exactly hard to get away with killing them.
My best guess is that she needed to pretend to hear the news from Kostas (the bandit leader)? Edelgard-as-Flame-Emperor straight-up told Kostas that she was leaving him for dead after that embarrassment--
Kostas: What is this nonsense?! All I was told was to kill as many noble pipsqueaks as possible! No one said anything about the Knights of damned Seiros being on our trail! (The thief who had previously attacked Edelgard, Dimitri and Claude is complaining to someone wearing a mask and an armor hidden by a cloak...?) ???: You have proven yourself worthless. Distracted by something so trivial. I had hoped you would achieve your goal despite the setback. But now a child of the knights' former captain is in play. How interesting. Kostas: Hey! This isn't what I agreed to! (The masked figure seems to be lost in thought...) ???: Hiring a mercenary as a professor. What was that woman thinking... Kostas: Are you listening to me?! How do we finish this?! ???: You die. Kostas: Wh— What?! ???: Underestimating the knights was an amateur mistake. One you will pay for. The road to eternal torment awaits you all. ???: Now I must locate your replacements... (The masked person teleports away as Kostas tries to catch them up.) Kostas: Wait! Get back here! Damn you!
--and given how edgy she was during all that, I think she was intentionally leaning into the Flame Emperor character. Either that or the writers hadn't fully figured out her character arc yet in the early chapters. Edelgard's route is four missions shorter than the others and has a few other notable signs of being undercooked, such as Rhea's transformation in her branch of Mission 11 not getting a cutscene.
Winged One said:
...this sounds hilarious for the Black Eagle route. Edelgard at least visibly thinks about how he's gone from "you're fired for being a bunch of fuckup cowards" to just straight-up killing them, right?
That's a good question--I didn't think to check during my research!
" Regrettable...but there was no other way. "
— Edelgard kills a thief
Boss - Kostas
Vs Anyone:
" Sending these brats instead of the knights means they've underestimated me! Big mistake! "
— Kostas Vs Anyone
Vs Edelgard:
" Kostas: Spoiled little noble! Just die like a good little rich kid!
Edelgard: Do you really think being born a commoner gives you the right to kill? Despicable. "
— Kostas Vs Edelgard
Death Quote:
" I should have never listened to that idiot... What a mistake... "
— Kostas's Death Quote
Apparently not! Edelgard seems weirdly hostile to rebelling against authority here, but how much of that is playing the part of a dutiful princess and how much of that is her actual feelings is unclear.
No, as directly north of the Central Church is still the same Kingdom of Faerghus that the Western Church governs. North of that is a small country called Sreng that Miklan's family defends the Kingdom against--it's why they're so desperate to have an heir that bears a Crest.
Fódlan assumes titles are gender-neutral, I guess? One would imagine it was a layer of obfuscation, but she still calls herself "Emperor" after being coronated out-of-costume. Rhea seems to have a similar thing where her title is "Archbishop" and not "Archbishopess".
Isabella exits the laboratory doors, stretching as they close behind her.
"So, catch anything?" Sierra asks from behind a magazine.
"Oh, just this one really weird fish. Was this big--" she says, holding out one hand and one leg as she leaned over to make the distance between them equal to the scalp-to-tail length of Sierra's mermaid form.
Somehow, she manages to keep her balance when Sierra throws a tissue box at her.
You are, temporarily, A9G-M028, and you are meeting your third patient for the day. She's a rather unusual patient by your standards--while fungal sentients are not unknown amongst the galaxy, the Fungal Kingdom was the rarest of the three major eukaryotic branches to produce sentient life. Exactly why was a matter for great debate, given the close relation to the Animal Kingdom, but the matter is largely irrelevant to today's visit unless brain damage is discovered.
Then again, you're examining her demon friend later today, so maybe he'll be the strange one.
"Good afternoon, Morsel. Might I have your full name for my records?"
She nods. "Morsel Hawthorne."
You nod in return, grateful to your artificial nature that you can store memories as video files. Given your patient's nature as a Planeswalker, it would be rather difficult to simply call her back in should you realize you missed something when you're double-checking your notes later.
"Your age and gender, as well?"
"Um. Female, and... about 17 months? Growing out of a nine-year-old human corpse."
"Good. Now, are there any particular health concerns?"
"Besides the obvious?" she snarks. You nod, so she continues, "No, I have a healing spell that gives me diagnostic information. It's... I know I'm not sick or anything, but it's not the most precise thing in the world."
>>file.visitNotes.edit(APPEND, "Requested area of focus: Diet");
"I would like to see that spell, if you don't mind?"
"Oh, sure!" she says, and brings up a Lifearray that you take a close look at. Yes, you can see the scanning functions... hm.
"Fascinating. It seems comparable to a Medisensor. Is this your design?"
She shakes her head. "I learned it from the library back in Amber Bend--that's, uh, my home-nation's capital."
You nod. "We can talk about this further at a later time. For now, I'd like to get back to the check-up." She nods and dismisses the spell, so you continue, "Any medical history I should be aware of? Other doctors you're getting help from, medications you're taking, previous surgeries...?"
She stops to think for a moment, then hikes up her dress to reveal large fungal shelves growing from her outer thighs. "Closest I've had to a surgery is when I amputated these only to find out they grow back."
You blink. That... is definitely one of the more drastic cases of self-harm you've come across. "Might I ask why, if it's not too personal?"
"Can't fit them in pants," she shrugs.
"...You seem remarkably casual about this. I would imagine that cutting off multiple pounds of flesh would be emotionally significant?"
She shakes her head. "It hurt a little, but I was fast with the knife and had a nerve-deadening cantrip handy."
"Was ill-fitting clothing your only motive there? No desire to appear more human?"
She shakes her head again. "I have Illusionmagic now, and being a skintaker fungus is only a bother when people react to it. When I'm around friends that know about me, it's... fine."
"And around people who don't?"
"I conceal it. I'm not ashamed, it's just inconvenient to have people run away screaming."
"So, a reputation for danger is the reason you haven't just cut gill slits into your pants?"
She blinks, then scowls, "That... would've been smarter."
Okay, she's not in danger of repeating that. No need for it to go in the notes.
"I'm... also concerned about spore spread? They are gills, after all."
>>file.visitNotes.edit(APPEND_NEWLINE, "Requested area of focus: Spore Production");
"Might I take a sample?" you ask. She nods, and you run a cotton swab along her shelf-gills. It comes back looking clean, so you ask for her hat--and she hands it over, showing a clean inner layer. "It looks like these gills are nonproductive. Are your spores burst-delivered?" She nods. "Very well. If you're up for it, we'll test that later. For now, I want to establish a baseline for your heart rate and breathing. "
You give her a couple minutes to stabilize--some patients are stressed by conversation or close proximity--and come back to measure her heart rate, blood pressure, breathing rhythms, and the like. You then take her height, weight, and some X-Rays. The latter is usually unnecessary at this stage, but she is a new species--and one of a Kingdom rare even for your galaxy.
"Alright, you wanted to make sure your spores don't passively emit?" you ask, and she nods. "I have a stasis tube down the hall here--if you'll step in and activate your spore cloud, we'll check if it affects your gills' spore production."
She does, and your conclusion after a few tests (and cleaning the spores out of the stasis tube, while she cleans her clothes and skin) is that her gills are much like venom ducts, in that "wipe your nose after you sneeze" (or rather, its gill equivalent) is sufficient. This information seems to have a calming effect on her, and you're therefore glad that this assumption holds throughout the checkup without further spore production at these external locations.
Exactly why her biology decided to grow a fairy circle whose gills are angled to spray spores onto her scalp is beyond you, but it's evidently a rounding error in terms of efficiency if it's able to replicate human thought to this degree.
You pull up her X-Rays on one of the display panels and wince. "Morsel? Do you know why your bones have so much scar tissue?"
She blinks in consideration for a bit, then answers, "I think it's from me eating them? My roots have been licking them like lollipops basically my whole life. The scar tissue... I think that's just the healing magic malfunctioning? Someone tried to get infinite bacon from a pig with a Make Whole spell-fountain once, and it started getting very gristly after a few hours of slicing."
"...Might I see that spell?"
<...I should probably roll these now, huh?>
<Morsel: K:Arcana (DC 20 +/- 5 Overflow): 5d20+3 (CS)+1 (INT)+8 (Ranks)+2 (Circumstance: Laptop+2 (Local Library/University)+2 (...which is focused on K: Arcana)) = (10,8,20,13,18)+18 vs 20 = (1+1+1+1+1) Basic Successes + (1+1+3+2+3) Overflow = 15 Potential Successes>
<Morsel: Spellcraft (DC 20 +/- 5 Overflow): 5d20+3 (CS)+1 (INT)+8 (Ranks)+2 (Circumstance: Laptop) = (3,14,16,7,15)+14 vs 20 = (0+1+1+1+1) Basic Successes + (0+1+2+0+1) Overflow = 8 Confirmed Successes>
<Progress: 32/35 Successes>
<...But four Magic spent on +2 bonuses, two on the 3 and one each on the 14 and 15, can finish this early...>
<Let's say she has time after giving Homura the Platinum Arcanodynamics information to reroll that three before we spend anything. She'll have the afternoon free.>
<Reroll Spellcraft (DC 20 +/- 5 Overflow): d20+14 vs 20/25/30 = (9)+14 = 1 Success, 0 Overflow>
<Spending 2 Magic then.>
<Progress: 35/35 Successes!>
She nods enthusiastically. "I finished compiling a formula last week, actually! I'm not strong enough to cast it yet, but I have the notes on my laptop."
After a brief check, you come to the conclusion that the errors happening here boil down to a lack of DNA in the affected area--something that Life (Advanced): Make Whole can fix, but that lesser healing won't. Lesser healing spells, when encountering that kind of damage, make a patch by attempting to replicate the structure of the tissue in question, but don't have the precision needed to manage things like muscle fibers unless they use the Restoremodule rather than the broader Curemodule--and even Restore needs help fixing DNA.
"Strange. If it can restore lost DNA, what happened to the pig?"
"Hm? Oh. I think it started confusing this branch over here?" she says, pointing to one of the submodules. "It makes sure that the scarring isn't ritual. If the pig started accepting the scarring into its self-narrative, or just wanted to keep the scarring out of spite, or a desire to die faster..."
Hm. Well, that's one way to keep the scars intact, you suppose. "Very well. Is Restorenot converting the scar tissue back to regular bone?"
She shakes her head. "I think what's happening is that my magic is counting the scar tissue as me and the bones themselves as food. If I had the Creationspell library for meat, I might be able to fix that, but I'd have to know more about bones to check."
You nod. "Do you mind if I take a sample?"
"Sure!" she says, tapping two Greenand using magic to peel open her hand and expose her palm-bones from the back.
"UM," you stammer.
"It's kind of annoying that I have to push harder to do this just because I'm a fungus, but... it's possible, at least."
Pushing aside your disquiet, you delicately chisel off a few milligrams of healthy and scarred bone tissue. Morsel doesn't even flinch.
"Did that not hurt?" you ask.
"Only on the crusty bits," she says.
Huh. No sensation in the healthy bone?
>>file.visitNotes.edit(APPEND_NEWLINE, "Noted lack of sensation in healthy bone tissue");
"And more than cutting off my shelves, but less than getting actually stabbed," she continues, dismissing the spell holding her skin away from her bones. Her hand flows back into its original shape, and you move on to the next step.
"Right, let's start from the top. Do you mind removing your hat?" you ask. She does, and you look at her scalp. Her mushrooms are obviously doing their job in distributing spores, going by the test earlier today, and you don't notice any obvious problems. They looked to be of uniform density in the X-Ray, as well, so tumors or the like are improbable today.
Her mycelial reproduction of hair is of scientific note but medically unremarkable. They're a miracle of adaptive hyphae tissue, but as far as Morsel is concerned, everything's lighting up green in a field where no news is good news.
The skin beneath her hair is likewise doing fine. You doubt you need to check for lice--Morsel's hair would've likely eaten any by now.
"Next, I need to check your eyesight. Do you mind reading the letters on that chart over there?"
"Um... I don't read that alphabet?"
You blink. Ah.
Once you're done checking her eyes, ears, and mouth, you note that the only issue here is a bit of degradation of hearing--her right ear is slightly less sensitive than her right, but once she knows where to look, she comes up with a way to useLife: Diagnose, her own control over her fungal digestion, her internal hyphae, and Life (Base, Cure) to find, digest, and smooth over the bone spurs responsible. You're half-tempted to send her to medical school right there and then--that level of control is hard for even most organic surgeons to handle.
>>file.visitNotes.edit(APPEND_NEWLINE, "Patient has extreme control over her own hyphae and their digestive reflexes");
Normally, you'd move on to the stethoscope section of the examination, but with Morsel's willingness to shapeshift herself, you have the opportunity to view her innards as well via selective skin transparency. Everything looks good (albeit fungus-white instead of the expected reds and pinks), and her heart, lungs, and intestines sound like a normally-functioning human's would at her... age...
Well. At the age of 10.5, at least. Strange, she's a bit short for that age.
>>file.visitNotes.edit(APPEND_NEWLINE, "Ask about growth history");
"So, you wanted to talk about your diet?"
She nods, quickly growing uncomfortable. "Yeah, I... I'm so hungry. All the time. I even have some kind of Enhancement (Advanced): Ascetic Control effect going on, and it's still gnawing at me!"
<Morsel Tier 3 Mythic Ability: Sustained by Faith (Su): You require no food, water, or sleep. If you have abilities or class features that require rest before they can be regained, you can choose to regain them once per day by spending 1 hour in uninterrupted meditation. If you are 3rd tier or higher, you can expend one use of mythic power in order to also not need to breathe for 24 hours.>
Well that's odd. You ask her to detail it. She shows you where it shows up on her diagnosis spell, and you agree--this seems to be a small-scale matter transmuter that keeps the target on a nanogram-drip-feed of the materials they need, covering her caloric and micronutrient needs. You could theoretically see it overwhelmed if someone needed to regrow their entire bloodstream or something, but Lifemagic could handle that kind of large-scale material supply.
"What measures have you taken to mitigate these cravings?"
"I've been eating a lot of pork. I've also been overeating in general--wood chips are a favorite here, both because they're something tasty that the mammals don't like--especially the maple ones--and because they sit in your stomach for hours."
You blink. Right, fungi can digest lignin. "And your bones? You mentioned that you'd been slowly digesting them."
She shakes her head. "I stopped--or at least tried to stop--chewing on them... ten? eleven? months ago when I learned Lifemagic; I decided to save them in case I lost the lock of Althea's hair I managed to scrounge up from her laundry and dolls," she says, tapping her locket.
"Why's that?"
"Resurrection magic needs a piece of the corpse."
"Ah. What was your plan to get the bone out to use in the spell?"
She shrugs. "I dunno, cut my arm open and pull it out?"
...
>>file.visitNotes.edit(APPEND_NEWLINE, "Noted lack of concern for own pain");
"Sometimes..." she continues, "I wonder if it'd be fair if I just cast the spell while the bones were still inside of me. Let her grow out of me the way I did her, like a cicada shedding its skin."
"I mean," she starts, "Now I could probably set up a Make Whole spell to trigger when I peel open from that, pushing her out as she regrows and... probably giving me a skeleton of my own? I just... didn't really plan for an 'after'."
"Do you know why not?"
She shakes her head. You sit in silence for a while, and she continues, "I... I like being a skintaker fungus. It's just... everyone around me forgives me for it. And I'm grateful for that! I just..." she trails off.
...But no one's given you validation, have they?
>>file.visitNotes.edit(APPEND_NEWLINE, "Research fungi for reassurance that her phylum isn't solely ruled by decay and parasitism");
"You know," you divert, "I have DNA sequencers. I could clone tissue for you, and keep digital backups." She visibly relaxes, so you further continue, "Do you mind if I get the sequence from the bone samples?"
She nods. "Go for it. I'd... I'd rather keep the hair, it's one of few things left of her. I already burned through one of her dresses."
You blink. "Hyphae digestion?"
She nods. "It took me a bit to get them under control. I think I've worn this one for... what, fifteen months now?"
"Ah, that's a very well-fitted... dress..." you say, eyes narrowing and then dilating as you realize that something is horribly wrong. "Um. Morsel. Is--is that dress--was it the same fit this whole time?"
Morsel tilts her head. "...Yes? It's always been this size."
"And you've fit exactly the same within it this whole time?"
"...Yes? Well, no. I think it was about an inch lower when I first put it on."
Oh FARK ...She's not growing. She's otherwise ten, how is she not growing at that age?!
>>file.visitNotes.edit(APPEND_NEWLINE, "Patient is SEVERELY behind growth schedule. Investigating");
Okay, okay. THINK. What's missing here?
She's obviously well-fed. Well, barring...
"Morsel. How long have these cravings persisted?"
"Uh... always? No, they got bad about five months after I first sprouted... before that, I was just kinda hungry for it, like the way I get about woodchips sometimes still. Come to think of it, I think that was when I started chewing on my bones..."
Okay, there's something obviously missing from her diet that's in human flesh. Wait, double-check that.
"And are the cravings for humans or sentient life?"
"Humans. I'm fine around lizardfolk, though they still seem tastier than pork."
Humans, then. But what could that be? Humans are higher-order heterotrophs, they're not known for producing nutritionally-relevant compounds...
Not relevant in general or not relevant to humans?
Not relevant in general. Autotrophs and the like are more likely to produce necessary proteins and amino acids, as they don't have prey to steal from.
But she's a specialized parasitoid. Where else would she get it from?
...Wait, we're skipping a step. Is she specialized for humans?
"Could you tell me more about your species?"
She nods. "Skintaker fungi are known to infect all manner of creatures. Well, ambulatory creatures, as we seem to not be able to infect trees or other immobile plants. I think it's something to do with lungs? I get really hungry for lungs a lot, so I think maybe we need a breathing-organ to sprout properly." She shrugs, and continues, "We can make that spore cloud you tested earlier once per day, and it induces rapid-onset necrosis to till the soil, as it were, for some juicymush to sprout in. I... I know I've spread it from body-to-body before--there was an incident where I let myself infect a frog and it. Uh. Spread," she says, wincing, "but I think I--or, rather, Althea--got it from a regular patch of mushrooms."
Hm. Something about that...
"We're poisonous, and apparently we smell a bit? I know Mom and Dad got really grossed out at the smell of my blood, but I haven't had any complaints about my skin smelling."
You shrug. "Can't say one way or the other, myself."
She rolls her eyes. "But anyway, we get some of the muscle memory of our first breakfast, but not any of the personal memories. I think it's a bit more than that, as well, because I knew how to speak Hennian right out of the gate, and I had a rough idea of how to play along with social interactions--though not well, as I kept making silly mistakes along the way."
"...Good enough that you might be able to lie to someone?"
She nods uncomfortably. "I... I think that's the only reason Mom and Dad took care of me. They thought I was still Althea for a while... I... I know they grew to love me eventually, but..."
...Observation: Obligate parasitoid, behavioral mimicry, physical mimicry. Extremely accurate mimicry, at that.
"It would seem your social skills have improved since then. Did they help with that?"
"Yeah... even after I tried to eat them early on."
"Why?"
She shrugs. "I was hungry. They were food. I thought I had a shot at infecting them, maybe taking their meat for my own meal." She shivers. "I... I don't know how I could think of them so shallowly."
"What held you back from further attacks?"
"At first, it was because they could physically overpower me and made clever use of wet towels to stop my spores from getting in. After that... I think I wanted to play along, and learn what the rules were."
Further observation: Hunger towards host species, violence towards host species. Instinct towards social infiltration. Hypothesis: Brood parasitoid.
But what happens when the nest is empty?
"Anything about your species besides the diet or reproduction?"
She pauses for a bit, then says, "We can get food and water from the soil if we sit with it for eight hours, but we don't need to sleep. Honestly, I'd stay like that all day if I didn't need to deal with people."
Something's... still off...
"If you can get nutrients from the soil, why chew your bones?"
She seems lost in thought for a bit before shrugging, "Dunno. They were tasty."
Organics often have hunger cravings for nutrients they need to survive. There is something inside their prey that they cannot synthesize themselves.
Whatever it is, it wouldn't be in her blood if she's so far behind schedule on it, right? Just take what's healthy and subtract what's absent--
Your eyes dilate so hard that your irises click in protest.
What's absent. Absent. Absent. If it infects mobile creatures, how was her sire a patch of mushrooms?
What part of her isn't healing? What body part does a non-vertebrate life-form definitionally lack?
Her bones are not getting the signal to grow. Whatever is absent is not part of the bones' physical structure, because Morsel has shown that it's possible to survive with very little damage done to the bones by eating other things.
What's there to make growth hormone from that exists within the bone?
Isn't that normally the pituitary gland's job?
...But what tells the pituitary gland to MAKE--
...But what did we just offer to extract from the bones?
"...Morsel. I think I know what's going on, but I need samples from multiple places in your body, and preferably also your blood."
She shrugs, and spins up the Alterationspell in anticipation.
You return to the examination area of your lab, dataslate in hand as Morsel looks up from the cantrip she was casting to keep occupied.
"I think I figured out the problem, Morsel," you say, as you show her the results of the tests, "Your fungus-flesh doesn't have human DNA. It's borrowing Althea's to make the proteins it needs to mimic humanity.You've been wanting to chew on your bones--her bones--because your body has been rationing what little of her DNA it has left, locked away in their lacunae."
"...Can't my bones just make more of it?"
You shake your head. "They've been dead as long as Althea has. Even if you hadn't been chewing on them, your blood is poisonous, remember?Your restraint, and your healing magic, are the only reason you still have a skeleton." Using the same submodule that handles cybernetics, weirdly enough. They're both nonliving parts of a living body, you suppose--and well-preserved enough that it was only by the shattered osteocyte remnants that you realized it was dead. Morsel goes deathly quiet, so you continue, "However, I am a doctor. I have the medical knowledge of two hundred thousand years of human civilization, to say nothing of other sentient species' time in the sun, downloaded into my skull," you say, tapping the casing above the data bank in question. "Do you know what that means, Morsel?"
She shakes her head.
"It means 200,000 years of telling biology that it plays by ourrules.Come along, Morsel, there's a machine I want to show you."
With a quiet giggle, she rouses herself out of her slump and stands up to follow you. You lead her to a room where you have a single-organ cloning vat on the desk--and a DNA synthesizer right beside it.
"So, here's the situation--I've taken the liberty of loading Althea's DNA into this synthesizer--"
"No," she says, stepping back.
"...Excuse me?"
"Is it not enough that she had to be eaten once? I--I don't want the meat grown from her as food to outweigh the meat actually grown for her own benefit."
You blink. "I... I mean, we can use other DNA? People have been donating their bodies to science for millennia, we can mix-and-match from their DNA until we get something that coincidentally matches Althea's--or, if you dislike an exact match, at least one close enough that the hormone profiles would be compatible. Alternatively, I could clone pork and then use genetic alteration techniques to make it genetically match Althea's DNA, even though it is Very Obviously Not Human and thus not... well, I would presume that that satisfies your spiritual restrictions on it?"
"...The people who gave their bodies to science... wouldn't I just be outweighing them with my meals?"
Your optics' shutters tilt as though you had raised an eyebrow. "Morsel. Most of these people's sequences are stored in my databanks because they are really good organ donors. There are likely billions of people walking around with a clone of each one's liver or whatnot. Your meals would need eons to outweigh their contributions to other people's lives." She still seems pensive, so you crouch down to eye level with her.
"Morsel. Look me in the eyes."
She does.
"They gave their bodies for science, many of them intending to specifically give their bodies to medicine, yes?"
She nods.
"In what universe is hunger not a threat to one's health?"
She moves to speak... but remembers what's happening with her bones.
She looks away.
"Don't get me wrong, it's far more efficient to clone an organ to be a replacement rather than being a meal. But vat-grown meat is a thing where I'm from, and if simply administering the DNA directly doesn't help--"
She snaps her head back towards you and blinks. "...Directly?"
You nod. "Fungi usually network their cells together into... well, literal nets due to how your hyphae grow. Your cells seem particularly eager to merge into multinucleate cells--something rare in animals outside of certain special tissues like muscles and marrow--which means its easier for your body to pass DNA around from one part to another. I figure if I synthesized a teaspoon of Althea's DNA and make a pill of it, you could eat it through your skin-hyphae to spare it the ravages of your stomach and see how far that gets you. That being said, I have no idea if that would even work, which is why I brought the organ tube over here."
"...And what does the DNA do for me?"
"With any luck, it'll make your body remember how to make growth hormone again."
Her face scrunches up a bit. "...Do we need it for the rhythm for that as well, or can I use Bloodmagic for it like we can for gender transitioning?"
"Oh, having the full genome available would be preferable just in case we missed some--"
>>file.visitNotes.edit(APPEND_NEWLINE, "EXCUSE ME THE KRIFF DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVE MAGIC HRT?!?");
"--thing minor, to save ourselves another one of these visits in a few years," you say, very glad that you do not have reflexive facial expressions the way that organics do. "However, I would be delighted to hear about a Blood-based method of hormone management."
<A9G-M028 has become Trained in Life, and Familiar with Alterationand Blood!>
<Morsel has gained Material: DNA Pill (Althea) (x2). Take dermally, once monthly. The synthesizer can produce one daily, and M0 will deliver Morsel a bottle on Vertumnan Tea Parties whenever she's running low--or on request.>
<The cause of Morsel's cravings has been discovered! Her species naturally transitions from a mobile early stage to an immobile final stage to save energy, on the assumption that any nearby edible animals are either too strong for them or already converted by the time the transformation occurs. This is not a conscious transformation, but rather a slow breakdown of the skeleton in the absence of DNA from the original host species.>
<Additionally, M0 is willing to clone organs for Morsel, allowing her to Frankenstein together a new corpse for Althea from cloned organs made from her DNA, completing another stage of her main quest.>
<M0 also is willing to let her use the organ cloner for ethically sourced people-meats when medical demand is low. If they need to, they can always get more cloning tubes from their home universe.>
"Oh! Morsel," you say, before she leaves the lab.
"Yeah?"
"Something of note about your DNA--you seem to be a chimera, actually."
"...What?" she asks, uncomprehending, "Like the beast?"
"No, although that's likely where the term comes from. It means different regions of your body have different sequences of DNA. It's usually the result of a litter of fraternal twins, triplets, etc. mushing together in the womb before they've figured out things like 'skin'."
"...So I could've been a bunch of different skintaker fungi, but all my pieces landed in Althea?"
"Basically."
"...Huh. Should I expect... any kind of plurality from this?"
"Highly unlikely. I can't tell for sure without digging around your skull, but it seems like your brain is all on one sub-unit. It's no more strange than an organ transplant, but it's something to be aware of if you want to have your DNA sequenced somewhere else."
"...Noted. Should I... have you map these out, next visit?"
You shrug. "If you want. You could probably adjust a Divination spell for it, to be frank."
"You know why she doesn't want to eat Althea-cloned meat, right?" Gor'lo-nos asks. It took a while to get to his appointment because Morsel wanted to tell her friends the news, but you got there eventually.
"I really don't," you reply.
"She's instinctively blocking herself off from making a Vampire Feeding Basement, but doing it upstream so she doesn't get ideas."
Oh. Ooooooh. "Better to tell a child to keep their hands to themselves, than to tell them to stop touching their neighbor?"
He nods. "I think it's honorableof her. Better to die seeing your doom approaching with hunger in its eyes than to waste away in chains."
"Agreed. Now, your name, for my medical records?"
"Oh, it's--hey. You think you're really clever, trying to get a demon's True Name like that?"
Oh. It's one of these cultures.
AN: The primary reason that turns are a month long is for Morsel, in fact! Originally, I wanted the audience to see Morsel grow up in real-time, and thus far I've (mostly) succeeded in getting one chapter out a month to keep in-story time roughly at-pace with real time.
And then, something occurred to me: Isn't her age, like, really important for growing? If she's been on the road for this many months, how is she still fitting in the same dress? After all, kids her age usually outgrow their clothes every six months... and yet here she is, at seventeen months, still wearing Althea's dress.
All this solidified when the thread voted for Sustained By Faith, and I had to think about whether or not that'd fix her cravings. I mean, if it did, that'd be a major character arc thrown out the window just because Mami crit on a boss, right? But then I thought, hold on: Does a Ring of Sustenance respect axolotls? Because if they get that mineral they're missing, they finish hitting puberty and turn into adults--but stop being fully aquatic, which might doom the creature to the dangers of the land when it goes out to explore.
And, well... it was always kinda weird that skintaker fungi knew how to mimic human flesh, right? They had to store that information somewhere... right?
And yet... Morsel's sire was a patch of mushrooms, not another creature. Admittedly, this is a holdover from lore when I hadn't put so much thought into the Fungal Creature template...
Unless.
Unless I made it the sub-adult axolotl that Morsel would slowly become. Morsel would really need that extra missing mineral then, wouldn't she? Something most of her friends wouldn't be able to help with, except perhaps emotionally...
But something that A9G-M028 could fix in an afternoon, and without Morsel needing to hurt anyone. The magic of friendship prevails once more.It's the future, after all. We have the technology. Two hundred thousand years from the invention of fire to the invention of the Death Star, learning and innovating every step of the way. With knowledge like that, why would we let a silly little thing like biologyhurt the people we care about?
Originally there was an ADDITIONAL thing involving a connection to some other fungal monsters in the bestiary, but sadly the connection point turned out to be from an old Daily Bestiary blog post and not an actual canon source. I wound up ditching that, because I wanted the reveals here to be something you could've put together on your own, and without that canon connection, I couldn't cite a bundle of bestiary and PathfinderWiki pages to show that this had been Canon All Along. Ah well.
With this out of the way, I can finish getting around to the Grimaldo chapter. Hopefully I don't get stuck on one paragraph's vibes being Slightly Wrong for a week again >_<
So essentially the issue is that the host body is dead, and hard to keep alive even if revived, the fungus part just considers it a conveniently mobile food stockpile, and is running food preservatives through it as blood while eating at it(putting in as well preserved dead or at best, stasis). Food consumed orally just feeds the fungus without doing anything for the host flesh, so eventually you run out of host.
...wouldn't a chunk of Warhammer Fantasy Troll(or a Star Rail Sanctus Medicus cultist) handle those needs indefinitely?
I applaud the in-depth examination of Morsel's biology. I also applaud M0, because now her main quest is basically done. The replacement corpse was the one big remaining stumbling point - now she just needs to finish compiling Resurrection.
So essentially the issue is that the host body is dead, and hard to keep alive even if revived, the fungus part just considers it a conveniently mobile food stockpile, and is running food preservatives through it as blold while eating at it. Food consumed orally just feeds the fungus without doing anything for the host flesh, so eventually you run out of host.
...wouldn't a chunk of Warhammer Fantasy Troll(or a Star Rail Sanctus Medicus cultist) handle those needs indefinitely?
Only if the original host was a WHF troll to begin with--Pathfinder trolls are, sadly, unable to regenerate in the presence of acid damage. The fungus kinda "locks in" the host's DNA as something to read from, and only reads DNA of close enough similarity. While I'm happy to give Morsel body horror angst, I'm not cruel enough to subject her to whatever the Kroot from 40k have going on where cannibalism is enforced because eating too many quadrupedal animals turns you into a dog--or worse, getting stuck halfway. (Or, double-worse, their habit of getting Every Cancer At Once if they eat a Tyranid due to all the situational mutations hiding in that genome.) Skintaker fungi are brood parasites after all; something needs to be pushing them to stay around the same species. This way, the spores spread the fungus across species lines, while the wealth of prey within a species is used to extend mobile lifespan. Once it runs out, the skintaker fungus takes their usual dirt nap, craving more and more host-meat until its skeleton runs out, eventually burrowing into the ground with its hyphae for Maximum Dirt, leaving nothing but a little patch of mushrooms aboveground for the off-chance that it catches another suitable host.
That phrasing is just a nod to the fact that this is a sidestory chapter, and not a full character switch. M0 is not swapping their identity around for espionage reasons.
That job, of course, is for HRD-model droids, not A9G's. A very useful source of Agents, should one need a spy.
Grimaldo's wages have been retroactively multiplied by 10. Fire Emblem: Three Houses gives the player a 5kgp monthly salary, and I divided that by 100 earlier--only to find later during backstory research that the weapons had a flatter upgrade cost than I remembered, and much flatter than Pathfinder's two-digit base costs, three-digit Masterwork costs, and four-or-higher-digit magic item costs.
Lysithea and Edelgard talk about their... I guess the category would be 'medical trauma'? They lived through magical mad science experiments with low survival rates and lasting side-effects, at any rate.
Beyond that, mention of a genocide in the Tragedy of Duscur section. Then, in Jeritza's backstory; mention of a conspiracy to commit incest with a step-daughter, forced political marriage with the intent to produce heirs, and track said step-daughter down despite her very clearly wanting nothing to do with the man; and mention of the massacre that stopped that plan from getting off of the ground.
Turn 005 (November/Red Wolf Moon) Week 1: [WEEKDAY] [ASSISTANCE] Instruction
"...and that's all for today. Edelgard and Lysithea, meet me after class." The students begin filing out of your class on squad tactics, save for those two that you asked for. You close the door to the classroom, making sure to keep an eye on it so that no one overhears the conversation you're about to have at the teacher's desk.
"Is there a reason you called us here, Professor?" Edelgard asks.
You nod. "It's about what I suspect is a shared... condition of yours," you say, pulling out a hair from your scalp and holding out its bleached root. "When I first arrived here, I thought that 'white' was just another of the unusual hair colors common to this world, like Bernadetta's purple. However, Lysithea tells me hers was artificial."
Edelgard's eyes widen as her pupils shrink to pinpricks. "But--but your world doesn't have Crests--"
"We didn't have magic either, but the experiment I went through unlocked it for me anyway, after we had seen our enemies use it. I had doctors making sure I was healthy every step of the way--which seems to be a kindness you didn't have."
Edelgard nods. "It was... torture. I--I think perhaps we need to give you the full historical context, before we talk about the individual experiments? To give us time to prepare ourselves, if nothing else."
You nod.
In year 1167 of the imperial calendar--13 years ago--Edelgard's father, Emperor Ionius IX, decided to push forwards some policies that consolidated power under the Imperial throne, including abolishing the "consort kin"--a weirdly Imperial-Chinese form of nepotism from the structure of an empire otherwise European enough that Edelgard's last name is something as unpronounceably Germanic as "von Hresvelg"--which would stop the customary flow of power from the Imperial Harem outwards, as consorts used to use their position to get their families better job postings or titles.
The nobles were, predictably, upset that "send your sister to the harem" was no longer a path to decentralize Imperial power. In addition to forcing Edelgard's mother, a consort of the emperor named Anselma, to flee to the Kingdom, House Hrym--joined with an Alliance family--House Ordellia, to which Lysithea is the last heir--rebelled against the Empire in an attempt to overturn these reforms. Ionius IX crushed this rebellion, wiping out the main branch of House Hrym and bringing in adopted members to continue its position. These adopted members included Jeritza and Mercedes' abusive father, the man who decided that he should marry Mercedes to keep the family Crest going once her mother was past childbearing age. Jeritza, upon finding out about this plan in 1177, and knowing full well that the only reason he was in that house was that he volunteered to be a Crest-bearing sacrificial lamb to keep his father from hurting his mother and step-sister again after they fled to the Kingdom back in 1167, decided that the solution was murder.
Lots of murder.
"There is no longer a House Bartels" amounts of murder.
You're starting to understand why this guy runs around in a skull-shaped helmet and calls himself the "Death Knight" if this was how his childhood turned out.
In the process of House Hrym being gutted, re-populated, and having its administrative tasks reassigned to House Aegir, the Empire also managed to infiltrate all of House Ordelia's serving staff, sneaking in the mages responsible for Lysithea's condition. Their experiments started in 1168, during which time Lysithea was three years old.
You and Edelgard had to take a break for the day after that, as otherwise you would've broke something. You spend some time looking up the internal divisions of Empire and Alliance lands for context on how all this fits together--you didn't expect that Lysithea's home would be just north of the Imperial border.
Turn 005 Week 1: [WEEKEND] [ASSISTANCE] Ask Edelgard About Her Hair
"THEY DID THIS WHEN SHE WAS THREE?" Edelgard shouts to herself in your office.
Hubert's also here. You're not sure when he got in here, but his presence seems to be helping Edelgard keep what's left of her chill, so you're not complaining.
"What would that even accomplish?" you ask, "Wouldn't it be better to wait until she was old enough to... you know. Not be in range of infant mortality?"
"As if that would stop them," she growls.
"I mean, even just from a perspective of preserving their work--do they hate people so much that they'd throw their time and money away just to see them suffer?"
"Unfortunately, yes," she mutters. "We've... had a few run-ins with them."
"Lady Edelgard--" Hubert interjects, but Edelgard waves him down.
"No, he deserves to hear this part," she says, taking a deep breath. "One of the people responsible is my uncle, Lord Arundel. I don't think he was part of Lysithea's procedure, but he was definitely involved in mine. I don't think he's quite the uncle I grew up with. His behavior changed back in... what, 1174? '73, maybe? And he obviously wasn't that person anymore when he was helping direct the needles going into my skin," she shivers.
You blink. "Wait, 'blood reconstruction'... were they putting blood in you?" you ask. At her nod, you continue, "Did they at least test what your blood type was first?"
"My what?"
Oh, you are going to murder these people. "That's not how blood works! You can't just take it from one person and inject it into another!" you say, slamming your fist on the table. "There are antibodies to consider--"
"Say again?" she asks.
"Remember the soup metaphor for DNA?" You ask. Your students nod, and you continue, "One of the ingredients determines what chemical defense your blood takes against diseases. Something simple like, uh..." you snap your fingers while searching for a metaphor, "...you know how castle stairs spiral around so that those climbing down can use their right arms, but those climbing up have either a pillar in the way or have to switch to their left hand?" They nod, so you continue, "It's a bit like that, but against disease. Problem is, these two strategies really, really hate each other if they're not alloyed at conception. Introduce these two strategies of blood later on, and they attack each other."
<Grimaldo: Profession: Doctor (Recall Medical Knowledge): d20+3 (CS) vs DC 10+5 (Technical) = (6)+3 vs 15 = Failure>
"I... don't remember the specifics. I know one of the things is that it starts making scabs inside your veins--which usually then lead to heart attacks and strokes."
Edelgard winces. "What... what are the odds of this happening?"
"...I remember there's two main antigen types--two chemical strategies in the metaphor--which can combine to be one, the other, both, or neither. The neither-kind is really good at giving blood, because the others assume it's just dumb instead of doing treason. There's also a positive-versus-negative thing, but I don't remember what that's about."
"And the distribution amongst the population?"
"Usually genetic," you say. "So unless you all had different parents--"
"I'm... I was the emperor's fourth daughter, by one of his consorts. There might've been variance in my batch, but Lysithea... all of her siblings were full siblings."
"...Is this for all blood, or just for human blood?" Hubert asks.
<Grimaldo: Knowledge: Arcana: d20+3 (CS)+2 (INT)+8 Ranks vs DC 10+10 (Deliberately Obscured)- 5 (Cover Story Missed A Spot) = (19)+13 vs 15 = Success!>
"Human. Why?" you blink, then add, "Wait... Jeralt!" At their confusion, you continue, "He has a Crest of Seiros! He--he mentioned Rhea saving his life, but not Byleth's mother's life--but when he was healed, he woke up with a Crest! The Crest-Blood doesn't conflict with human blood, just its own!"
"...Really, now?" Hubert asks, clearly intrigued.
"Yeah, he was wondering why Byleth's mother, Sitri, didn't get the same treatment when the birth went badly enough that it was her or Byleth--but Sitri didn't have the Crest of Flames--" Edelgard flinches for some reason, but you keep going, "I thought it might've been a blood transfusion issue, where saving Byleth would mean draining Sitri, but if there was an external source--"
"Edelgard thinks," she says, in third person for some reason, "that it would be very unlikely that Rhea has a source of Crest of Flames blood lying around."
"Why's that?" you ask.
Hubert answers with, "Because of two reasons--one, 'Flames' is the crest that Edelgard was implanted with, and our research into the responsible parties show they despise the Church--and two, because the last known living source of it was Nemesis, who's been dead for nearly 1100 years."
"Exactly 1090 next year," Edelgard adds.
"Hm. But they had to have gotten it from somewhere, to give you a dose, right? If there's some secret ingredient that Rhea has access to..."
Your students look at each other, and then Edelgard says, "...Imperial Secrets prevent Edelgard from saying anything about this, but... the contents of the Abyss's library are not Imperial, are they?"
Hubert nods. "What's more, the librarian up here, Tomas, recently told Claude about a legendary creature called the Immaculate One--a dragon that, allegedly, carried Seiros into battle--or stirred up winds with its wings to make her arrive on time. The creature strangely had a Crest Stone-like marking--Crest of Seiros, as it happens--on its forehead. There's a few fragments of lore in the Shadow Library that... fall into place with this knowledge. Claude in turn told me of his discovery because... well. All the bird and lizard-wolf beasts we've been fighting lately would look awfully draconic if their skeletons were put together, no?"
<Gained Clue: The Immaculate One>
<Religious tales tell of a dragon with a Crest Stone-like marking on its forehead, who was once an ally of Seiros... Even the Crest Stone was marked with Seiros' Crest, the one that Rhea, the Imperial family, and Jeralt have.>
<Additional [WEEKEND] action unlocked!>
After Lysithea's ordeal, in 1171, six noble houses and what was left of House Hrym rebelled against Ionius IX, eventually succeeding enough that Edelgard went with her uncle, Lord Arundel, to the Kingdom of Faerghus to wait out the instability. Edelgard met Dimitri there, and he's one of the few people who still call her "El"--a childhood nickname of hers. In 1174, they returned home, though still without her mother. Edelgard mentions that he suffered a change in personality around this time--and, according to some snooping that Dimitri did after Hubert told him of what he had figured out at your suggestion to look further into Lord Lonato's reasons for rebelling back when you had only recently landed here, he also stopped his usual donations to the curch, even though his reputation as a devotee of the church is what got Jeritza hired to Garreg Mach later in 1178.
In 1175, Dagda (the country Milkan's family of House Gautier guards against) and Brigid (the country that Petra is the princess of) attacked the Empire, and House Nuvelle was slaughtered as those who participated in the Insurrection of the Seven, as the 1171 rebellion was called, abandoned the loyalists to die. The only survivor was Constance, a student in Garreg Mach's undercity whose psychological trauma from the event has given her a strange case of OSDD-1b where the switching between alters is, of all things, solar-powered due to the bad memories of sunny days during the war. Constance has clung to the idea of rebuilding House Nuvelle all these years, and Edelgard hasn't figured out how to tell her that her own intent to abolish the nobility in an effort to curtail all this Crest nonsense would make that rather difficult. As irritating as Shaded Constance's monomania on the subject is, nobody wants to doom the poor girls to be locked forever into Sunny Constance's disturbingly eloquent self-debasement.
In 1176, the Tragedy of Duscur occurred--on a diplomatic journey through the province of Duscur, then a separate nation, King Lambert and most of his family was killed by an ambush. Dimitri was the only survivor, thanks to the actions of a knight named Gustave who later disappeared in shame that he couldn't save more. Strangely, the body of Dimitri's stepmother, Patricia, was never recovered. In retaliation for this regicide, the nobles of the Kingdom decided the solution was to genocide Duscur, despite Dimitri's protestations, and in the end, Dedue was the only person that Dimitri was able to save, requiring him to shield Dedue from the blows as Gustave once shielded him.
During this time, Edelgard went through her own "blood reconstruction surgery", and, much like Lysithea, gained a second Crest at the cost of her health, her siblings, and any good feelings of the nobility. Much like Lysithea, her father was unable to stop the experiments even as her siblings withered and died.
Unlike Lysithea, the people who tortured her weren't mysterious mages. Oh, sure, the individual "nurses" and "doctors" of this perverse surgery were, but the people pulling the strings? The people holding back her father's hands?
None other than the nobles at the head of the Insurrection of the Seven. And, curiously, one Lord Arundel. While he wasn't doing any of the malpractice himself, he had come down to check in on the experiment's progress.
And as she looked into the heartless eyes of whatever her uncle had become, Edelgard made a promise.
That she would escape this place.
That everything that led to this nightmare would burn.
That this would Never. Happen. Again.
"...And that's... that's why I have to do this. Why I have to create a society without Crests, or at least without a nobility formed from them," Edelgard says.
"I... I'd like that," says Lysithea. "I just want to be rid of my Crests. They've caused me nothing but trouble after..." she starts, before trailing off. "Catherine figured out that we share a Crest of Charon. Hanneman noticed, too, but they both promised to keep it secret. If the Church found out, I'm worried that they'd think I'm some kind of chosen one..." She spits out a bitter laugh, and says, "Five years left to live, they said. That was twelve years ago, but I can feel my body crumble. I'm burning myself at both ends just to help my parents recover, to give them something to subsist on when I'm gone. Nobody would choose this."
"...They might not think so--not if we tell them who's really responsible," Edelgard mutters. "I heard them speak, when I was fighting for consciousness... if the Church hates them as much as they hate the Church, we might be able to get them off of our backs for good. I thought I'd have to... to tolerate them still existing, to weaken the Church when they inevitably came to bring the hammer down on my Crestless world..." she trails off, looking directly at you. "But... if we had other help, weapons comparable in power to Relics without needing Crests to operate them, that wouldn't be necessary, would it? We could turn the Church against Those Who Slither in the Dark--"
"I'm sorry, what?" Lysithea giggles.
"It's why I don't let Hubert name things anymore," Edelgard groans,
"So, Professor, are you going to tell Rhea about these 'surgeries'?"
[] Yes
- Rhea is going to be ballistic. Hopefully, towards those who have tampered with 'the goddess's gifts' moreso than towards your students. Spends the upcoming Instruction action bringing Rhea up to speed on the people who have been hurting your students. [] No
- Maybe let's not risk Rhea's wrath. She might interpret this as your students being the one blaspheming against Sothis, given her reaction to what happened with Miklan. Spends the upcoming Instruction action asking Rhea more investigative questions about Crests.
AN: After double-checking the Support conversations for Lystithea, I noticed that Hanneman didn't tell anyone about her second Crest upon discovering it. Catherine, Lindhart, and Hanneman are the only ones who figure out her secret--and Lindhardt only from reading Hanneman's notes. This provides the opportunity to attempt to use Rhea's temper to convince her to take action against Those Who Slither in the Dark--but you know little of how she'll respond, and telling Rhea without discussing it with Edelgard felt like a betrayal of things spoken of in confidence. This chapter is thus split in two, as I could see Grimaldo taking either one--and given this vote's effect on the trajectory of Fódlan's plot, it felt worth the trouble of making an interrupt vote.
I didn't get to the results of the Protestant Reformation history getting passed off to Edelgard--as you can see, she was a bit busy. It'll give results in 005b.
Part of why Rhea goes nuts in CF (Edelgard route) is because she feels betrayed by Byleth in a moment of great stress. Edelgard and Lysithea getting experimented on by the molepeople isn't their fault, and current circumstances are far less of a powderkeg scenario than in canon.
I expected this to stay where it was yesterday, so there's ~2k words written so far. The combat bits will likely take a bit longer since I'm actually doing detail on them now that we're not in the recaps.
You're rather fortunate that your home and Gabriel's little safehouse have the kind of mana that you're looking for--it's a bit irritating, being unable to fully test this in one day, but by tapping your two Black pips of mana while researching some of this world's notes on Black magic, you're able to get some basic teleportation down with scattered practice throughout this week.
You sit down at the table with Rhea and Catherine in Rhea and Seteth's little office-alcove to the side of Rhea's... "Audience Chamber" is the official term, but really it's more of a modest throne room. You're not really a fan of tea, preferring coffee's earthen tones, but Rhea adores the drink, so she and Catherine (and most of the monastery, at this point) are accustomed to tea breaks being the traditional excuse to talk to one's co-workers.
"You seem to have something on your mind, Grimaldo," Rhea starts, idly taking a sip from her tea.
You nod, and after a moment to brace yourself, speak, "It's... about Edelgard and Lysithea. You've noticed their unusual hair color, yes?"
"I have. It would not be the first time that a strange coincidence of hair color has appeared across different bloodlines," she shrugs.
"That's the thing, though," you say, once again plucking a hair from your scalp to show her. "They weren't born that color, and that particular shade of white, on one so young, is usually a sign of an attempt to give someone magic--at least as far as I've seen."
Rhea raises an eyebrow. "The... 'psionics' of your homeworld? Strange, they seem to have entirely normal magic talents--though Lysithea is a prodigy, of course--"
You shake your head. "My world focused on psionics because that's the only form of magic that they had. In this one, the magic in question is Crests."
Rhea's eyebrow raises further. "You mean to imply that their Crests were implanted artificially?"
"Yes--their second Crests. The bleaching is caused by activation rituals that put a large amount of strain on the body--you'll note that both of these young girls are the only surviving member of their family's previously-numerous batch of heirs, and I had some of the best doctors of my homeworld watching me around the clock to make sure that nothing went wrong." Rhea hmm's as she takes another sip, so you continue, "Lysithea's second Crest is that of Charon--as she said that Catherine had figured out on her own."
Catherine nods. "There's some... weather patterns that show up around us. Unlucky freak downbursts, mostly."
You nod, and further continue, "Edelgard's second Crest is that of Flames." You wait for a response, and realize that despite the cup being raised in front of her mouth, no noise of drinking is coming from Rhea's still form. "While Lysithea was too young to keep an eye out for who was responsible, Edelgard was awake for most of it. She said she saw mostly secretive mages in clothing styles consistent with the Empire, though also involved were a few pale-skinned mages in red-and-black robes--"
A line of blood runs down your cheek and five fluid ounces of tea crash onto the table as Rhea's teacup abruptly ceases to exist. Her right hand is a white-knuckled fist, porcelain dust sprinkling down from the folds of her finger-joints.
"Grimaldo. If you are lying to me--"
You shake your head. "I swear to God, it is as true as I can verify without borrowing Hanneman's Crest-viewer or finding the Crest Stone of Fl--"
"I think. You need. To be. In. A. Different. Room," Rhea suggests calmly.
You do not sprint. You know better than to do anything to imply that there is anything other than dead calm in this room right now. You also do not linger. You know better than to believe that there is anywhere safe in this room right now.
"Grim, what was that ab--" Catherine starts, before you hear the brittle protest of one of the granite pillars that Rhea keeps art pieces on try and fail to embed itself into a stone wall at baseball-pitch speeds. It is only when the sound of a shattering porcelain vase hitting the ground rings out after that Catherine begins to understand the depths of rage on the other side of that too-thin castle wall.
"Goddess, what is--" she tries to start again, but stops when a sound disturbingly similar to a flamethrower crossbred with a wind-chime rings out at volumes no flamethrower has ever breathed out before, intertwined with a monastery-rattling roar of hatred.
"That," you say, grabbing her by the shoulders, "Is our cue to leave."
You and Catherine get to telling war stories--apparently, Lord Lonato's son had participated in the Tragedy of Duscur and been executed for it by the Church, and turning him in had torpedoed Catherine's reputation to the point of effective exile after Lonato started spreading lies about her in retaliation.
Which... is weird, because nobody else got executed by the Church for that mess, but you recognize a covert op when you see the suspicious absence of one.
An hour or so later, Seteth comes down and requests a word with you two. "What did you do?!" he asks, harshly whispering through his teeth.
"I told Rhea about a threat to her students," you say, "There's a secret society of mad mages trying to implant secondary Crests into people--it's why Lysithea and Edelgard have white hair."
"Do you have proof of this?" he asks.
You pluck another hair from your scalp and say, "First-hand experience with something similar, and Catherine can vouch for the fact that Lysithea has some of the... symptoms of a Crest of Charon."
"That... is troubling, but I don't see why--"
"The Crest that Edelgard was forcibly injected with was the Crest of Flames."
"...Ah. No, that fits Rhea's behavior," he says, "I'd appreciate if you kept this under wraps for now. ...Might I ask for any additional information you have about this group?"
You nod, and start relaying Edelgard's description of them. Seteth's expression continues to darken throughout.
"That... I thought we had dealt with these people. I'll send some soldiers to sniff them out."
"Hubert has assembled a list," you add. "He and Edelgard had plans to do some... housecleaning once she inherited the throne."
"Thank you for bringing this to my attention, I'll be speaking with him shortly," he says, turning to leave.
"So... you're not going to explain what's going on here?"
"Grimaldo," he scoffs, "I realize that you're new here, but this is something of a matter of Church secrets--"
"I know how Jeralt got his Crest," you counter.
He turns back to you, looking you up and down. "...Fine. Catherine, this is not for your ears," he says, and she obediently steps to a room out of earshot. Seteth sighs and slumps into the seat she occupied. "Right. Just to confirm that you're not guessing--"
"It's originally based on a manner of Blood transfusion that conflicts with other copies of itself, but not human blood. No evidence on what that blood is, if not human, but it also seems to possess some manner of healing, if Jeralt was able to recover from his injuries as much as he said he did," you say.
"...Feh. Just enough to be dangerous, not enough to understand--You're not from here, so you wouldn't know, because it's not something we talk about frequently. Those whose Crests are particularly close to the source have extended lifespans--Jeralt, for instance, has been living ever since he saved Rhea during the civil war when the Leicester Alliance split off from the Empire."
You blink. "That's... wasn't that in the 800's?"
He nods.
"...Right. That explains why the war against Nemesis was so long. We had century-long wars back home once or twice, but those were usually slow-simmering things, not ones where a saint like Seiros fought an enemy general that stayed the same for decades."
Seteth sighs, and says, "That's... part of the issue. Nemesis's corpse was never buried. It went missing after he was killed, and Rhea is... concerned about him showing up again at some point."
"Hm. Is he the original source of the Crest of Flames?"
"On the contrary," Seteth says, "He stole it from Rhea's dead mother."
...Oh.
Yeah, I think we'd be the same if someone was robbing our mom's grave.
Can we ask about where the Crest Stone of Flames went?
I... don't think we're getting the answer to that unless we learn more about them on our own.
Not unless we want to get our neck snapped.
"If another Crest of Flames is showing up in their hands, that means that either Nemesis is alive again, or they're still desecrating her corpse after all these years."
"That... explains so much," Edelgard mutters once the two of you--and Hubert of course--have time to talk.
"Really? Because I mostly just got hit with the knowledge that the Archbishop is 1100 years old."
"Probably older, given... well, she wasn't born during the war, obviously."
"I guess not," you mutter, "Are there any records from back then?"
Edelgard and Hubert look at each other again. "...None that I can speak of without leaking Imperial Secrets," Edelgard says. "I really must insist on that book I recommended to you earlier, though," she says, eyes glancing towards the Abyss. "I'll have the authority for it once I become Emperor, but..."
"...But they brush up against Church secrets, I imagine?" you ask.
She nods.
The three of you are silent for a time, before Hubert looks out of the window and smiles.
<You know, it's very funny that this happens in this of all months.>
"Something on your mind?"
<This isn't visible on Edelgard's route in the game, but since Hubert's been talking to Dimitri...>
"Oh, just a funny little coincidence. Did you know Lord Arundel was visiting this month?"
"Wouldn't it be funny," Hubert says, a canary-eating grin spreading across his face, "if someone was there to try that little teleport-blocker spell he figured out when toying with Black magic? Purely hypothetically. I'm sure there's no reason whatsoever that an upstanding member of the Church would have to fear one of its combat instructors."
Well. Never let it be said that you can't take a hint.
<Grimaldo taps 2 Black for Warp (Base) + Warp: Plane Manipulator (Space)>
You stand with Seteth in the office alcove as Rhea summons Lord Arundel in. While there are still a few areas of damage on the stone, the maids have done good work in cleaning the place up after Rhea's little tantrum.
"Lord Arundel," Rhea says, "thank you for arriving as requested."
You move over to Seteth's desk. Your teleport-jamming spell emanates from your body, and needs a straight line from you to the intended victim of your jamming. Stone blocks it--but creatures do not, so you pretend to have tea with Seteth so that you can see Lord Arundel through the empty archway.
"I live to serve, as always," Arundel bows, "How may I help you, Archbishop?"
Rhea nods, and starts with the accusations. "We have noticed that you stopped making donations to the Church in 1174--and that your behavior changed shortly thereafter. On its own, these are innocent, if disappointing, changes in an otherwise righteous man. However, as of late, the fencing instructor you recommended to us, one Jeritza von Hrym, formerly of House Bartels, has been revealed to be aiding seditious elements who conducted an attack on the Holy Tomb--and who escaped using Black magic that Jeritza himself was clearly not in a state to cast. Normally, the blame for this would lie with Jeritza, as it could reasonably be assumed that whatever ploy he used to fool us had also worked on you."
Lord Arundel raises an eyebrow. You're pretty sure he's preparing a spell of some kind--but you won't know until the mana leaves him.
"However, then we found out about the blasphemous experiments conducted on two of our students--" Rhea starts, and about seven different things happen at once.
<"Lord Arundel" vs Grimaldo: Teleport vs Warp: Plane Manipulator:d20+??? (CL) vs 11+8 (Magus class level) = (4)+??? vs 19 = ERROR: READIED ACTION INTERRUPT>
<Rhea: Readied Swift Action: Warpriest Sacred Weapon Boost>
<...Yeah she's a Warpriest, not a Cleric--she likes to hide this fact, which is why Grimaldo misidentified her class in the Contacts list.>
<Rhea vs "Lord Arundel": Readied Grapple Check: d20+??? (BAB)+8 (STR)+2 (Size)+??? (Sacred Weapon Boost) vs 10+??? (BAB)-1 (STR)+3 (DEX) = (13)+??? vs ??? = ERROR: IMMEDIATE ACTION INTERRUPT>
<"Lord Arundel" vs Grimaldo: Warp: Emergency Teleport vs Warp: Plane Manipulator: d20+??? vs 19 = (12)+??? vs 19 = ERROR: QM MATH INTERRUPT>
<QM: Look Up These Idiots' Canon Levels>
<So. To keep myself from bending this encounter out of its theoretical canon power balance, I did not look at these character's canon levels before writing this scene. Given that Nemesis, the highest-level character in Three Houses, is Level 60 in-game, I've been using a 1:3 conversion ratio here to get things to Pathfinder levels.>
<Assuming we use Hard mode to avoid the bloat from Maddening difficulty, Rhea is Lv. 45 -> Lv. 15, and Lord Arundel's highest is Lv. 42 -> Lv. 14>
<Which means...>
<QM MATH INTERRUPT RESOLVES!>
<Second Teleport Jamming Check: (12)+14 vs 19 = "Lord Arundel" Success!>
<Emergency Teleport Resolves! Grapple check auto-fails due to reach limits!>
<First Teleport Jamming Check: (4)+14 vs 19 = Bare Failure!>
A spell-circle of Black appears behind Lord Arundel, and Rhea turns into a dragon to grab him--only for him to teleport away. He sneers, and finishes his longer-range teleport's spell-circle--only for it to fizzle, as your interference short-circuits the destination glyph to be the same as the origin glyph. At once, the room erupts into chaos as the guards scramble to hold him down.
Rhea is a dragon and she makes her displeasure known, roaring as she charges forwards and grabs Lord Arundel in her claws.
<Rhea vs "Lord Arundel": Grapple Check: d20+15 (BAB)+8 (STR)+2 (Size)+3 (Sacred Weapon Boost) vs 10+8 (BAB)-1 (STR)+3 (DEX) = (14)+28 vs 20 = Rhea Success!>
Seteth strides forwards, spear in hand as he lifts the point to Lord Arundel's neck. "As we were attempting to say, before you went ahead and proved it for us--we believe you to have been replaced with an impostor from an enemy we thought long dead. Your guilt is certain--have you anything to say before you meet your end?"
Lord Arundel sneers. "Seethe all you want, Seteth. You'll never catch my cunning escape--"
<Magic Coat Button: Readied Standard Action: Send a message home via spell>
<Hidden Teleporter Bay: Readied Standard Action: Retrieve "Lord Arundel">
<Hidden Teleporter Bay vs Grimaldo: Warp: Teleport Beacon vs Warp: Plane Manipulator:d20+10 (CL) vs 19 = (10)+10 vs 19 = Bare Success!>
"GRAAH!" Rhea shouts, punching the wall. "EVERY TIME!"
"I think I need a better jammer," you say, "It only stopped him on that second attempt."
"Once is better than none," says Seteth, "How did he cast without moving? Squeezed tight like that, he should not have been able to focus properly--"
<Grimaldo: K: Arcana: d20+3 (Class Skill)+2 (INT)+8 (Ranks) vs DC 10+5 (Technical)+5 (Obscure) = (11)+13 vs 20 = Grimaldo Success!>
"I think that his weird one-liner was a command word for something. If being held tight stops spellcasting, it's only sensible to have a contingency to pull you back from outside the dragon's reach," you say. "Speaking of, WHAT THE @#$%, RHEA?"
Rhea begins to shrink back into human form as Seteth sighs and explains, "Rhea, Flayn, and I aren't... human. We hide as such, because those mages you warned us about did genocide to us. The Red Canyon nearby is called that because it was once painted with our blood. I'll spare you the details, but know that this is to be kept secret."
You... don't know what to say to that.
<Rhea's Contact information updated: Archbishop Rhea (The Immaculate One): NG? Fódlani Silver Dragon//Warpriest>
<Seteth's Contact information updated: Seteth (In Hindsight It's Really Odd That He Rides A Wyvern): LN Fódlani Silver Dragon//Ranger>
<Quest Who Hurt My Students? updated to Those Who Slither In The Dark:The same shadowy group of mages that hurt Edelgard and Lysithea seem to be behind numerous atrocities on Fódlan--now that you've brought their existence to the light, Rhea and Edelgard will be more easily able to strike against them. Be warned, however, as this is a group that has persisted despite the violent destruction of their civilization over 1100 years ago, and one with mages currently stronger than you.>
<Gained Skill Familiarity: Knowledge: Arcana (Fódlan, Trained)>
<Gained XP:1x "Lord Arundel" (CR 13) / (2 (Unharmed Retreat) * 6 (Large Party) = 1x 25,600 / 12 = +2133 XP>
"It didn't work, unfortunately," you say to Edelgard and Hubert once you have the time. "Rhea is..."
"Drier skin than expected?" Edelgard smirks.
"...Colliding secrets?" you ask, to which she nods. "Well. My apologies for the extra work this will cause you, Hubert."
He shrugs. "A bit irritating that we have to completely upend our earlier plans, but changing circumstances are what they are. Shame about Jeritza being in their care when this happened, we might've been able to get him some kind of 'fight for absolution' deal with Rhea."
"We might still be able to," muses Edelgard, "if we catch him at the right time. Until then, I have that book of yours to read, Hubert has counter-espionage to run, and the Church has some rats to sniff out."
Turn 005 Week 3: [WEEKEND] [RESEARCH] Translate A Guide To Ethical Research Practices for Linhardt
Eager to get away from that mess, you Walk home and start talking to the doctors and veterinarians at base about research ethics, looking to get a few papers to bring back to Linhardt. Rather than any single book, this document you're producing is more of a hodgepodge of college textbook chapters, scattered government reports, and the occasional news article.
While you're asking around at the camp, Alicia comes back to you to deliver her findings on your search for Segismundo.
<Alicia spends one week of work Taking 20 on a given Computers check. Taking 20 involves repeating a task over and over until you crit, and is assumed to take 20 times the normal duration. XCOM's own cybersecurity is shielding her from the consequences of the failures inherent to this process, but only when Taking 20.>
<Alicia: Computers: Hack for Data (Location): d20+3 (CS)+3 (INT)+3 (Ranks)+3 (Feat: Skill Focus)+2 (Masterwork Tools) vs DC 30 (Same as picking a "Good" Lock) = (forced 20)+14 vs 30 = Success!>
<Alicia: Computers: Hack for Data (Confirmation of Segismundo's Presence): d20+14 vs DC 30 = (forced 20)+14 vs 30= Success!>
<If you're wondering why the aliens only have "Good" firewalls and not "Superior"-grade ones, it's because those are for XCOM plot-relevant facilities.>
"I found the facility's location--and your husband's," she says, showing you a video clip of Segismundo at the prison's mess hall. It's... heartbreaking. He's not injured or anything, thank God, but he's obviously not doing well.
<Quest Rescue Your Prince From The Tower updated with Location and Confirmation of Segismundo's Presence>
<The facility is roughly 57 km/36 mi. west of Guadalajara, in an artificial jungle clearing. You doubt you'll be able to take the Skyranger there without sending the place into high alert--but being so close to a large city means few people would question a car driving by to somewhere you could bond to the land...>
<...It's been a while for one of these, yikes>
<Random Encounter Rolls: 5d20: 13, 8, 16, 9, 18 = Three Encounters (MWF, Urban environments)>
((1-10 = nothing, 11-12 = hazard, 13-20 = encounter))
<Primary Forces: ADVENT, Criminals. Rolling 3x 2d6: 9, 5, 6. 1x Medium Crime, 1x Medium ADVENT, 1x Easy ADVENT>
<Force Concentration: 3d12 (Low = swarmy, High = one big guy): 1,4,6 = Horde, Large Squad, Normal Squad>
<Generating...>
You meet up with some XCOM agents assigned to escort you around to various places onboard the Skyranger. Your own home is a couple hours west of Mexico City--close enough that Command feels they can rely on local smugglers if they need you to transport sensitive cargo. Getting past ADVENT checkpoints is a hassle, of course, but one that the locals can do something about, rather than the insurmountable physical obstacle of raw distance.
Your first trip is up to California--a city named Stockton a short distance from both San Francisco and Sacramento. You're supposed to bond to an abandoned warehouse here, but are quite surprised to find a small drug ring operating out of it.
The gangsters, predictably, do not take kindly to government spooks of any kind appearing in their hideout, even ones as tangentially governmental as XCOM, and you engage in a short shootout to assert your greater need. After a few of them go down before any of yours do, they retreat to fight another day. You capture the downed survivors and let your squadmates dictate terms of surrender while you bond to the land here.
<Gained XP: (4x CR 3 Gangsters + 8x CR 1 Gangsters)/4 (Party Size): (4x (800 XP) + 8x (400 XP))/4 = +1600 XP>
<Not doing combat rolls on this one because swarmy encounters are easily countered by Barrage; 13 bullets per round from the XCOM squad due to Barrage attacks makes short work of low-level goons.>
<Gained Land: Disreputable Warehouse (Stockton, California, USA) {R}>
Your next stop is down in Brasilia--and you dodge any kind of trouble here, managing to secure the archives run by a helpful librarian.
<Gained Land: Local Library (Brasilia, Brazil) {U}>
Looping up to New York City is a bit more troubling--you run into an ADVENT patrol on your way to a garage and have to quickly put them down before they call you in. Their sectoid support operatives are more galling, but to your knowledge don't carry as much communication equipment. You four open fire--and make fools of yourselves, absolutely whiffing nearly all of your shots.
<Surprise Round: Grimaldo Standard Action: Destruction (Base) + Tenebrous Strike (Blast Type) via Advanced Spellstrike>
<Grimaldo: Ranged Accuracy: d20+8 (BAB)+2 (DEX)+1 (Weapon Enhancement) vs AC 10+4 (Ceramic Plate) = (1)+11 vs 14 = Crit Failure!>
<90% Chance to hit and he critfails. Truly, we are playing XCOM.>
<Other XCOM Troopers: Barrage Special Attack>
<Total 9 attacks at -4 accuracy, expending Martial Focus on each>
<...Wait, these are Automatic rifles. They can take another -2 for another attack each>
<XCOM Trooper: Ranged Accuracy: 9d20+6 (BAB)+4 (DEX)-4 (Boosted Barrage)-2 (Automatic Burst) vs AC 14 = (2,2,8,14,17,16,20,9,8,1,10,5)+4 vs 14 = 4 Successes, 1 Threatened Crit>
<Trooper 2: Confirm Crit: d20+3 vs 14 = (7)+3 vs 14 = Doesn't Crit>
<Damage: 5(d10+3 (BAB/2)) = (5,2,10,6,5)+15 = 35 BPS>
<Each ADVENT Trooper has 21 HP. Assigning bullets until one is downed...>
Your squadmates have a chance to correct for their earlier failure--and they heavily capitalize on it. Murtagh Öberg fires three bullets and hits two--but both hits send an enemy trooper sprawling on the pavement and bleeding out. Homer Lincoln, likewise, fires a three-bullet burst. While he manages only one incapacitation, all three of his bullets hit.
One of the enemy sectoid psi-ops tries to take over Tyra's mind, but she resists, and you can feel her defiance tear apart the spell-matrix reaching out to grasp her mind. The sectoid and one of the two remaining troopers then take cover behind some of the cars in this place, though not before the latter fires a couple failed plasma blasts at her.
<Murtagh Öberg: Barrage Again: 3d20+6 (BAB)+4 (DEX)-2 (Barrage)-2 (Automatic Burst) vs AC 14 = (18,5,20)+6 vs 14 = 1 Success, 1 Threatened Crit>
<Murtagh: Confirm Crit: d20+6 vs 14 = (10)+6 vs 14 = Crit Confirmed!>
<Bullet 1 Damage: 1d10+3 (BAB/3) = (3)+3 = 6 BPS>
<ADVENT Trooper 2: -2/21 HP>
<Bullet 2 Damage: 4(d10+3) = (3,2,4,2)+12 = 23 BPS>
<ADVENT Trooper 5: -2/21 HP>
<Homer Lincoln: Barrage Again: 3d20+6 vs AC 14 = (8,19,9)+6 vs 14 = 3 Successes>
<Damage: 3(d10+3) = (10,9,3)+9 = 13 + 12 + 6 BPS>
<Assigning Bullets...>
<ADVENT Trooper 3: -4/21 HP; ADVENT Trooper 6: 15/21 HP>
<ADVENT Trooper 6:Move Action: Take Cover Behind a Car>
<ADVENT Trooper 6: Standard Action: Total Defence (+4 Dodge AC)>
<Sectoid 2: Standard Action: Mind: Command (Charm)+Mind: Powerful Charm>
<-2 Spell Points, targeting Tyra>
<Tyra: Will Save: d20+2 (WIS)+2 (Class Bonus) vs DC 10+3 (INT)+2 (CL/2) = (15)+4 vs 15 = Tyra Success!>
<Sectoid 2: Take Cover Behind A Car>
You're favoring quality over quantity lately--and so you fire again, aiming to erase the last ADVENT trooper from this earth. You manage instead a modest victory, clicking your tongue as you re-evaluate how easily you can take this fight. You draw upon your home's power and that of the hotel, teleporting to somewhere you can flank the remaining foes.
<Grimaldo Standard Action: Destruction (Base) + Tenebrous Strike (Blast Type) via Advanced Spellstrike>
<Grimaldo: Ranged Accuracy: d20+8 (BAB)+2 (DEX)+1 (Weapon Enhancement) vs AC 10+4 (Ceramic Plate) = (9)+11 vs 14 = 1 Success>
<Damage: d10+4 (BAB/2)+1 (Weapon Enhancement)+3d6 Negative (Tenebrous Strike) = (3)+5+(3,6,5) = 8 PBS + 14 Negative>
<ADVENT Trooper 4: -1/21 HP>
<Grimaldo taps 2 Black for Warp (Base) + Warp: Quick Teleport>
<Grimaldo: Move Action: Teleport To A Flanking Position>
<-2 Spell Points: 8/10 Remain>
The fighting reaches a lull again as many bullets from your squadmates miss, and the other sectoid fails to mind-control Murtagh Öberg. The last ADVENT trooper remaining attempts to call his commanding officers, but you have something to say to that.
<Tyra: Barrage Again: 3d20+6 vs AC 10+3 (DEX)+1 (Size) = (3,17,1)+6 vs 14 = 1 Success>
<Damage: d10+3 BPS = (6)+3 = 9 BPS>
<Sectoid 1: 1/10 HP>
<Sectoid 1: Standard Action: Mind: Command (Charm)+Mind: Powerful Charm>
<-2 Spell Points, targeting Murtagh Öberg>
<Murtagh Öberg: Will Save: d20+4 vs DC 15 = (12)+4 vs 15 = Murtagh Öberg Success!>
<Sectoid 1: Take Cover Behind A Car> <Turn 2>
<Murtagh Öberg: Barrage Again: 3d20+6 vs AC 14+4 (Cover) = (9,1,10)+6 vs 18 = 1 Critfail>
<Homer Lincoln: Barrage Again: 3d20+6 vs AC 18 = (3,1,18)+6 vs 18 = 1 Success>
<Damage: d10+3 = (5)+3 = 8 BPS>
<Sectoid 2:2/10 HP>
<ADVENT Trooper 6: Move Action: Activate Item (Comms)>
<ADVENT Trooper 6: Standard Action: Total Defence>
<Sectoid 2: Free Action: Drop Prone>
<Sectoid 2: Standard Action: Total Defence>
<Sectoid 2: Move Action: Crawl Beneath A Car>
You move around to fully flank him, and open fire. He's somehow still alive after the bullet-borne spell snuffs out his consciousness, but it'll be mere seconds before he bleeds out.
<Grimaldo: Move Action: Move around the car to deny Cover to the Trooper>
<Grimaldo Standard Action: Destruction (Base) + Tenebrous Strike (Blast Type) via Advanced Spellstrike>
<Spending a Spell Point to boost this, 7/10 Remaining>
<Grimaldo: Ranged Accuracy: d20+8 (BAB)+2 (DEX)+1 (Weapon Enhancement)+1 (Point-Blank Shot bonus within 30 feet) vs AC 10+4 (Ceramic Plate)+4 (Total Defence) = (19)+12 vs 18 = 1 Success>
<Damage: d10+5 BPS+6d6 Negative (Tenebrous Strike) = (7)+5+(6,1,5,2,4,3) = 12 PBS + 21 Negative>
<ADVENT Trooper 6: -12/21 HP>
Tyra finally finishes off the slower sectoid, and your other squadmates finish off the other in time. Its position underneath a car was not conducive to good firing angles, so Homer Lincoln just tossed a grenade in range of its hiding place.
<Tyra: Barrage Again: 3d20+6 vs AC 18 = (6,2,13)+6 vs 18 = 1 Success>
<Damage: d10+3 BPS = (3)+3 = 6 BPS>
<Sectoid 1: -5/10 HP>
<Murtagh Öberg: Free Action: Drop Prone to get a clear shot at Sectoid 2>
<Murtagh Öberg: Barrage Again: 3d20+6 vs AC 10+3 (DEX)+1 (Size)+4 (Prone)+4 (Total Defence) = (10,8,10)+6 vs 22 = 0 Successes>
<Homer Lincoln: Standard Action: Frag Grenade: d20+6 (BAB)+4 (DEX)-6 (Range) vs AC 10-5 (Size) (Targeting the ground) = (17)+4 vs 5 = Success>
<Sectoid 2: Reflex Save: d20+3 (DEX)+1 (Class Bonus)-5 (Stuck Under A Car) vs DC 15 = (7)-1 vs 15 = Failure, take full damage>
<Damage: 4d6 BPS = (1,5,1,3) = 10 BPS>
<Sectoid 2: -8/10 HP>
After taking time to silence the alarms and set up some misleading battle-signs, you steal one of the cars and use spoofed ID's to get into NYC and bond to a subway tunnel that Command says is rarely--if ever--patrolled by ADVENT. You wind up Walking back to home camp rather than trying a more traditional extraction, given the density of cameras around here.
<Gained Land: Forgotten Subway Tunnel (NYC, New York, USA) {B}>
<Gained XP:6x ADVENT Trooper (CR 3) + 2x Sectoid Commander (CR 3)/4 (Party Size) = 8x800 XP/4 = +1600 XP>
Berlin, mercifully, goes much more cleanly. A friendly agent sneaks you into a hospital broom closet, where, while claustrophobic, you're able to bond in peace.
<Gained Land: Hospital (Berlin, Germany) {W/U}>
Sydney's a bit easier to get into via the coast--though you have to kill an ADVENT squad and steal their armor for stealth after they spotted you.
Turn 005 Week 4: [WEEKEND] [ASSISTANCE] Translation Part 2
You handed off the translated papers to Linhardt and wind down for bed. To your surprise, Linhardt had finished it all by morning. You expected it to take him a bit longer, but you suppose that his work ethic got the better of his executive dysfunction this time.
"This is extremely bothersome," Linhardt says, returning the binder holding the translated papers as he slumps into a chair. "And yet... 'Informed Consent' is such an obvious baseline! Of course the patient would learn nothing if they were never told what the procedure entails. Even if learning wasn't the goal, it saves so much time if the patient is able to properly trace back side effects to their source!"
You nod. "And what does it do to the doctors?"
He sighs. "It makes us do redundant work whose utility in error-catching and enforcing ethical consistency is too useful to do away with."
"And the researchers?"
"...The same thing," he sighs once more, "because the more encompassing the experiment is, the more the researcher is in a position of toying with someone's life, which is a complicated subject that most people don't have the expertise to properly manage--even if we assume zero malice."
You give a smug smile before he snaps to a standing position and presses his hands to his temples. "That's it! I'm leaving humans behind me. I'm going into the mountains and becoming a geologist so I don't have to worry about this sort of thing."
"I have three words that will ruin your life," you say.
"What?"
"Mineral. Rights. Negotiations," you count on your fingers.
With a teacup-rattling groan, he slumps back into the chair.
<Linhardt has been introduced to research ethics! Given that his dad is the Imperial Minister of Domestic Affairs, this might result in a local OSHA equivalent. Possibly. Maybe. If he remembers to think about it.>
<More immediately, Linhardt stops being a bother to random students who weren't expecting an immediate interview from a mid-hyperfixation Knowledge: Arcana major.>
"Professor!" Edelgard calls to you as she enters, shortly following Linhardt's exit. "I finished that history book you translated." Closing the door and flopping into the chair across from your desk, she continues, "I... It seems that I underestimated how important communication is in war."
You raise an eyebrow. "Oh? How so?"
"I... we don't have printing presses," she sighs, "which sound eerily familiar to a technology I remember reading about in the Abyss library that was censored by Rhea for fear of exactly the kind of spread of ideas that your world experienced with it. Without those, we have to rely on either word-of-mouth or traditional means of force to explain things to the common folk--and without their support, I fear we'd have the same fragmentation that your world's 'Germany' faced. Roughly a third of its population gone during that 'Thirty Years' War'... I have no desire to inflict that on Fódlan. Rhea's kin may be inhuman puppeteers, dragging humanity around for their own sick amusement--"
"Ah. Um," you interrupt, "Seteth actually gave me an answer on that one?"
Edelgard blinks. "Oh?"
"Yeah, apparently those tormentors of yours killed Rhea's people. The Red Canyon apparently got that name from their blood?"
Edelgard is very, very quiet for a long time, face white as her hair as her mouth folds in on itself as though she had inhaled the flavor crystals of an entire bag of sour gummies.
"...You alright there?" you ask.
"Yeahfinejustrethinkingmylife," she blurts, "I--I think I was about to make things so much worse."
"Do you want to elaborate on that?" you ask, one eyebrow raised.
"I--might've--details in that Abyss book I keep trying to push you towards are suddenly VERY relevant for why I shouldn't do a certain heist I was planning," she says. "I--I need to go warn Hubert," she says, rushing out of your office.
You're exiting your office after tidying things back up when Catherine greets you, presumably drawn in by the sound of Edelgard sprinting down the hall.
"You, uh... Everything alright with the princess?"
"I gave her advice that had her significantly rethink something she told Hubert," you shrug. Catherine shrugs as well, presumably figuring that it's some teenager drama.
"Right. Well, I felt kinda bad about our meeting being interrupted--do you have time for lunch today?"
You nod. You think there's a mission you're being assigned to tomorrow--might as well get this done now.
<Catherine's Contact information updated: Catherine (Rhea's #2 Fan): TN Human Mageknight>
<Any of the adults at Garreg Mach are available as temporary Agents for rescuing Segismundo after after two Social Connections. Some of the students (which Flayn counts as, despite her age being more than the square of yours) are also available as more permanent Agents--usually the commoners and merchants. Of the adults, Shamir is also available as a permanent Agent, as she's just here to repay a life-debt to Rhea that she feels she's getting close to finishing.>
<Do bear in mind, of course, that using child soldiers is a literal war crime, despite Rhea's nonchalance on the subject. The youngest Contact here is Cyril at 14 when the game starts, but most are 17. Due to the large number of characters, I suggest you consult the wiki if you want to know a specific character's age. The current year in Fódlan is 1180 IC, and the current month is listed at the start of every Grimaldo chapter.>
Turn 005 School Mission (The Flame In The Darkness)
"Grimaldo!" Jeralt shouts as he opens the door to your office, "Get geared up! We're heading to Remire Village!"
"What happened?" you ask, already standing up and getting organized.
"That weird disease we've been monitoring suddenly made its victims turn violent. We've gotten reports of houses burning--we need to be there now!" he says, and turns to leave.
What could be causing that?
Not rabies--they'd know what that looks like.
Something new, then? Gah, if only we had any kind of medical skill.
You and all four Houses of the Academy arrive on-scene, with assistance from the Knights of Seiros--which also seem to include Flayn today, despite...
Well. You suppose she's not actually as young as the rest of the students, but most of the students still aren't aware of the whole "dragon" situation.
You're here on wyvern-back, as putting Orquíeda in a situation where there are civilians underfoot seems... unwise. Escudo's gentle temperament is much more suited to a rescue operation. The civilians are in a panic, or in a rage, as determined by the infection. The infected ones show bulging purple veins and clouded white eyes--and, of course, a murderous impulse evident from their gibbering and screaming about killing.
Dimitri groans at the sight, but Hanneman is there to check in on him, so you put it out of your mind. The students are talking amongst themselves--it seems that they're of one mind, that switching to training weapons and aiming for knockouts is the dangerous, but morally correct, course of action to take here. Good. You've seen too many--
"Your Highness, suspicious figures spotted in the village," says Dedue. "They seem to be... watching the chaos."
"Are they the ones responsible for this madness?" Dimitri asks, "If so... it's clear what must be done."
Oh, good, he's going to make one of his usual heroic speeches--
"Kill them all. Don't let a single one of them escape. Sever their limbs and crush their wicked skulls!"
Hey Dimitri what the @#$%?!?
<Grimaldo: Sense Motive: d20+3 (CS)+0 (WIS) vs DC 25 (Sense Mind-Affecting Effect)-5 (Deeply out of character) = (12)+3 vs 20 = Failure>
"No, you're not," you bark.
"Excuse me?"
"Mercedes, take Prince Dimitri over to the medical tent and have him lift heavy objects. He's obviously unfit for combat at the moment. Dedue, you're in charge of the Lions until he comes to his senses." Dimitri seethes at being overruled, but you continue, "You'll get command back when you stop advocating for war crimes, Prince."
"...Go, my prince," says Dedue, "While I agree with your choice of targets, I must concur that this is... unusual for you."
Dimitri is a vibrating ball of anger as Mercedes pulls him away, but he doesn't strike against her. You play messenger between the various Houses, and an agreement on deployment is made. The Ashen Wolves and Blue Lions will lead the defence, while the Knights of Seiros and Golden Deer will run search-and-rescue. Jeralt and the Black Eagles will lead the offense, investigating the group of bystanders that Dedue pointed out and breaking up any violent mobs they find along the way.
You spend most of the fight flying above the village, pointing out trapped villagers to those on the ground. The offense squad is most of the way through the village when you notice that Tomas, the Academy librarian, is amongst the enemy command group. Edelgard seems to notice this at the same time that you do, and you hear her ask, "Tomas, what are you doing here? Dare I even ask?"
"I'm not Tomas," says Tomas, "I'm Solon, the savior of all!" as he speaks, Black magic burns away his disguise, revealing him to have a massive forehead with bulging veins, skin like chalk, and a really weird right eye. "What's the matter? So shocked you can't even speak? You were so easily fooled by my disguise... I was hiding away in Garreg Mach to get the blood of the little girl called Flayn. With her blood, we'll be one step closer to realizing our goal!"
You hear hoofbeats off to your right, and see the Death Knight and some subordinates ride in. "I'll have a bit of fun here too," he says, before looking up at you. "Ah, good. A challenge!"
Jeralt mutters something about the two of them being allied, but you're already aiming with your rifle. Edelgard and Byleth can handle Solon and his goons--you have an edgelord to defeat (again).
<Initiative: d20+DEX>
<Grimaldo: (6)+2 = 8>
<Death Knight: (5)+1 = 6>
<Enemy Archer: (7)+3 = 10>
<Enemy Healer: (16)+1 = 17>
<There's also two other cavalrymen, but they don't have anti-air capabilities>
The enemy healer prepares a Life spell, but its their archer that fires first. Escudo jukes left, and the arrow misses you by a half-meter. You return fire--while you're not sure about the mage, it seems that this is their main anti-air defence. You do a decent chunk of damage--most of which is then healed by the enemy mage.
<Enemy Healer: Standard Action: Ready a Spell>
<Enemy Archer: Full-Round Action: Sniper-sphere Deadly Shot (upgraded with Sniper: Sniper Shot)>
<Enemy Archer: Ranged Attack: d20+6 (BAB)+3 (DEX)+1 (Masterwork Weapon) vs AC 10+1 (DEX)+9 (Full Plate) = (6)+10 vs 20 = Failure>
<Grimaldo Standard Action: Destruction (Base) + Tenebrous Strike (Blast Type) via Advanced Spellstrike>
<Spending a spell point for damage, 9/10 remaining>
<Grimaldo: Ranged Accuracy: d20+8 (BAB)+2 (DEX)+1 (Weapon Enhancement)+1 (High Ground) vs AC 10+3 (DEX) = (18)+12 vs 13 = 1 Success>
<Damage: d10+5 BPS+6d6 Negative (Tenebrous Strike) = (9)+5+(5,2,3,2,5,4) = 14 PBS + 21 Negative>
<Enemy Archer: 4/39 HP>
<Enemy Healer: Readied Spell Activates!>
<Healing (Life (Cure) + Life: Deeper Healing; Life: Restore Health; Life: Restore Spirit): 2d8+18 (CL*3) = (4,2)+18 = 24 HP>
<Enemy Archer: 28/39 HP>
You swing around and fire once more--at the mage this time. The archer doesn't fire this time, as they're trying to keep pace with the moving cavalry. The healer's readied spell never goes off, either--a bullet through their skull leaves it forever untargeted.
<Enemy Healer: Standard Action: Ready a Spell>
<Grimaldo Standard Action: Destruction (Base) + Tenebrous Strike (Blast Type) via Advanced Spellstrike>
<Spending a spell point for damage, 8/10 remaining>
<Grimaldo: Ranged Accuracy: d20+12 vs AC 10+1 (DEX) = (16)+12 vs 11 = 1 Success>
<Damage: d10+5 BPS+6d6 Negative (Tenebrous Strike) = (4)+5+(4,4,5,6,2,6) = 9 PBS + 27 Negative>
<Enemy Healer: -15/21 HP>
The archer stops and fires at you, hoping to stop your advance as the cavaliers ride towards your students, coming dangerously close to the melee with Solon's detachment. You return fire, of course, once more dodging the arrow and leaving them wounded enough that their bow falls to the ground and they begin to stumble away from the battlefield.
<Enemy Archer: Full-Round Action: Sniper-sphere Deadly Shot (upgraded with Sniper: Sniper Shot)>
<Enemy Archer: Ranged Attack: d20+6 (BAB)+3 (DEX)+1 (Masterwork Weapon) vs AC 10+1 (DEX)+9 (Full Plate) = (4)+10 vs 20 = Failure>
<Grimaldo Standard Action: Destruction (Base) + Tenebrous Strike (Blast Type) via Advanced Spellstrike>
<Spending a spell point for damage, 7/10 remaining>
<Grimaldo: Ranged Accuracy: d20+12 vs AC 13 = (18)+12 vs 13 = 1 Success>
<Damage: d10+5 BPS+6d6 Negative (Tenebrous Strike) = (7)+5+(2,5,5,1,1,2) = 12 PBS + 16 Negative>
<Enemy Archer: 0/39 HP>
You turn your attention to the Death Knight. He has two subordinates of noticeable strength, and a large squad of common cavaliers behind him. You fire your rifle--and are shocked to find that he shoots lightning at you in return.
<Grimaldo Standard Action: Destruction (Base) + Tenebrous Strike (Blast Type) via Advanced Spellstrike>
<Spending a spell point for damage, 6/10 remaining>
<Grimaldo: Ranged Accuracy: d20+8 (BAB)+2 (DEX)+1 (Weapon Enhancement)+1 (High Ground)-8 (Mount is taking the Run action (or aerial equivalent)) vs AC 10+1 (DEX) = (10)+4 vs 11 = 1 Success>
<Damage: d10+5 BPS+6d6 Negative (Tenebrous Strike) = (4)+5+(1,2,3,4,2,3) = 9 PBS + 15 Negative>
<Death Knight: 36/60 HP>
<Death Knight Special Ability Activates! After being attacked, ignores distance/range to attacker for one attack.>
<Death Knight: Free Action: Activate Berserking (3+BAB = 11 temp HP, -2 AC, both for 1 Round)>
<Death Knight: Standard Action: Berserker-sphere Brutal Strike>
<Expending Martial Focus for damage>
<Death Knight: "Melee" Accuracy: d20+8 (BAB)+4 (STR)+2 (Weapon Enhancement)+2 (Enchantment: Bane (Humans)) vs AC 20 = (17)+16 vs 20 = Success!>
<Damage: 2d4 (Scythe)+6 (STR*1.5)+16 (BAB*2)+4 (Total Enhancement Bonus)+2d6 (Bane (Humans)) = (2,4)+26+(2,6) = 38 Slashing>
<Grimaldo: 32/70 HP>
You wince, but keep firing--bad enough that you're leading children into battle, you will not let someone like this hurt your students. You wreathe your rifle in your combat magic, and fire once more. It strikes true--but so does he, and you're nearly on your last legs--
<Grimaldo Standard Action: Destruction (Base) + Tenebrous Strike (Blast Type) via Advanced Spellstrike>
<Spending a spell point for damage, 5/10 remaining>
<Grimaldo: Ranged Accuracy: d20+12 vs AC 11 = (7)+12 vs 11 = 1 Success>
<Damage: d10+5 BPS+6d6 Negative (Tenebrous Strike)+d6 (Flaming Enchantment) = (8)+5+(2,5,4,3,6,4)+(5) = 13 PBS + 24 Negative + 5 Fire>
<Death Knight: 5/60 HP>
<Death Knight Special Ability Activates! After being attacked, ignores distance/range to attacker for one attack.>
<Death Knight: Free Action: Activate Berserking>
<Death Knight: Standard Action: Berserker-sphere Brutal Strike>
<Death Knight: "Melee" Accuracy: d20+8 (BAB)+4 (STR)+2 (Weapon Enhancement)+2 (Enchantment: Bane (Humans)) vs AC 20 = (14)+16 vs 20 = Success!>
<Damage: 2d4 (Scythe)+6 (STR*1.5)+4 (Total Enhancement Bonus)+2d6 (Bane (Humans)) = (3,3)+26+(3,4) = 23 Slashing>
<Grimaldo: 9/70 HP>
<Grimaldo and the cavalry have arrived at the Solon fight! Rolling initiative!>
<Turn Order: Bernadetta, Petra, Byleth, Jeralt, Solon, Linhardt, Death Cavalry 2, Edelgard, Dorothea, Grimaldo, Caspar, Hubert, Ferdinand, Death Knight, Death Cavalry 1>
You shout, "Incoming!" as the Death Knight bellows his laughter--
And promptly finds out why making loud noises near an armed Bernadetta is a bad idea, as her shriek of surprise harmonizes with the twang of her bowstring.
<Bernadetta: Standard Action: Sniper-sphere Deadly Shot>
<Expending Martial Focus for bonus damage>
<Bernadetta: Ranged Accuracy: d20+5 (BAB)+4 (DEX)+1 (Masterwork Composite Longbow)+5 (Anxiety higher-strung than her longbow)-2 (Feat: Deadly Aim) vs AC 20 = (19)+13 vs 20 = Success>
<Damage: d8 (Longbow)+2d10 (Boosted Deadly Shot)+2 (STR)+4 (Deadly Aim) = (3)+(5,7)+6 = 21 Piercing>
<Death Knight: -4/60 HP>
<Minor Crest of Indech: Bonus Attack? d10 vs DC 10 = (6) = Failure>
"Ohgoddesswhowasthat," she hyperventilates, her conscious brain catching up to what her combat reflexes have already struck down. The Death Knight slumps back on his horse, which seems to have second thoughts about charging into a group of soldiers without its trusty point-defence turret conscious. Petra swivels her head back and forth, shrugs, and fires an arrow at Solon. Byleth and Jeralt then charge in, hoping to disable Solon and his squad of mages before they try anything. Solon teleports away in response, but not before Jeralt stabs him with his spear.
"Why have you gone after this village?" Jeralt asks, shouting over the sounds of battle, "What are you planning?"
"Heh, I could have conducted this experiment on any test subjects! Now that I have what I came for, I must bid you farewell," Solon says, teleporting himself and the three main cavaliers away. Their horses and subordinates, however, remain--and immediately turn to run, to which your students begin sprinting in pursuit.
If only we were faster--that Warp suppressant might've gotten us good information from that idiot.
On the way back, Dimitri swings by to talk to you.
"Professor, I... I'm sorry you saw that side of me in the village. It must've been quite a shock to you and the others. I'm mortified by my behavior. When I saw the chaos and violence there... my mind went completely dark."
...Ah. Duscur.
PTSD is a @#$%^, isn't it?
"I've seen it happen quite a bit. Reminded you a bit too much of a certain road trip, didn't it?"
He shudders and says, "Yes, I--it was too close to Duscur, and--I've said to Hanneman before, that some day we may find ourselves facing something we simply cannot accept. That's what the chaos in Remire village was to me. Solon and the Death Knight are both beasts who must be eliminated. Demons who kill the innocent. They aren't even human at this point--"
You do not shout. It's not good to shout at your students. You do, however, raise your voice. "Dimiri. If you weren't royalty, this is the part where I'd punch you in the face for being dangerously stupid."
He blinks. "E-Excuse me?"
"Yes, the people we fought today are evil.They are also human.Attempting to create a distinction between these things is raw cowardice. Running away from the facts does not change them--it only lets them sneak up on you undetected." You lean in close to him. "Your Tragedy of Duscur happened because of an assassination attempt. Dedue's happened because your vassals decided on the same blind rage that you are holding right now. Because they decided that Duscur was a place of demons.Among my people,there is a saying: 'Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.' Time and time and time again, this line of thinking that you have latched onto has lead to death and destruction wherever it takes root."
"Then what am I to do? Am I to leave my family unavenged? And what of all the others who died that day?"
"You learn.You grow.And you become strong enough to stop the tragedies happening now, rather than obsessing over what you cannot change."
[] [ASSISTANCE] Instruction (Required This Month: Two)
As a teacher at Garreg Mach, you have some responsibilities to. Y'know. Teach. In canon, Edelgard irrevocably derails the schedule in three turns--but perhaps you've delayed that?
This counts as one Adapt A Skill action and EITHER
Two Social Connections
One Capital Acquisitions
or Two Spell Familiarizations of different Colors
and should have write-ins as such.
Example:
[e] Instruction
[e] Social x2: Bernadetta + Flayn
[e] Skill: K: Nobility
[] [ASSISTANCE] Government-Sponsored Road Trip
The Spokesman is interested in your ability to Planeswalk to critical locations and is willing to fund covert flights to bring you to strategic Lands. Counts as a Land Bonding x5 action and additionally grants one InfluenceCapital.
[] [ASSISTANCE] Stand By For Delivery
Now that you have Lands on other continents, you can run deliveries between them. Potentially spawns combat encounters, and also grants five Influence.
Wealth (Bindings)
[] [BINDINGS] Fulfill Appointments
Planeswalk to an appointment you had planned, then back again (or to another appointment) the next day. These days will be split up throughout the month or chained together as needed. Taking this as a Weekday action allows for up to five appointments, or two if taken as a Weekend action.
[] Attend Monthly Combat Mission in Fódlan (Free... and Mandatory)
Unless, of course, you derail the plot hard enough that it doesn't happen.
[] Attend Mass
It's good for your spiritual health... but do you have time for this?
[] Write-in?
[] [BINDINGS] Storm the Castle
Assemble what combat-capable Agents you have on-hand, your best gear, and charge in. Remember that this quest has permadeath. Remember that your love lies stranded here.
Wealth (Research)
[] [RESEARCH] Teach yourself a new language (0/4)
Can be taken multiple times, each time advancing the counter. Max 2*(INT+1)+Linguistics_Ranks languages known.
[] [LANGUAGE] Write-in the language to learn.
[] [RESEARCH] Adapt a Skill to Local Conditions
Raise a skill's adaptation to the local conditions by one step (Unfamiliar -> Familiar -> Studied -> Fluent). Progress is separated for each Plane, though similar planes may share progress in certain skills (ex: K: Engi may be shared across two planes with similar tech levels, while K: Nobility relies so much on individual people that it almost never does). Increasing adaptation to a given plane requires either a teacher who commonly lives there or a textbook written there.
[] Fódlan
[] Appraise (Studied)
[] Knowledge: Arcana (Trained) ERROR: MAXED
[] Knowledge: Dungeoneering (Familiar)
[] Knowledge: Engineering (Unfamiliar)
[] Knowledge: Geography (Studied)
[] Knowledge: History (Studied)
[] Knowledge: Local (Studied)
[] Knowledge: Nature (Familiar)
[] Knowledge: Nobility (Familiar)
[] Knowledge: Religion (Studied)
Wealth (Power)
[] [POWER] +2 Hit Points
Eat your vegetables and exercise regularly, and one day you too can be SWOLE. Cannot bring you above the maximum value of your combined Hit Dice, calculated before other modifiers such as CON.
Wealth (Connections)
[] [CONNECTIONS] Capital Acquisitions
Using the Capital resources (Goods, Labor, Influence, Magic) is faster than normal skill checks for raw gp/hour wealth gain--but it decays (1/week) when you spend too long outside the community you earned it in, and requires some buy-in cost. The fastest way to get the materials for a magic item or another large project. Current stock: 5 Influence (XCOM: Resistance Camp (Southern Mexico)).
[] [CONNECTIONS] Rolo-dex Building
It's time for the true endgame of being a Planeswalker: collecting a bunch of little cardboard rectangles detailing the various people you've encountered so that you have an easy reference point for when you need to call upon them. Results vary by plane, but generally produces Contacts for use in Trading Favors, or else upgrading into Agents.
[] Write-In the criteria you're looking for--a given Skill, class, etc. More specificity results in a more difficult search.
[] [CONNECTIONS] Land Bonding x5
Your homeland of southern Mexico is, conveniently, full of Forests,Mountains, andCoastlines. If you want to match the colors of the national flag, try the flatlands up near Texas.
Will automatically try to bond to the land near Segismundo's prison, now that you know where it is.
Travel
[] [TRAVEL] Expedition
Planeswalk to a target Plane and perform another Action there. Any [NIGHT SHIFT] actions taken during this time will be taken in the target Plane, which may affect their quality (ex: most [RESEARCH] Actions get a malus without a comfy chair and good lighting). Morsel will travel back to her starting Plane at the end of the [NIGHT SHIFT] action running parallel to this one. Longer stays can be achieved by chaining Expedition, Supply Run, or similar actions in series.
[] Write-In plane and general purpose. If taken alongside an action that requires a specific Plane, these occupy the same action slot unless specified otherwise.
[] [TRAVEL] Relocate (Write-In where to)
Planeswalk to a target Plane and stay there for a time. Essentially functions as a chain of Expeditions.
(Assume that any [Weekday] actions are also available as half-effectiveness [Weekend] actions. Conversely, you may spend a [Weekday] action to do two [Weekend] actions.)
[] [ASSISTANCE] Ask Dimitri About His Mom
Patricia's body was never recovered after the Tragedy of Duscur--it's not much of a lead, but it's all you've got. Once again, this brings up a student's traumas--one that Dimitri has been violent about before--but you have a hunch about this one...
[] [ASSISTANCE] That One Abyss Book
Edelgard keeps trying to steer you towards a certain book in the Shadow Library. It's about time you figured out what she's hinting at.
[] [BINDINGS] Trading Favors
[] Write-In which character, what you want, and what you're willing to give. Contacts and Agents will be willing to take on larger tasks. Feel free to ask the QM about the feasibility of a trade here--some favors are simply inadequate to trade, while others may involve a negotiation sub-vote. Do note: It is possible to negotiate with Rhea for reduced Instruction duties.
[] [RESEARCH] Spell Familiarization
You still don't really know how your magic works. Time to experiment. Selecting this has Grimaldo experiment with his mana all week, then compile the results on the weekends. Follows the (Unfamiliar/Familiar/Studied/Trained) flow, except that Trained requires a tutor. Unfamiliar spheres cannot be tapped for. Familiar spheres can be tapped for, but the character only knows a handful of talents in them. Studied spheres may tap for all but Advanced Talents, and some oddball combo pieces that one wouldn't otherwise guess to take (ex: there's a Death talent that gives your zombies +4 Str/Dex).
As the name implies. You may sell Capital for half of its listed value, and 1GP roughly equals $100 USD.
[] [CONNECTIONS] Social Connections (Write-In which character.)
Use the relaxation of the weekends to bond with people in their free time. Note: Due to the density of named characters in Fódlan, I will also accept "A Student We Haven't Met Yet" as a character. There's, like, twelve of them still uncontacted.
[] [TRAVEL] Supply Run (Write-In target plane and purpose of travel)
Hop by to another plane for a couple days. Can be combined with other [WEEKEND] Actions (usually Shopping Trip! or Social Connections) to get things from off-Plane. Combined actions occupy the same slot.
Assignments
[] [AGENT: Alicia] Stand By {Plane: WUG "XCOM"}
-- Hold on to your Influence for something else. Bear in mind that Capital like this decays by one point per full week of absence, so it is often cheaper to hire a cheap Agent to keep an eye on your Capital in an infrequently-visited location (or take Appointments in those areas) than it is to let it sit.
[] [AGENT: Alicia] Keep Looking for Data {Plane: WUG "XCOM"}
-- Now that she has a name to look for, every week will give her an attempt to discover one of the listed pieces of data.
-- [] Facility Layout/Architecture
---- The location is a dungeon that the QM will draw based on the VIP extraction missions in XCOM 2. Obtaining this data generates the map early and allows you to look at it before the rescue op starts.
-- [] Guard Listing
---- Numbers and relative strengths of the enemies present at the facility.
-- [] Patrol Routes
---- I think this one's obvious.
-- [] Other Prisoners
---- I mean, since you're doing a prison break anyway...
-- [] Computer Room Layout
---- Maybe there's sensitive files to steal?
-- [] Pay more Influence to extend her hiring period
---- [] [PAYMENT] List an amount (each Influence buys 10 days)
Add as Many Of These To The Plan As You Wish
Do note: any Material goods will be delivered to the Resistance Camp at the speed of underpaid smugglers. All purchases final, no refunds or exchanges. No, not even if the smugglers get eaten by jaguars. We're a resistance organization, not an insurance company.
Your new powers are intriguing, Agent Perez, but as of yet, I cannot offer any missions for additional Influence here. Southern Mexico is... difficult to arrange transport to and from without drawing attention to our local Resistance.
-- [] [DEALS] DEAL
---- [] [DEALS] [BINDINGS] Send a Psionic Operative for Magic Training.
------ Costs 2 Influence, repeatable. Allows Grimaldo to gain Magic Capital at the Resistance Camp. Each week spent training them allows them to retrain one level into a casting class, and the Operatives "Graduate" when they are out of classes to take. Each graduate additionally grants one Magic capital upon graduating.
---- [] [DEALS] [RESEARCH] Divert Resources to Search for Segismundo
------ Costs 2 Influence, repeatable. Purchases one week of service from one of XCOM's top remaining hackers. Largely functions as Alicia does, but with higher skill bonuses.
---- [] [DEALS] [MATERIAL] A Suitcase Full of Pistols
------- Costs 2 Influence, gains 6 Pistols. Repeatable. Comes with enough ammo to load each one twice, but the Resistance Camp is willing to refill your ammo stocks anyway.
---- [] [DEALS] [MATERIAL] A Laser Pistol
------- Costs 1 Influence, gains one Laser Pistol. Repeatable.
---- [] [DEALS] [MATERIAL] A Bazooka
------- Costs 1 Influence, gains one Bazooka. Repeatable.
---- [] [DEALS] [MATERIAL] A Laser Rifle
------- Costs 2 Influence, gains one Laser Rifle. Repeatable.
---- [] [DEALS] [MATERIAL] A Laser Shotgun
------- Costs 2 Influence, gains one Laser Shotgun. Repeatable. This functions as a normal Shotgun, but with slightly higher range and better damage--so long as the enemy does not resist Fire.
---- [] [DEALS] [MATERIAL] Custom Order
------ Variable cost. The write-in option for XCOM gear not otherwise listed here, subject to QM negotiation.
---- [] [DEALS] [CONNECTIONS] Borrow an Agent
------ Costs 5 Influence. Calls in another XCOM soldier to participate in one combat mission of your choice.
-- [] [DEALS] NO DEAL
Current Bindings Report said:
Main Quest: Rescue Your Prince From The Tower True love conquers all.
Your love is held in an unknown facility, at an unknown location--but you have the name, at least--and with it, confirmation that he was alive when he was transferred in.
Mandatory Information When you have all of these items, an action to storm the facility will activate.
-- [X] Location
---- Rather difficult to storm a castle without getting there, no?
-- [X] Confirmation of Segismundo's Current Presence
---- Best not to storm the wrong castle.
Optional Information This isn't necessary to save your love--but it will definitely make it easier.
-- [X] Facility Name
---- "Citizen 06218908 "Segismundo Léon Espinoza-Perez": Transferred to Facility 0xA30F."
---- I mean, you can't Google it, but it still helps.
-- [] Facility Layout/Architecture
---- The location is a dungeon that the QM will draw based on the VIP extraction missions in XCOM 2. Obtaining this data generates the map early and allows you to look at it before the rescue op starts.
-- [] Guard Listing
---- Numbers and relative strengths of the enemies present at the facility.
-- [] Patrol Routes
---- I think this one's obvious.
-- [] Other Prisoners
---- I mean, since you're doing a prison break anyway...
-- [] Computer Room Layout
---- Maybe there's sensitive files to steal?
Plane Quest (RG): Soften The Reformation Edelgard is about to pull her world's equivalent of the Protestant Reformation--and if she missteps, a lot of people are going to get killed.
-- [X] A Parallel History
---- Earth went before her on this one--and after reading about how Germany suffered under the weight of the Thirty Years' War, she's looking to get more of her people on board before doing anything drastic.
-- [] Disputed Theology
---- Why are Crests so important, anyway? This completes when you get a straight answer from someone who actually knows what's going on.
-- [] A War To Come
---- When this does boil over, you should probably work towards minimizing casualties--and peace talks.
Plane Quest (RG): Quiet Colleague This is something of a personal curiosity... but what's up with Byleth? Having a pulse without a heartbeat shouldn't be possible, right?
Plane Quest (RG): Those Who Slither In The Dark The same shadowy group of mages that hurt Edelgard and Lysithea seem to be behind numerous atrocities on Fódlan--now that you've brought their existence to the light, Rhea and Edelgard will be more easily able to strike against them. Be warned, however, as this is a group that has persisted despite the violent destruction of their civilization over 1100 years ago, and one with mages currently stronger than you.
Plane Quest (WUG): Rescue The Commander This quest takes place in the 20 years between XCOM: Enemy Unknown/Within and XCOM 2. Advent and The Ethereals are still tooling up the catastrophe that they plan to unleash at the end of XCOM 2, and faster than they did in canon... but then, the Resistance didn't have a Planeswalker in canon.
There were, ignoring voting options, 8.7k words on Google Docs and 9k words on SV.
At the time of the vote tally ~36 hours ago, there were ~2k words. The remaining 6.7k words would map to my normal writing speed of 250-ish words per hour... assuming I took no breaks, including for sleep.
I do not know how I managed this. Given my current headache, I don't think it's wise to repeat it.
The usual 24-hour moratorium and three-day voting period apply. I'm going to lie down for a bit.
EDIT: 60 hours ago. I forgot it was Monday already; leaving a tab open overnight does weird things to SV's timestamps.
QM, I think you messed up copy-paste - Edelgard starting s*** in four turns was the same thing you said last turn.
Anyway, we've essentially got three weekday actions already spoken for, and I definitely want to start training Grim's Mind knowledge for future anti-Psi work.
Also, do we know the stats on the laser weapons? Are they just the Pathfinder equivalents, and how would we go about keeping them loaded on ammo/charges?
QM, I think you messed up copy-paste - Edelgard starting s*** in four turns was the same thing you said last turn.
Anyway, we've essentially got three weekday actions already spoken for, and I definitely want to start training Grim's Mind knowledge for future anti-Psi work.
Also, do we know the stats on the laser weapons? Are they just the Pathfinder equivalents, and how would we go about keeping them loaded on ammo/charges?
The Laser Rifle is functionally equivalent to the Pathfinder equivalent (150' Range Increment, 2d6 Fire damage, etc.). However, while it still requires a reload every 10 shots, the batteries work differently here: Namely, they're not such a pain in the butt to recharge, and they're a fair bit lighter. "20% chance to become nonfunctional when recharging" is insane, how did that get past in-universe Quality Assurance testing?
There's a few magical ways of recharging them (the Technomancy sphere straight-up gives you a 1/round recharge for free as part of its base effect), but for XCOM right now the solution is "just pack twenty in your pockets, they're like 0.25 lb. each" and recharging them from an outlet adapter when back at base. Unlike the guns, these weren't bio-coded, so XCOM is swimming in the dang things from all the looted alien corpses.
Edelgard at least visibly thinks about how he's gone from "you're fired for being a bunch of fuckup cowards" to just straight-up killing them, right?
