[X] Ask questions [2d2+1 max]
-[X] What did you mean, they feared that this might happen?
-[X] Will you remain if the vault is opened?
-[X] GM Judgement Call (Basically, ask those two questions, and then GM picks if to ask more, or step through the portal)
So a thing to consider: the write-in option here I feel I did mess up a bit, but it was and remains there to function as a way for you to surprise me.
My calling this for Amanda will be less likely to get you immediately useful data, as Amanda's priorities on talking to the amalgam are different from yours.
This isn't me trying to swing the vote or force write-ins, I do understand the issues that can be present in coming up with them. Just wanting to be clear ^_^
Well, the judgement call is a request for you to pursue the players' priorities as best you understand them using the full knowledge available to both the players and the character in lieu of a couple novels worth of background worldbuilding updates. Is that not an option?
[X] Ask questions [2d2+1 max]
-[X] What did you mean, they feared that this might happen?
-[X] Will you remain if the vault is opened?
-[X] GM Judgement Call (Basically, ask those two questions, and then GM picks if to ask more, or step through the portal)
I'm curious about whether it will remain, but it ultimately doesn't affect our decisions and we're going to find out anyway. It doesn't seem like a good investment of a question.
[X] Ask questions [2d2+1 max]
-[X] What did you mean, they feared that this might happen?
-[X] Will you remain if the vault is opened?
-[X] GM Judgement Call (Basically, ask those two questions, and then GM picks if to ask more, or step through the por
[X] Ask questions [2d2+1 max]
-[X] What did you mean, they feared that this might happen?
-[X] Was this place made specifically for me, or are other doors available to other people?
-[X] Do you know of other places like this, other places left behind by the Elder First?
-[X] Will you remain if the vault is opened?
-[X] GM Judgement Call (Basically, ask those two questions, and then GM picks if to ask more, or step through the portal)
[X] Ask questions [2d2+1 max]
-[X] What did you mean, they feared that this might happen?
-[X] Was this place made specifically for me, or are other doors available to other people?
-[X] Do you know of other places like this, other places left behind by the Elder First?
-[X] Will you remain if the vault is opened?
-[X] GM Judgement Call (Basically, ask those two questions, and then GM picks if to ask more, or step through the portal)
Well, the judgement call is a request for you to pursue the players' priorities as best you understand them using the full knowledge available to both the players and the character in lieu of a couple novels worth of background worldbuilding updates. Is that not an option?
Oh, that's what I intend to do. The thing being that Amanda hitting on one of the really good questions will be roll-based, and the weighting is rather severe. Mainly because there aren't that many really good questions for immediate information, at least not as far as I can tell.
[X] Ask questions [2d2+1 max]
-[X] What was hidden here?
-[X] Do you know of other places like this, other places left behind by the Elder First?
-[X] Was this place made specifically for me, or are other doors available to other people? No. of Votes: 2
[X] Ask questions [2d2+1 max]
-[X] What did you mean, they feared that this might happen?
-[X] Will you remain if the vault is opened?
-[X] GM Judgement Call (Basically, ask those two questions, and then GM picks if to ask more, or step through the portal) No. of Votes: 1
[X] Ask questions [2d2+1 max]
-[X] What did you mean, they feared that this might happen?
-[X] Will you remain if the vault is opened?
-[X] GM Judgement Call (Basically, ask those two questions, and then GM picks if to ask more, or step through the por No. of Votes: 1
[X] Ask questions [2d2+1 max]
-[X] What did you mean, they feared that this might happen?
-[X] Was this place made specifically for me, or are other doors available to other people?
-[X] Do you know of other places like this, other places left behind by the Elder First?
-[X] Will you remain if the vault is opened?
-[X] GM Judgement Call (Basically, ask those two questions, and then GM picks if to ask more, or step through the portal) No. of Votes: 1
It got you the most immediately useful question possible. Which might not be as immediately useful as you'd expect, but actually getting immediately useful information out of this situation was difficult (I could only actually think of one question which could give you some data of that type).
That said, it will help for the next choice, and that should be the last one you've got to make.
One question alone burned in your mind in the immediate silence, and you spoke it without thinking. You hadn't been able to free your mind from it, and given the opportunity you can't hold it in. The very idea…why hadn't they told you?
"You said that the Elder First had feared a Shiplord return." The amalagam cocked its head at you, and you felt your eyes harden. It had to understand, there's no way it couldn't, was there? "Why didn't you," you struggled with the words, pain and anger making it very hard to speak. "Why didn't they tell us? Or someone, anyone?" You tried to pull back some semblance of calm, but it proved incredibly difficult. "We thought we were safe!" You cried, uncaring of the tears on your cheeks.
"I…" The amalgam paused, almost reached out, then thought better of it. "Amanda," it stopped again, then spoke with a suddenly clear voice. "You have to know now how fragile the social construct we were building was then. We saw that there was a high likelihood of their return, eventually, but we never looked deeper. It wasn't going to happen anytime soon after we died, and if we'd looked deeper and told the world, you know what would have happened." You tried to shake your head, reject the words, but you couldn't. You wanted to, oh how you wanted to, but you couldn't do it.
"We had to balance the future of humanity, to give it hope beyond war and vengeance." The female voice sounded as agonised as you felt as it continued. "Many of us shared your Focus, Amanda, and between them and those of Insight we were able to see what would happen if we dug too deeply into that truth." The amalgam shifted, and you tried not to meet its blank gaze. "I think you can tell as well," it said softly.
"We are sorry. Truly." The many voices returned to its words as you nodded through bitter tears. "But you would have done the same."
"Yes," you whispered, wiping your cheeks as you tried to process the pain of the revelation you'd just experienced. "Yes, I would have. I would,"
"Do anything to protect what you have created." The amalgam reached out at last, and if it did not hug you, the caring touch did just as much good. "We understand." You nodded, using the motion as an excuse to look away and swallow the pain. You'd cry properly later, after this was done.
"Alright," you swallowed again, more firmly. "Was that why you made this place? Just to hide that secret?" It might not have been the best of questions, but you were just a little bit non-rational in the moment. The amalgam sighed, and shook its head.
"No. This place was created after we realised that in our efforts to understand things, we were digging too deep." Its shoulders slumped. "The realisation that the Shiplords would likely return someday was one such thing, but there are others. Knowledge, mostly, trying to understand what had been done to us and finding very different answers. If you pass the next test, I think you will find some of those answers released to you, although we cannot tell for certain." It held up its hand again. "I wish I could tell you more, but it would take far too long."
You nodded, silently muttering a curse in the direction of the door in front of you.
Wait.
"These doors, portals, whatever they are." You said. "What are they, what do they do?"
The amalgam seemed to perk up at that question, as if suddenly realising something. "A good question." It said. It felt like it was smiling. "The doorways were made as a way to access this test that is me and us. They act as ways between the walls of conventional reality, but they do not violate the First Secret as they do not move you from where you stand." You blinked. "I was created to be this nexus point, an operating system built into the sub-reality that the Elder First built as their test. What lies through this door," it gestured at the rippling portal, "cannot be anything but the same. Of me, and this place, but separated so that it may do its duty to our maker."
"What you will find beyond will test you in ways you cannot imagine, but that is what it was meant to do. Just as I was to test your words and need, it will test something just as important. The fact that I am the first test implies that its goal is something greater. I cannot help you in that, but knowing what I am might be help in and of itself." A hand motion encompassed the entire space.
"I was built into the very fabric of this place, and so I am it. But this sub-reality is not devoid of similarities to the normal. Your Practice will work, and if I understand some of what the First left me correctly, much of their key lies inside your Focus." It placed both hands on your shoulders. "Remember that, Amanda."
You nodded, opened your mouth, but your host continued. "Only one more question," it told you. "I cannot give you more, it would risk your coherence."
"And what about yours?" You asked suddenly, realising exactly what your last question had to be. "If I pass this next test, what will happen to this place, to you? Will you," you struggled to find the right words.
"Will I die?" The amalgam asked, and you nodded.
"I wasn't sure if that was the right word." You replied.
"It serves." The blank figure shrugged. "In truth, I do not know. I only know what I am, a test, and that you must go if my purpose is to be completed. If that means the program that created me ceases forever, then that is what the Elder First meant to be. I am...sorry, Amanda." It really felt like it was, too. "But I simply do not know."
"I…" It shook its head.
"You must go, now." It pushed you gently towards the doorway. "Do not fear for me. I have fulfilled my purpose as I know it, and that is enough."
"Alright." You said. At least you had a few answers now, even if the one to your last question didn't fill you with confidence. Unfortunately, you didn't have much choice but to go now. You stepped into the doorway.
***
Grey.
Grey as far as the eye could see. An endless ground and sky that blended into each other at an invisible horizon. The only thing that convinced you that you weren't falling was the feeling of something solid under your feet, but you didn't dare take a step. This wasn't what you'd expected, not after the last doorway. You wondered where your test was, but more of your mind was focused on trying to understand exactly where you were.
The amalgam had talked about a sub-reality, somewhere like where you were but not quite the same. Dimensional theory was one of those things that made your brain still hurt, though. If only you'd taken some time to catch up on those journals Mary had sent you, but no use crying over spilt milk. It shared rules, your Practice would function, that was apparently important. But how could your Focus be your key?
You were still trying to figure that out when the words came. The questions they formed came from every direction, cutting through the grey without a single vibration, in a voice that Was. There was no other way to describe it, something in your soul recognising the source of the words as something more than an echo, endlessly more so.
Who are you?
It asked.
What do you want?
You'd already been asked why, wasn't that more important? As you thought that, you realised the error in your logic. The echo, the test of words, it had known who you were, and your reasons had told it what you wanted. This was deeper, much deeper. In the same way as this place was. You felt the words of those questions wrap around you, touching the edges of the concert set to set it sparking with power. Maybe that was your answer?
But there was something more. Beneath the sparks, the transitory power, something much more. Those words were like yours when you pushed Practice through them. Clearer and deeper in the ways you still hadn't truly learned, but the similarities were there. If there were similarities, that might be another way. Practice, your Focus, what had the amalgam been trying to tell you?
Was the key your soul? No, that didn't make sense. There was something in there, though.
What was your soul, you asked yourself. It was the place from which your power as a Potential flowed, but that power was shaped by the imprint upon it. That Imprint let you access the limited power through a channel that was as much a part of you as your material composition, or breathing; your Focus. You had learned only recently that there was far more the breadth of the Focus then you'd ever imagined, and found ways to channel it through your words. To put your own power into spoken syllables, and make them more than sound.
Could it truly be that simple; giving yourself as your answer? Nobody had ever said simple was easy...
What shall you use to give your answer?
[] Concert Set
[] Yourself
[] Write-in?
All of these options end with a roll. There is no way to deprive yourself of some rewards here, but the way in which you go about answering these questions will dictate how much you are able to get, and of what. These will be solo Practice rolls, with access to some bonuses depending on your choice or write-in if one wins. I will tell you if a write-in is not viable.
I personally like this one, because at the end we are not the tools we've made, we are a person who wants the best for humanity, and i like the idea that dispite any tools, at the heart of who she is, is someone who doesn't need tools to reach out.
We made this to aid us, so we should use it. A man can communicate just as well without a device, but with a device he can be heard by more, his words can spread farther than those his voice can reach unaided.
[X] Sing, putting your Practice into your voice, and then having the concert set amplify it. Sing of your life's story. The sadness of the Week of Sorrow, the months and years spent building the circle to heal humanity. Refusing the offer of the Elders, for to do so would harm the people you had helped. The years spent restoring the world from the ravages of time and abandonment. Being a part of the First Miracle, to ensure that future generations would not suffer from the lack of the Second Secret. The Discovery of the Shiplords' Return, and how you became President. Working to strengthen humanity to survive the return, whilst continuing to heal it and create connections. Coming here to find anything that would help defend humanity and strengthen it, whilst continuing to heal it. Sing of healing humanity, whilst creating connections. Of hopes of a safer future, and the search for the best path towards it.
Who we are, is an important part of this update- and we're more than just a healing voice. We're the heart that gives hope, we're the uniter. All the concert set is let us reach more, but it's fundamentally distinct from who we are and what we want. We're a healer- and we want to heal humanity.
[X] Sing, putting your Practice into your voice, and then having the concert set amplify it. Sing of your life's story. The sadness of the Week of Sorrow, the months and years spent building the circle to heal humanity. Refusing the offer of the Elders, for to do so would harm the people you had helped. The years spent restoring the world from the ravages of time and abandonment. Being a part of the First Miracle, to ensure that future generations would not suffer from the lack of the Second Secret. The Discovery of the Shiplords' Return, and how you became President. Working to strengthen humanity to survive the return, whilst continuing to heal it and create connections. Coming here to find anything that would help defend humanity and strengthen it, whilst continuing to heal it. Sing of healing humanity, whilst creating connections. Of hopes of a safer future, and the search for the best path towards it.
