No, I'm finding this quest entertaining. I think it's just a case of you aren't a 'famous' questor, don't have a fan-base, and the quest hasn't gone on for long enough to pick up the crowd that way.
Also, thanks for answering... I do indeed suspect I'm going to spend 1 die on that action again this turn, especially due to this paragraph in the character creation pages:
Singing became your escape from the rest of the world, but over time it expanded to be more than that as well. From it you learned to see the beauty that lay in words and music when arrayed together, and that idea wormed its way into many other things. The carefree joy you felt when singing was similar in some ways to the feelings that surged through your soul when you were one with your Focus. That was often a hard place to find for those new to being a Potential, but your singing gave you something similar to reach for. You've wondered in later life if it might be possible to work your Practice into the words that you sing, but you've never gone beyond idle thought.
As your second year in power dawns, you look back with a feeling of profound satisfaction. Things have gone very well on the whole. Infrastructure long since left to wither has been restored, resources are starting to pour in from your mining facilities, and you are confident in the unity that stands behind. Not completely sure of it, however, which tarnishes the feeling of accomplishment. Someone, for some reason, is working behind the scenes to oppose you. Marcus has suggested that it could be simple political gamesmanship, but why would they do that now, with all of humanity at stake?
Turning from the still spectacular view, you move back to your desk for a final look over some of the briefings you'd been sent in preparation for the Cabinet meeting. Lina in particular has been restless the last year, and from what you know about her it might not be wise to leave her with nothing to do again.
You have Fourteen (14) Action dice available with two (2) currently locked. Unless an option states otherwise, there is no limit to the number of dice you may spend on an option.
Military
Marshal the Troops: The SDC has come a long way since its inception, the only organisation that you could truly call a professional fighting force. It's not the only one however, and though EarthGov has kept meticulous records on expenditures, the actual breakdown of forces available to you is…less than satisfactory.
[] The Solarian Defence Corps: Grown from humble origins, the SDC is the most well-known of all humanity's creations that will oppose the Shiplords. Numbering in the tens of thousands, a full accounting of their strength could not go amiss. [60%, 1 year]
[] Potentials: The products of the Awakenings are without question the most powerful weapon in the arsenal of mankind. Devices and weaponry without peer, skill applicable to the battlefield that goes beyond superhuman, and in the case of the First Awoken a promise of fire and will that the Week of Sorrows will never again touch humanity. [50%, 1 year]
[] Experimental/Auxiliary formations: There are over a score of these projects, some having apparently been steadily working away since before you left your Institute. At least you hope they've been working for all that time. Some of what's talked about in the records sounds completely insane, but fifty years ago the same was said of the theory that underlies your power. [???]
Full Inventory: There was never much order to the work of the First Awoken to begin with, and much of it was secretive at first. There are many weapons and other Practiced devices scattered across the globe known only to few. Old as they may be they are still creations of Practice, and that makes them valuable.
[] Search for weapons: The weapons of the First remain without peer, and the stories of some of the power of some of the lost devices are both chilling and incredible. With war looming, you need every piece of that power that you can find. [60%, 2 years]
[] Search for devices: Weapons were most of what the First Awoken created, but it was not all. The Elder First are said to have built many things in the first years after the awakening, all of which vanished five years later. What did they create, and why did they choose to lose it? [25%, 2 years]
Forging the Sword: The only blows humanity successfully struck against the Shiplords were made in space, but although you have returned to the stars again, little of what plies the dark is military. There was little need for it, but that's all changed now. All you have to do is work out which of the proposals you want your Minister to push.
[] The Haft: The proposal from the SDC is well made, a new line of warships reinforced by Practice to expand their limited space presence. Individually they'll still be much weaker than Shiplord vessels, but quantity has a quality of its own. And from the looks of their plan, they've been working on the tactics and logistics involved for the last three decades. [70%, 2 years]
[] The Hilt: You really didn't expect that Restorers like yourself would have an idea for the fleet, but it years out that you'd be wrong. The weapons of the Shiplords were unlike anything humanity had ever encountered, but Practice could level that playing field. Using some of the results gleaned from Project Insight, they've designed a vessel that should be able to shield others from Shiplord fire. Each one requires fine Practice, limiting their numbers, but as a shield they will be without peer. [50%, 2 years]
[] The Blade: The plan created by the First is unsurprising, but exceptionally detailed in terms of costs and time required. They also seem to have known about the other proposals before you did, which raises some interesting questions. When the Shiplords came, they came in small numbers, and the workings of Project Insight lead the First to believe that they may be able to build ships capable of matching them. Not many, but if the Week of Sorrows was anything to go by you won't need many if they can match Shiplord technology. [55%, 2 years]
Humanity's Shield: Weapons are well and good, but a solar system makes for a vast fortress given time. Here you have something to work with as well, as all of humanity's orbitals are equipped with some weaponry. There's always room for improvement however, and a new need for it too.
[] Eyes to See: You can't hit an enemy you can't see coming, so a network of sensor platforms at the edge of the heliosphere has been proposed. These should give you some early warning of the Shiplords' arrival and help you secure the system. [65%, 1 year]
[] Walls of Steel: The new orbitals across the solar system are all armed, but their construction was never designed to hold up to Shiplord firepower; only Prometheus Station coming close. That can be fixed, but it will take time. [70%, 3 years]
[] The Maw: The Shiplords came with only eight ships before, surely it would be possible to overwhelm them with firepower, and the orbitals provide far larger platforms for weaponry. It's possible that you could up-gun them further and then direct all of that firepower at the Shiplords. [50%, 2 years]
[] The Aegis: Orbitals are well and good, but Project Insight has shown that the Shiplords can be a truly spiteful people. You have some planetary defences, but nothing unified, and the planetary shield network has been stalled in the construction phase for years. If humanity is to live, you must be able to protect Earth. [50%, 3 years]
Potential Combat Doctrine: The First are an eclectic bunch, all with different styles of participating in combat, and this has only become worse as the Second and Third have come into their own. Lina has been trying to put together a common doctrine for Potentials for a while, and she's made progress. The problem is that no one has been willing to put it to the test, but it's easy enough to change that.
[] Slow and Steady Wins the Race: Take the time to formalise the doctrines that Lina has been putting together, bring in Potentials from all of the Awakenings to provide their own insights and make damned sure that everything is ready before you start working with them. [80%, 4 years]
[] Swift Caution: You'd love to take more time to make sure all of this will work, but there's a war on the horizon. Formalise the package, run it through a quick editing, then distribute and begin training rotations. [50%, 2 years]
[] Damn the Torpedoes: There is a war coming, it'll be here soon, and you need to give all of your Potentials as much time to absorb this new doctrine as you can. Lina's spent years on this, that should be enough. [30%. 1 year]
Diplomacy
Circle Information Bonus: 1 free action this year
Those Behind the Curtain: The government is not just you and your cabinet. There are hundreds, thousands in fact, of others who take part in the process of keeping humanity stable. Recently they have been extremely overworked, and it wouldn't be hard to arrange some social occasions to meet them and get to know the people who will be implementing your plans.
[] The World Congress: Although they've stepped down from their voting duties, the Congress is still the elected voice of the world that you now lead. With the voluntary suspension of debating policy, they now have far more time to dedicate to their constituencies then you do and are a potential gold mine of information and experience, if you can win their confidence. [40%, 1 year]
[] Holdout Administration: Marcus has identified the people within the bureaucracy who appear to be the centre of the distributed web that is resisting your overtures. You've no skill in that arena, but he's pointed out that it was in large part your direct involvement boosting their spirits that let him find the agents. Kazuki doesn't particularly like it, he feels it could compromise your integrity, but you can try. [40%, 1 year, half of Advisor score applied. Success will give a bonus to Cat's Cradle]
Reach to the World: You asked for help and the Circles answered. The reports they gave you would have been invaluable on their own, but they also gave you suggestions. Plans based on the knowledge they gathered, to act on what they told you.
[] Widen the Circles: The Circles were the centre of your efforts to heal humanity of the emotional wounds that the Shiplords inflicted. They've grown far beyond your greatest expectations and helped millions heal, but there's always more that could be done. They gave you some suggestions, but it'll take a lot of work. [30%, 1 year.]
[] Hearts of Humanity: The Hearts are the most experienced of all in the Circles at helping others, and have almost by accident become some of the most experienced therapists on Earth. Formalise this status by setting up a new aid organisation for them to work out of. [60%, 2 years)
[] Phoning Home: The communications network that Sol has now is far more advanced than anything it has ever had access to, but there are still many living without lagless communication. It isn't a vital project, but could be an important one. [40%, 2 years]
One World, One Heart: Kazuki has been far more personally exposed to the needs and desires of the people, and he has some suggestions for how to bring all closer together. He's quite adamant about the need for them, and although you agree you can't quite see how some of it is meant to work.
[] The Heart Remembers: Billions were taken in the Week of Sorrows, and although they are remembered it has been too long since a proper ceremony. The Third were but children at the last one, and perhaps it might help them understand the depth of loss inflicted by your enemy. [60%, 1 year]
[] Starlit Allegro: The concerts and speeches were a resounding success, exhausting and exhilarating at the same time. It gave your name a human weight so unlike what's normally ascribed to Potentials. Kazuki is overjoyed, but also tells you that there's more you can do. Earth saw you last year, now he wants the people of the scattered habitats to get the same chance. [40%, 1 year]
Stewardship
The Forge: Although the Shiplords did not burn the Earth, they did destroy the vast majority of its orbital infrastructure and it took time to rebuild that without the ease of the First Secret. Much has been remade, but the humanity of the Second Secret had no great need for shipyards or war factories. If you are to create a force that can face the Shiplords, however, Earth must have them.
[X] Steel Wombs: Most of humanity's ships have been built on Earth, or in the few small berths that have been constructed since you returned to the stars. But for the war, you will need vessels far larger and more complex than anything humans have ever built. For that you'll need a proper shipyard complex. [50%, locked 1 year]
[] The World's Forge: With the mining stations complete in record time, there is a new need for orbital smelters, refineries, and other infrastructure of every type imaginable. With Adriana on course to bring the shipyard complex online next year, she explains that this will allow for a significant buildup of necessary resources and parts. [35%, 1 year]
[] The Old World's Bounty: That is not say that the world of your birth is without use, however. You know yourself that there are scores of old factories that could be brought back online to help support the war effort. [45%. 2 years]
[] Girded in Miracle: The Potentials are capable of truly incredible works, and you know from the reports of Project Insight that these miracles will be needed. Perhaps you could organise them into a more effective construction force? [30%, 2 years]
[] Reaching Heaven: Currently your entire ground-to-orbit setup is something of a mess, even with Potentials having replaced crude chemical rockets with much more efficient flight mechanisms. An old plan from before the Week of Sorrows might help fix that, although the costs make your head spin. It's called a Space Elevator. [40%, 3 years]
…Masters study Logistics: With the network coming back online at the start of the year, you find several competing options about how to use it.
[] Swords from Ploughshares: Although primarily civilian, parts of the network were used during the Week of Sorrows to coordinate the defence of Sol against the Shiplords. Although the defence failed, the idea has merit, and Lina strongly pushed this option. [40%, 1 turn]
[] Search Function: When the network came back online, you found several communication lines that seemed to lead nowhere. If there are secrets hiding here, it's probably a good idea to find them. [30%, 1 turn]
[] All the World a Stage: This one came out of your vast success in public events, and it's been pointed out that the net could support far more bandwidth and at faster speeds. Along with the obvious advantages, it would also allow for full hologram broadcasts. [50%, 1 year]
Healing Hands:
[] Cities of Light: Most of humanity still lives in sprawling settlements that have grown around the Institutes, but hundreds of millions have found their way to the glittering cities that the Restorer-Focused rebuilt over the last thirty years. This is long work, and will take time to come to fruition, but moving all of Earth into Practice-built cities would have many benefits. [60%, 3 years, requires a Practice dice]
[] Symbols of Hope: Many of the great monuments that humanity built in the last two hundred years are only barely hanging on, victims of the single-minded focus that had to be given to other things. They're more than just the physical trappings however, and restoring them could do the world good. [50%, 1 year]
[] Many Points of Light: The habitats were built with function in mind, with much less thought given to the needs of the human soul and heart. Fixing that will be extremely complex work, but it's possible. [25%, 2 years]
Red Ashes: When Mars burned, you lost more than lives. On that world lay some of the most advanced facilities ever built, and everything they had worked on was lost. You're not sure how Mary is likely to feel about trying to reclaim the world her family died on, but it's worth trying.
[] Survey Work: Before you can even try to start putting things back together, you're going to need to resurvey the planet and make sure everything is still where it should be. [50%, 1 year]
[] Base of Operations: Establish a small base on the burned planet. It'll let you do some of the survey with boots on the ground, and should speed up the entire process. [30%, 1 year]
Thera's Mystery: You know that Adriana is working on something on the side, she's told you as much, but even now all she will tell you about it is what she'd need to make whatever it is useable. Something that should revolutionise the design process, if she's to be believed. The fact that she's been talking with Mary about it as well is something you are glad for and at the same time slightly terrified by. What to do… (Choose one if this action is taken)
[] Minimal Support: Adriana has been working on this for a while, she can work on it by herself for a bit longer. You have more important projects.
[] Full Support: You'll give her what she needs, but nothing more until you can actually see some results. You have to be pragmatic about this, it's part of the job.
[] Overwhelming support: If Mary has continued talking to her after she explained the idea, then it has to have merit. Throw every resource you can at the project. If she needs access to the entire distributed network, she'll have it and more besides.
[Progress: 68/???]
Intrigue
Limited Bandwidth: Cannot select more than two actions.
The Spider's Web: EarthGov is a finely balanced web of competing interests, one that has been flung vastly out of balance by the discovery of the Pattern and your election as President. Your understanding of that web is rather lacking, however, and it's been strongly suggested that you fix that.
[] The World Congress: The single most powerful check to Presidential power, they've ceded effectively complete power to you. Who pushed for that? Why? And what do they think of you? [40%, 1 year]
[] The Cabinet: You almost had a screaming argument with Marcus when you saw this suggestion. Almost. He knows the ins and outs of politics far better than you, and although the entire idea makes you feel a bit dirty inside…he might have a point. Maybe. [40%, 1 year]
[] Cat's Cradle: Someone is pulling strings within your administration, trying to break the hold that your actions last year gave you. You still can't understand why anyone would do that, you're trying to save the world, but Marcus' report is very clear. You can't ignore this. [30%, 1 year]
Know thy Enemy: The Shiplords are coming, you know that now, and if you are to be prepared you must know what they are truly capable of.
[] Visions of the Lost: There are, now that you think of it, records of the Shiplords during the battles that began the Week of Sorrows. Recorded across every spectrum that humanity knew of at that time, they could be a valuable resource that none have thought to tap. [50%, 2 years]
[] Corpses Leave Clues: The Shiplords did good work cleaning up the mess that their two ships made when they were destroyed, but several pieces evaded their clean-up. Most have settled into stable orbits now, and each is a potential gold mine of Shiplord technology. [???, 2 years]
[] Watching the Stars: When the Shiplords handed down the Directives, they said that any violation would be swiftly punished. To the suspicious minded, that would suggest that they left eyes behind. How about you go looking for them…so you can poke them out. [20% chance of more information every year]
Learning
Daughter of Secrets: you have One (1) free dice for Learning actions.
Practiced Power: The Potentials are the most powerful weapon humanity has, but it's a weapon that you still know frighteningly little about. Mary now has access to far more resources than she did before, maybe you can help her along.
[] A Gift of Blood and Soul: It's a matter of record that the Potentials came from a sacrifice of the Great Dragons humanity built to protect itself, but what does that mean? Few records of the Dragons remain, and were before out of reach even to Mary. It's quite different now. [40%, 1 year]
[] The Making of Miracles: Practice can bring forth the untapped potential of any object, limited as it is by a Potential's Focus. A lot of Practice is personal, but some is similar, and a formal foundation to work from could help many of the Third. [50%, 1 year]
[] (Special: Touching the Void Unlock) Echoes of Power: Your work with Mary in more recent years opened your eyes to the stranger sides of what Practice was capable of. With more time, and some work finding more like you, Mary thinks she can bring her theory into concrete reality. [25%, 2 years]
The Neverending Journey, Second Step: All of the scientists on Mary's list have settled into their new working and living environment now, and you can see how happy your friend is to be surrounded by those just as passionate as she is. Now that they're all integrated however, they need a direction.
[] Curious Words: During the last year, you felt the presence of Practice where you would not expect to. On telling Mary, she quietly requisitioned every recording she could get her hands on and is now prepared to begin a full analysis of the occasions where you remember the feel of power as you spoke or sang. Maybe she'll find something. [30%, 1 year]
[] Future Proof: Now that everyone is working together, it should be relatively simple to work the relevant pieces of knowledge that they've found over the years into general study. It would give some of the stranger theories a lot more traction, and Mary has spoken before about how the Institute curriculum needs an update. [40%, 2 years]
[] For its Own Sake: Between them, Mary's new top flight staff brought petabytes of complex theoretical work with them. You had to build an entirely new server centre just to store it all. These people are probably the only ones really capable of parsing it out into something usable, and some of what they've been working on could be revolutionary. The problem is finding it. [30% chance of unlocking a new action chain, 2 years]
[] Void Secrets: The Directives forbade use of the First and Second Secrets on pain of extinction, but they never said anything about learning more of the Secrets of the Void. Mary is daughter to the man who discovered the First Secret, heir to the legacy of the Void in more ways than one. None have wished to delve into this field for fear of drawing attention to Earth, but now that you know of the Pattern there is little need for caution. [40%, 2 years]
[] Conceptual Chaos: For as long as you've known her Mary's mind has burst with possibilities, more than she could ever focus on by herself. These ideas have never really been limited by field, although many focus around reality physics. Now that she's a Minister, you can actually detail enough people to keep up with her endless ingenuity. [60%, 2 years]
[] Unravelling the Impossible: Trying to understand, let alone replicate, the creations of Practice would to most be a truly impossible task verging on insane. Unfortunately, someone said that in Mary's hearing. She took it as a challenge. [30%, 4 years]
[] Writing on the Soul: It's easy to say that Potentials are a result of power in an imprint on their soul. It's a lot harder to explain. There have been great strides in the theory, but it needs the distributed network to finish the final calculations in less than centuries. [40%, 2 years]
Practice Actions
You have Four (4) Practice Dice to assign to actions. Unless explicitly stated, you may not assign Practice Dice to Practice Actions.
[X] Soul Over Body: The example of Marcus Romero shows the power of a Potential's gift when yeared inwards, something only a few of the First have done to a similar degree. You've seen one side of a Potential's power. This is another, and it bears exploring. [50%, locked 1 year]
Project Harmony: Practiced Miracles are the result of joint Trances, a process that you believe allows a group of Potentials to widen the lens through which they project their power to include all of their Focuses. Vega has an understanding of this process far more advanced than she should, which is one of the reasons you believed her. Now you're going to give her the chance to build on it.
[] Be Harmonious: Vega has an instinctive awareness of how to bring many together in a Trance, and she believes she could teach some of those with similar Focuses to sense the same things. [50%, 2 years]
[] Practical Proofs: One of the reasons that she's been having so much trouble is that she's not been able to actually show her work. Bring in some Potentials and get them to Practice with her, that should get some results. [60%, 2 years]
[] Hey, Listen!: Lab work and teaching are good ideas, but they're not thinking big enough. Assign Vega to lead the Potential involvement with one of your new projects, and then just let what happens happen. [40%, 1 year]
Project Insight: A long running working group of Second and some Third Awakened, Project Insight is the only reason you know as much as you do about the Shiplords. They taught the world of the enemy's ways, unravelled many strengths and few weaknesses, and discovered the Pattern in time for you to prepare. Now you have a new question for them.
[] What Purpose Our Loss: The Shiplords take the same thing from all civilisations they touch, but what do they do with their tributes of blood? There are some suspicions, but the Project has never truly wanted to look that deep. Neither do you, to be honest, but you must know. [30% chance for information every year.]
[] Our Enemy, Before Us: Eight ships came before, but would eight come again? It's a simple question, but one with deeply important connotations. [40%, 1 year]
[] Achilles Heel: The Project has found several weaknesses in the Shiplords, but Phoebe has told you that they can all feel something on the edge of their consciousness when they search through those things, just out of reach. [30% chance for information every year]
[] Write-in: Give me a question you would like answered about the Shiplords, and Project Insight will try to answer it. I advise choosing sensible questions.
Personal Actions
You may select Two (2) Personal action this year.
Brushing Up: You used to be able to keep up with Mary most of the time, and she's teased you on occasion about how just a little focus could help you there. On the other hand, your new State Minister has been making quiet inquiries about your singing voice, and it pays to be at your best.
[] Work with Mary: Get back into the saddle as a scientist and finally take the time to work through the theories that Mary has been trying to get you to give a proper read for the last few years.
[] Singing Heart: Music, particularly song, has always been an escape for you, a way to reconnect with yourself. You've also found it an excellent way to connect with a large number of people, and the concerts you took part in proved that again. You're still a little rusty though, and some more practice should get you back to where you used to be. [Progress: 70/90]
[] Make Something: You're a Potential, capable of working items into artefacts so far removed from their original form and function that they might as well be considered magic. It will take time, but the results will be worth it. [Start Practicing an object, write-in a general idea of what you want to make.]
[] Work with a Minister: Your Ministers are all experts in their fields, excellent on the job teachers for matters that you have little experience with. [Write-in which Minister. Chance to raise stats and/or gain Traits related to the stat.]
[] Powerful Echoes: You've become steadily more convinced over the years that there is something deeper hiding in what Potentials can do, some ability to touch concepts and influence metaphysics in a way that is terribly hard to understand. You've reached for it before, see if you can find it again, and hold onto it this time.
DIPLOMACY
[X] The World Congress: Although they've stepped down from their voting duties, the Congress is still the elected voice of the world that you now lead. With the voluntary suspension of debating policy, they now have far more time to dedicate to their constituencies then you do and are a potential gold mine of information and experience, if you can win their confidence. [40%, 1 year] - 2 Dice (1 Free)
[X] Holdout Administration: Marcus has identified the people within the bureaucracy who appear to be the centre of the distributed web that is resisting your overtures. You've no skill in that arena, but he's pointed out that it was in large part your direct involvement boosting their spirits that let him find the agents. Kazuki doesn't particularly like it, he feels it could compromise your integrity, but you can try. [40%, 1 year, half of Advisor score applied. Success will give a bonus to Cat's Cradle] - 2 Dice
[X] Starlit Allegro: The concerts and speeches were a resounding success, exhausting and exhilarating at the same time. It gave your name a human weight so unlike what's normally ascribed to Potentials. Kazuki is overjoyed, but also tells you that there's more you can do. Earth saw you last year, now he wants the people of the scattered habitats to get the same chance. [40%, 1 year] - 1 Die
STEWARDSHIP
[X] Steel Wombs: Most of humanity's ships have been built on Earth, or in the few small berths that have been constructed since you returned to the stars. But for the war, you will need vessels far larger and more complex than anything humans have ever built. For that you'll need a proper shipyard complex. [50%, locked 1 year] - 1 Die
[X] The World's Forge: With the mining stations complete in record time, there is a new need for orbital smelters, refineries, and other infrastructure of every type imaginable. With Adriana on course to bring the shipyard complex online next year, she explains that this will allow for a significant build up of necessary resources and parts. [35%, 1 year] - 3 Practise Dice
[X] The Old World's Bounty: That is not say that the world of your birth is without use, however. You know yourself that there are scores of old factories that could be brought back online to help support the war effort. [45%. 2 years] - 2 Dice
[X] All the World a Stage: This one came out of your vast success in public events, and it's been pointed out that the net could support far more bandwidth and at faster speeds. Along with the obvious advantages, it would also allow for full hologram broadcasts. - 1 Die
[X] Cities of Light: Most of humanity still lives in sprawling settlements that have grown around the Institutes, but hundreds of millions have found their way to the glittering cities that the Restorer-Focused rebuilt over the last thirty years. This is long work, and will take time to come to fruition, but moving all of Earth into Practice-built cities would have many benefits. [60%, 3 years, requires a Practice dice] - 1 Practice Die
[X] Overwhelming support: If Mary has continued talking to her after she explained the idea, then it has to have merit. Throw every resource you can at the project. If she needs access to the entire distributed network, she'll have it and more besides. - 1 Die
INTRIGUE
[X] The World Congress: The single most powerful check to Presidential power, they've ceded effectively complete power to you. Who pushed for that? Why? And what do they think of you? [40%, 1 year] - 2 Dice
LEARNING
[X] The Making of Miracles: Practice can bring forth the untapped potential of any object, limited as it is by a Potential's Focus. A lot of Practice is personal, but some is similar, and a formal foundation to work from could help many of the Third. [50%, 1 year] - 1 Die (1 Free)
[X] Conceptual Chaos: For as long as you've known her Mary's mind has burst with possibilities, more than she could ever focus on by herself. These ideas have never really been limited by field, although many focus around reality physics. Now that she's a Minister, you can actually detail enough people to keep up with her endless ingenuity. [60%, 2 years] - 1 Die
PRACTICE ACTIONS
[X] Soul Over Body: The example of Marcus Romero shows the power of a Potential's gift when turned inwards, something only a few of the First have done to a similar degree. You've seen one side of a Potential's power. This is another, and it bears exploring. [50%, locked 1 year] - 1 Die
[X] Practical Proofs: One of the reasons that she's been having so much trouble is that she's not been able to actually show her work. Bring in some Potentials and get them to Practice with her, that should get some results. [60%, 2 years] - 1 Die
PERSONAL ACTIONS
[X] Singing Heart: Music, particularly song, has always been an escape for you, a way to reconnect with yourself. You've also found it an excellent way to connect with a large number of people, and the concerts you took part in proved that again. You're still a little rusty though, and some more practice should get you back to where you used to be. [Progress: 70/90]
[X] Work with a Minister: Your Ministers are all experts in their fields, excellent on the job teachers for matters that you have little experience with. [Write-in which Minister. Chance to raise stats and/or gain Traits related to the stat.]
- Lina (Martial
Okay. I'm come up with this plan because we still need to improve our dice pool, and the military can wait another turn. Just one though. The reason I've put 3 of our Practice Dice onto The World's Forge is because I'm really hoping for a Practice Miracle there. They are the things that are going to be supplying all the material we use to build our warships. If we can have the material being supplied something that is at the quality of a Practical Miracle... Well, I don't think I need to spell out how useful that will be. Also, it's only got a 40% chance of occurring, without the character bonuses, due to the Orbital Construction +5 boost. Same reason I've focused on the World's Congress this turn, that +5 Boost to dealing with the Congress.
Also, working with Lina, our Military Advisor, because frankly, for a Leader of a group preparing to go to war, our Martial skill is really low. Now, our high Diplomacy Skill and traits mean we're going to be able to hold the population together and focus it, but we seriously need to start boosting our Martial Skill early, because in 8 turns half our dice pool will probably be going towards the Military Actions, and we need the improved success chances.
Diplomacy
-[X] The World Congress: Although they've stepped down from their voting duties, the Congress is still the elected voice of the world that you now lead. With the voluntary suspension of debating policy, they now have far more time to dedicate to their constituencies then you do and are a potential gold mine of information and experience, if you can win their confidence. [40%, 1 year] - 1 Free Die
-[X] Holdout Administration: Marcus has identified the people within the bureaucracy who appear to be the centre of the distributed web that is resisting your overtures. You've no skill in that arena, but he's pointed out that it was in large part your direct involvement boosting their spirits that let him find the agents. Kazuki doesn't particularly like it, he feels it could compromise your integrity, but you can try. [40%, 1 year, half of Advisor score applied. Success will give a bonus to Cat's Cradle] - 1 Die
-[X] Starlit Allegro: The concerts and speeches were a resounding success, exhausting and exhilarating at the same time. It gave your name a human weight so unlike what's normally ascribed to Potentials. Kazuki is overjoyed, but also tells you that there's more you can do. Earth saw you last year, now he wants the people of the scattered habitats to get the same chance. [40%, 1 year] - 1 Die
Stewardship
-[X] Steel Wombs: Most of humanity's ships have been built on Earth, or in the few small berths that have been constructed since you returned to the stars. But for the war, you will need vessels far larger and more complex than anything humans have ever built. For that you'll need a proper shipyard complex. [50%, locked 1 year] - 1 Locked Die
-[X] The World's Forge: With the mining stations complete in record time, there is a new need for orbital smelters, refineries, and other infrastructure of every type imaginable. With Adriana on course to bring the shipyard complex online next year, she explains that this will allow for a significant buildup of necessary resources and parts. [35%, 1 year] - 1 Die
-[X] The Old World's Bounty: That is not say that the world of your birth is without use, however. You know yourself that there are scores of old factories that could be brought back online to help support the war effort. [45%. 2 years] - 1 Die
-[X] Girded in Miracle: The Potentials are capable of truly incredible works, and you know from the reports of Project Insight that these miracles will be needed. Perhaps you could organise them into a more effective construction force? [30%, 2 years] - 1 Die - 1 Practice Die
-[X] Reaching Heaven: Currently your entire ground-to-orbit setup is something of a mess, even with Potentials having replaced crude chemical rockets with much more efficient flight mechanisms. An old plan from before the Week of Sorrows might help fix that, although the costs make your head spin. It's called a Space Elevator. [40%, 3 years] - 1 Die
-[X] All the World a Stage: This one came out of your vast success in public events, and it's been pointed out that the net could support far more bandwidth and at faster speeds. Along with the obvious advantages, it would also allow for full hologram broadcasts. [50%, 1 year] - 1 Die
-[X] Cities of Light: Most of humanity still lives in sprawling settlements that have grown around the Institutes, but hundreds of millions have found their way to the glittering cities that the Restorer-Focused rebuilt over the last thirty years. This is long work, and will take time to come to fruition, but moving all of Earth into Practice-built cities would have many benefits. [60%, 3 years, requires a Practice dice] - 1 Die - 1 Practice Die
-[X] Base of Operations: Establish a small base on the burned planet. It'll let you do some of the survey with boots on the ground, and should speed up the entire process. [30%, 1 year] - 1 Die - 1 Practice Die
-[X] Overwhelming support: If Mary has continued talking to her after she explained the idea, then it has to have merit. Throw every resource you can at the project. If she needs access to the entire distributed network, she'll have it and more besides.
[Progress: 68/???] - 1 Die
Intrigue
-[X] The World Congress: The single most powerful check to Presidential power, they've ceded effectively complete power to you. Who pushed for that? Why? And what do they think of you? [40%, 1 year] - 1 Die
-[X] Cat's Cradle: Someone is pulling strings within your administration, trying to break the hold that your actions last year gave you. You still can't understand why anyone would do that, you're trying to save the world, but Marcus' report is very clear. You can't ignore this. [30%, 1 year] - 1 Die - 1 Practice Die
Learning
-[X] Curious Words: During the last year, you felt the presence of Practice where you would not expect to. On telling Mary, she quietly requisitioned every recording she could get her hands on and is now prepared to begin a full analysis of the occasions where you remember the feel of power as you spoke or sang. Maybe she'll find something. [30%, 1 year] - 1 Free Die
-[X] Void Secrets: The Directives forbade use of the First and Second Secrets on pain of extinction, but they never said anything about learning more of the Secrets of the Void. Mary is daughter to the man who discovered the First Secret, heir to the legacy of the Void in more ways than one. None have wished to delve into this field for fear of drawing attention to Earth, but now that you know of the Pattern there is little need for caution. [40%, 2 years] - 1 Die
Practice Actions
-[X] Soul Over Body: The example of Marcus Romero shows the power of a Potential's gift when yeared inwards, something only a few of the First have done to a similar degree. You've seen one side of a Potential's power. This is another, and it bears exploring. [50%, locked 1 year] - 1 Locked Die
-[X] Hey, Listen!: Lab work and teaching are good ideas, but they're not thinking big enough. Assign Vega to lead the Potential involvement with one of your new projects, and then just let what happens happen. [40%, 1 year] - 1 Die
Personal Actions
-[X] Singing Heart: Music, particularly song, has always been an escape for you, a way to reconnect with yourself. You've also found it an excellent way to connect with a large number of people, and the concerts you took part in proved that again. You're still a little rusty though, and some more practice should get you back to where you used to be. [Progress: 70/90]
-[X] Powerful Echoes: You've become steadily more convinced over the years that there is something deeper hiding in what Potentials can do, some ability to touch concepts and influence metaphysics in a way that is terribly hard to understand. You've reached for it before, see if you can find it again, and hold onto it this time.
So first, the plan. It's a bit "risky" if you can call it that. There are four choices which hover around a 75% success chance (everything else is 80% or above), but hopefully the Practice Dice I included would help mitigate that. Then there are some synergies as well, which might give us modifiers; mainly our Singing, finding our antagonists, and exploring the more esoteric side of Potentials and the Practice they can do (with a side dish of mass production and Practice Trances/Miracles). Besides those, the main focus here is gaining allies and building up our infrastructure to gain more dice. Void Secrets also has us learning just what secrets is Mary called the Daughter of Secrets for, and gives us a free die every time? That's something curious I want to learn about.
Anyway, with that done I've got a PS about the quest. It's interesting, and it needs more loving, which is why I took so much time to do the plan above. I think that's another reason why you aren't getting so much participation @Snowfire, you're using a Dice Allocation System and that alone requires quite a bit more thought and work on the questers' part. Not to mention you've added Practice Dice to it, and maybe a few other things (I dunno), that ups the complexity by a tad.
I'm getting a lot of Ender's Game vibes from it, but that could be just me; ultimately this is an Original Quest with no clear influence from any fandom, so you need to work extra to gain publicity. Then there's the whole Space Fantasy thing, but set twenty minutes into a hard-ish Sci-fi tech levels. And alongside the Space Fantasy comes a very spiritual bent into the setting, with Souls and the Kazuki arc. It's not a bad thing in my opinion.
Last. You were asking about points for improvement, and I did notice how you set up last turn's results. I need to read up more CK-style quests to be sure, but from the ones I remember, the QM's usually try and find a narrative flow from the choices and results then try and fit it together. That's something you lacked there. But aside from that, good work and I'm enjoying the quest!
Gotta agree with Zeitgeist here, the die allocation makes planning harder. That's not a bad thing, but as I'm limited to a phone on weekdays, it's really hard to look through what people have planned/what else can we do etc.
Personally, I like this more than the regular setup. Despite the increased difficulty it makes planning seem more engaging because of the ability to focus most of your attention in one given area. Also has more immersion because actions can affect each other more often.
Personally, I don't try to make decisions because I can't strategise for crap.
Although, I do like this dice system, since it makes the plans more flexible and thus interesting.
Keep up the good work @Snowfire !
Thank you all for your replies and advice. @Zeitgeist Blue I'll try to link things together with a narrative come Turn 2 results, as I can see the benefits. Flow in a narrative is important.
I'll leave this vote open until this evening or maybe Saturday mid-morning. Somewhere in the ballpark of 12 to 24 hours, depending on how busy work is today.
Holdout Administration 61+ needed
First things first, you need to respond to what you really are hoping isn't the conspiracy that Marcus is starting to think it is. You take no joy in overriding Kazuki, but this has to be done. You've given too much to the world to let it be torn down from within. Marcus helps you prepare for the meetings, around preparing his people for the investigation to follow.
[Roll: 55 + 36 = 91. Success]
It's harder than you'd ever imagined, smiling around a lie and choking back the question you want to ask more than anything. You're one of the most well-known of the Potentials still alive, and your priorities have been clear to see for decades, surely people could trust that history if nothing else?
But you work through it, and your determination is rewarded far quicker than you'd hoped. After March, the socials become less frequent, but infinitely more real.
(Success. +10 bonus to Cat's Cradle.)
Cat's Cradle71+ needed
Three months are all that Marcus needs to put the pieces together, building fragments pulled from your work into a set of concrete leads. You have no idea how he does it, but you're committed now. You just hope that he's right.
Marcus handpicks a small group of Potentials to help him in the investigation, and when he moves to lift away the veil their easy work as a unit is proof enough that he's done something like this with them before. Possibly several times, and they tear a gaping hole in the secrecy that cloaked the group's moves. And it is a group; Marcus would almost call it a movement.
By June he has firmly identified every single one of them, but at his advice you leave them in place. Now that you know exactly who they are, you can counter their actions, and Marcus needs them for the next stage of his investigation. Because the leads don't end in your Administration. They lead further, into the halls of Congress, and that worries you.
Spider's Web: The World Congress 61+ needed
The investigation leads to several offices, all seemingly unconnected to your eye. Finding information here is going to be hard; most who seem to be involved are all old hands within Congress, and attacking them without ironclad evidence of their involvement would be…unwise.
[Roll: 72 + 42 + 5 = 119. Solid Success]
It is a good thing, then, that you chose who you did for Security Minister. The servers and communication channels of Parliamentary delegates are well protected, and higher placed Delegates often trick out their security with more than the standard. But Marcus is a living key, and he puts all of that power to work in pursuit of the puppet-masters. It is a secondary benefit that he finds out a lot about why Congress relinquished their traditional powers, and what they think about you.
The proposal came out of one of the most established groups within the delegates, what your parents might have called centrists. They saw the danger, but they also saw the need, and enough delegates from other groups were convinced that the motion passed shortly before your election. At present, they're mostly happy with their decision, if a bit worried about how little work you're doing getting a handle on the military that humanity will desperately need in eight years.
Some see your actions in a very different light, and they make up the core of the opposition against you. They're not breaking any laws doing it, not yet, but Marcus has noted the presence of a more extreme fringe element within the group. He also discovered several remarkably well concealed communication links that spiralled off into the infonet and then just…vanished. The involvement of a group in Congress is one thing. The idea that someone is pulling their strings means it isn't just you worrying at the end of the year.
(Actions unlocked)
Behind the Curtain: The World Congress 61+ needed
Given everything that you've found out by the time it comes to have your first meeting with some of the Delegates, it's understandable that you're worried. You've no real skill with subtlety, and your natural charisma can only carry you so far.
[Roll: 6 + 49 + 5 = 60. Slim failure]
You come close. You come really, really close, and you kick yourself for failing for a full week until Mary takes you aside and has…words with you. There are other socials throughout the year, and they do much to repair the damage that your slip caused, but it's still failure. It all seems forgotten by the end of the year, however, and you've gained some insight into how things are done which should help for next time.
(Failure, +5 to next attempt)
All the World a Stage 51+ needed
You approve this project at the start of the year, in part a consolation for your State Minister and setup for the 'Solar Tour' that he successfully pitched to you. It won't allow for lagless transmission of your speeches or performances, but upgrading the planetary network so it can process full holo will mean that they'll have the most powerful effect possible back home.
[Roll: 66 + 40 = 106. Solid Success]
Things go rather well, largely thanks to pre-planning on the part of the Home Office, which allows them to complete the operation with a minimum of fuss. It's expensive to upgrade the network so completely, but the increased capacity allows for high fidelity holographic broadcasting of the events out in the orbitals.
Starlit Allegro61+ needed
After all your work with Marcus towards the start of the year, working half-cloaked in shadow, it's a profound relief to be able to step fully into the light again. You were surprised by how much you enjoyed what Kazuki put you through last year on Earth, and it was with a hopeful heart that you boarded Flight One for the Virgo orbital around Mars.
[Roll: 92 + 49 = 151. Greater Success]
Your opening speech goes down well, praising the ingenuity of the inhabitants of the orbital, and wishing them the best of luck in the complicated process of returning to the Ashen Planet below. The first concert of the tour is performed with that planet behind you in the sky, and it is even more successful than the speech. Virgo sets the tone for the blissful, if exhausting, months spent visiting the brave folk who have chosen to live in space.
Cheering crowds, smiling faces, and this time you're more prepared to notice when Practice shines lantern-like through your Focus whilst on stage. You can't narrow it down any further whilst you're out there, but it gives Mary a lot more to work with when you return. And your upgrades to Earth's network give your performances excellent play. All in all, a productive mid-year.
(+1 Action dice, popular support increased)
Base of Operations 71+ needed
Establish a small base on the burned planet. It'll let you do some of the survey with boots on the ground, and should speed up the entire process. [30%, 1 year] - 1 Die - 1 Practice Die
Returning to Mars is something that requires a lot of discussion within the Cabinet, and more than a few nights talking with Mary about it. She grew up there, and knows better than most how much was lost when it burned. At the same time, she grew up there, and returning to it will be hard for her. Thankfully, she doesn't fight against it, although that may be because she doesn't have to oversee the process. Work begins shortly after you leave Virgo to continue your Solar Tour.
In the coming months you get to see clearly the power of your words as inspiration, as the men and women of the construction teams fling themselves into the task at hand. A temporary hab structure is dropped from Virgo near the ruins of Skylark, a major population centre, and work begins on restoring the city's systems. Things move quickly, but sadly there's not much left of the city to work with and a great deal of it will have to be rebuilt from scratch. You'd hoped that the Potentials you sent to help would be able to bridge that gap, but even Practice has limits. And there's not enough left amongst the wreckage to build on.
At least not until Vega takes a hand. Her Focus lets her find the bits and pieces that once worked together in Harmony, and working with Adriana she's able to piece together a full plan for the city. What she does next…
Unproven Miracle Interrupt! Roll: 52 + 43 = 95. Success.
Practice Trance roll: 95! Practiced Miracle!
…is a Miracle.
(See Interlude: The Proven Miracle)
Hey, Listen! 61+ needed
After some consideration, Vega chooses to lead the team of Potentials on Mars, hoping to get a chance to prove her worth there. She accompanies you on Flight One to Virgo, then turns her attention to the task ahead.
[Roll: 52 + 43 = 95. Success.]
Well…that happened.
(See Interlude: The Proven Miracle)
Steel Wombs 51+ needed
The shipyard construction continues without delay, and the first section of the complex come online on your return journey from the outer system. On instinct, you order a course change and show up at the opening ceremony as close as a President can be to unannounced.
[Roll: 32 + 40 + 5 = 77. Success]
The short speech you throw together is well-received, and you manage to spend several hours thanking the workers and staff who did the lion's share of construction. You have your yards. Now you need to work out what to build with them.
The World's Forge76+ needed
With the shipyards complete, there's now a need for the material coming in from the mining stations. With the Solar Tour taking up your time, you sadly find little time after signing off on the project to keep tabs on it.
[Roll: 56 + 40 + 5 = 101. Success]
Fortunately, Adriana has the design and integration side of things mostly down at this point. She still makes the occasional mistake that the software doesn't catch, but it's becoming much less common. Her teams are also getting rather good at orbital construction, and so when the first shipyards open the infrastructure is in place to supply them, with more coming online in a staggered sequence to supply the rest. Even then it's more than can be used on shakedown projects, though.
Reaching Heaven 61+ needed
Which is why it's a good thing that you had other things on Adriana's plate for the year. Most of the planning is already there, although some of it needs to be modified given the lack of Second Secret bioengineering. But that doesn't take long, and soon enough the first stage of the project is underway.
[Roll: 31 + 40 + 5 = 76. Success]
Starting in space is the easiest thing to do given the resources available and the focus on orbital construction that has defined the Home Office's efforts since your election. It goes well, the only real delay being some minor retooling of one of the closer industrial platforms.
(Locked for 2 years)
The Old World's Bounty56+ needed
With no major military projects, the new shipyard complex is left mostly idle. Some construction does take place however, Adriana ordering the production of several lifter platforms to bandaid the resource flow problem that planetary construction is having.
[Roll: 82 + 40 = 122. Solid Success]
The process of restoring the pre-Sorrows factory complexes is not a complicated task, but it is heavily resource intensive. Most of the guts of the factories have to be ripped out and replaced, updated or scrapped depending on how old they are. Still, it goes well. A few are actually online by the end of the year, and as more come back online it'll help continue the city building project that is taking up most of Earth's resource balance.
(Locked for 1 year)
Cities of Light 61+ needed
You had hoped that the first year would not be particularly complicated, but most of those involved in this project are not Potentials. Many are, and they will be invaluable, but this project is also vast on a scale beyond easy reckoning compared to the careful section-by-section work you did over a decade.
But then, that is what a staff is for. Sites are cleared away, old plans unearthed and updated, and those on the ground work closely with the Potentials assigned to the project. Construction starts in the latter months of the year, and stalls somewhat around the Miracle of Skylark, but it's a good start.
(Locked for 2 years)
Girded in Miracle 71+ needed
The Potentials are capable of truly incredible works, and you know from the reports of Project Insight that these miracles will be needed. Perhaps you could organise them into a more effective construction force? [30%, 2 years] - 1 Die - 1 Practice Die
Adriana isn't really sure where to start with this project, and she ends up calling you in to help her with it in early Autumn. You spend a great deal of time going over what you want to try and do, what you will need for the armament and fortification programs, and finally settle on just getting some organisation in place for the Potentials who have shown aptitude in the necessary fields.
As it turns out, your work earlier in the year on the Solar Tour wins you some favours here. The Makers of the Potentials were never much of an organised group, but enough are content to let the Home Office incorporate them into a new branch of the Ministry. There are teething problems, of course; the founding of a branch is one thing, getting it working is another. Adriana seems confident that the personal issues present will be worked out next year, although she does mention that she might need some help with a few of them.
(Locked for 1 year)
Overwhelming support
If Mary has continued talking to her after she explained the idea, then it has to have merit. Throw every resource you can at the project. If she needs access to the entire distributed network, she'll have it and more besides.
[Progress: 68/???] - 1 Die
Adriana was quite sure that this year was going to be a bust, but shortly after the Miracle of Skylark she's able to find time to focus on her personal project again. It only took nine months to get everything else in order. She gets far more done this year, and says she's getting close to the prototyping stage now. Of what, she still hasn't said, but she promises to show you the prototype as soon as it's functional.
[Roll: 78 + 40 = 118. Progress: 186/???]
Curious Words +71 needed
Mary spends a considerable amount of her time early in the year working through the recordings from the year before, and trying to isolate any readings that appeared at the same time. Even with the best gear you can give her, it's a mammoth task.
[Roll: 63 + 47 = 110. Success]
One she's well suited for though, and your choice to continue your events to the orbitals gives her more information to work with, and in matching quality thanks to the network upgrades. Between them, she's able to narrow down the circumstances, and finds a connection between the words you spoke or sang in those moments. Words that were close to your focus, to the heart of who you were. Could it be that simple?
Powerful Echoes
With what Mary discovered, you dedicated time to searching for how to reach through your Focus when you spoke of it. It was a process that you were only beginning to be able to properly sense, let alone understand, but at least you had more to go on.
[Roll: 47 + 24 + 5 = 76. Progress: 76/420]
Mary's work helped you a great deal, but even then all you were able to grasp were echoes. Bits and pieces of something more. Words spoken from a place deep within you, that resonated with the power of your Focus, that is what you were searching for. Yet when you tried you could only manage a single syllable, and that rarely. It was progress, but deeply frustrating as well.
That is, until you returned to practicing your singing. Perhaps you should have thought of it sooner, for it was in music that you first felt the effortless grace of a person at one with themselves. In the end it mattered little. Two years of practice and performance had returned the flexibility of your voice to where it had been many years ago as a teenager. There was still potential to improve, but this was certainly good enough.
But that wasn't the important thing.
You sang often now, it brightened your day between seemingly endless meetings and paperwork. A small thing, but many small things grow. It had been after a long day of meetings, and one of the last with a Congress that you had failed win the confidence of. They trusted your direction, but you had not been able to make them trust you. That night you returned home, you ate, and then sang many songs.
Songs of rebuilding, songs of hope and unity, but above all songs of that which is broken healing. Making that which was old or broken new again, what it had been before, and then making it stronger. You spent over an hour lost in the music that was the closest to you, and when you came to the end of the last song you breathed out a long sigh of contentment. Then you tripped on a loose rug and cut your hand catching yourself on a table.
"It'll heal." You said to yourself, heading for the medical cabinet, with a tissue wrapped around the cut. Opening it, you peeled away the tissue to apply a proper bandage, and then stopped cold. Because there wasn't a cut on your hand anymore.
[Progress: 271/420]
Soul Over Body 51+ needed
Vega is understandably distracted working on your Mars project, but her staff keep up with her other work whilst she's busy. There's a lot of data to catalogue, and some of it is very hard to understand for non-Potentials.
[Roll: 47 + 43 = 90. Success]
Fortunately, most of her staff have been working either with her, or for the Ministry for Practice for years. They're well acquainted with parsing the complex and at times truly confusing way in Potentials describe their abilities. Come the end of the year, they have several suggestions.
(New actions unlocked)
Void Secrets 61+ needed
Mary doesn't really want to start this research on an official, hell, on any level. It brings back many memories, and the Miracle of Skylark only makes those worse in some ways. Yet in other ways, it soothes them. For if even that can be restored, maybe all that the Shiplords did can one day be nothing but a memory. And if you are to know the power of what you will fight; how it works, instead of what it is, you have to ask.
[Roll: 44 + 47 = 91. Success]
The conversation is a hard one, one of the hardest you've had with her since you first met. The Miracle of Skylark looms large in both your minds, and the possibilities of what might have been restored inside the Red Tower mean that the material and maybe some old knowledge might be within your grasp.
Mary agrees to think on it, and spends over a week doing so, most of it locked away in her home and private lab. When she returns, she tells you that she will try. And you promise to help in any way you can.
(Action locked for 1 year)
Opinion
Public: United
Spacers: United
Congress: Certain Delegates identified in opposition, but the puppetmaster isn't here. Otherwise tentatively supportive.
Administration: Holdouts identified and mostly circumvented. United.
Your luck. Words do not even suffice. I mean, the average is slightly lower this time, but still. I tried to pull the actions into more of a narrative as suggested, and I think I did alright. Also integrated the Practice dice rolls a bit more.
The Interlude should be finished before I head to bed, most of it's already done. But first, food!
Okay guys... Next turn, we really need to get started on the Military actions... I'd like to put a lot of the free dice on the options that let us learn what we have available to use...
We've got the infrastructure, not let's build the sword, spear and shield...
Well, get started on it anyway, we still need to learn a bunch elsewhere...
It happens towards the end of the year. You're in your office reading through some of the latest reports on the space elevator project, it's a relatively quiet day that you wish could go a bit faster. Then the door snaps open and Mary comes flying through it, her eyes wide as she comes to a halt. You come to your feet quickly, the telltale signs of having found something big all over your friend's face. But it's not just excitement on her face, there's shock too.
"What is it, Mary?" You say, stepping around the desk towards her. She takes a breath, the door hissing shut.
"Turn on the Mars broadcast Amanda," she gasps out. "You need to see this."
"See what?" Turning back to the desk, you punch up the lagless broadcast feed. One advantage to having a Minister out there was that you had to be able to speak to them without transmission delay, and it had enough bandwidth to be used for a broadcast as well. Your thoughts whirl as you do so. What's happened? Did Vega and the others find something they could work with? Or was it bad news. The Shiplords had hit Mars first, maybe they had left something behind. Maybe they were being attacked, and you with no real military to protect them! Maybe – the steadily mounting storm of thoughts cuts off as the screen springs to life.
"What the…" You stare, and part of you notices Mary doing the same, because what's on the display in front of you is like nothing you've ever seen. A shimmering, multi-coloured light pours from the screen, filling it entirely before the image begins to zoom out. "Mary, what is that?"
"I have no idea." She says, shaking her head. "Listen!" You turn your attention back to the screen,
"…live above the ruins of Skylark," not many would have caught Mary's twitch at the mention of the name, but you do, and you move a bit closer, resting a hand on her shoulder, "where one of the largest Practice Trances in recorded history is currently occurring." The image zooms out further, and a helpful graphic comes up over the field of rippling light, showing where the ruins are within it. Several smaller circles come up on the display, showing the last known locations of the construction groups when the field cut off their signals.
"She did it?" You say softly, almost unbelieving. You knew that Vega's ability was real, and her Focus had proven unexpectedly useful in the reconstruction project, but something like this? Your eyes caught movement below the field, something shining in the sunlight and the camera quickly zoomed in on it. It was a shining tower of metal, and you could see a few places where material was still flowing back into place to restore it. Mary gasps.
"Amanda," you continue to stare, then jerk back as she speaks again. "Mandy!"
"What?"
"That's the Red Tower, one of the primary research centres on Mars before the Burning. It was completely gutted by the orbital bombardment, like all the others. The cities were," she swallows hard, "just incidental collateral."
"Ok…" you reply slowly, trying to work out what's safe to say, and Mary shakes her head shortly.
"Amanda, the Towers were the main conversion points for the Clear Skies project. You know, what let us breathe and walk around outside of buildings without pressure suits. If this is a Practice Trance, on this scale, and the Tower is restored." It takes a long moment for that to sink in, but by the time it does the reporter is speaking again.
"We're getting some very strange readings here. Oxygen levels increasing, power sources coming online, I've never seen anything like it."
"Len, what are we looking at here?" The caster back on Earth asks, probably trying to keep the reporter on track.
"I'm not sure…we're running a comparison against the readings that are on record for Skylark before the Week of Sorrows. One moment." An eternity of silence, as more shining metal seems to fold out of the very air in the field that's still being broadcast. When the reporter's voice returns, his voice is leaden with shock. "I can't believe I'm about to say this."
"What do you mean?"
"The city's coming back online. This Trance, it's rebuilding it, putting everything back the way it was, when it was all in,"
"Harmony." You and Mary speak in the same moment. The word seems to break whatever spell was holding you, and a trembling laugh breaks any attempt for the silence to reassert itself. "I can't believe that she's actually doing it." You shake your head as you stare at the screen. "And that's not a Trance, a Trance would take longer."
"It's a Miracle." Mary laughs this time, hers' less shaky than your own. "And some people thought that their age was over with the discovery of the Pattern. It's just a case of the right people in the right places. But what could be bigger than this?"
"Prometheus." Mary looks at you, surprised. "It was done quite quietly, but the shell for the station was reinforced by a Trance. Not many people outside of the Potentials knew about it. I thought you did, or I would have told you."
"That's…fair." Your eyes turn back to the screen, as the energy field starts to break up around the edges. You weren't part of the Prometheus project, but you've read the reports. What those inside of that must have felt.
***
You are Vega Cant, and your soul is singing. You knew you could do it, you've always known, but knowing and doing are different things. Even with your position and Amanda's support it had been hard to get the others to listen. But your Focus was well suited to the work of finding what was needed to put a place back together. You placed them where you knew they had to be, let them begin their work, then…reached.
You couldn't describe it any other way. You reached down inside and pulled, but never imperiously. Never demanding. What would be would be, you could only amplify that, and bring others closer together in their work.
Looking around at the vista of shining metal and feeling the hum of power beneath your feet from the plants you and your team had Practiced back into what they had been once, that was entirely enough. The comm light on your suit blinked on, and you reached to answer it.
"Vega?" It was Adriana's voice. Bless her, she sounded worried. "Are you alright?"
"I don't think I will ever be better." You replied softly, reaching up to touch a drifting ribbon of the multi-hued light that the energy of the Trance had broken down into after it was done. "How long were we in there? My suit chrono seems to be frozen."
"Two hours, and most of that was the Trance dissipating safely." A pause. "You're sure you're alright?"
"Quite sure." The energy flowed through your fingers like water, then slipped past into you, and you forced back a gasp.
"The President is on the line for you. Are you fit to talk her through this?" You smiled.
"I can certainly try. But," you chuckled, feeling the power inside of you flutter and then finally start to calm. "I think she probably knows most of it. Put her through."
"Alright." You can tell she'll be full of questions once Amanda is off the line, but for now... The line connects.
"Hello Amanda. Before you ask, I am very much alright. Adriana said you had questions, let me give you some of the answers I already know. First…"
(Vega Cant gains +1 Practice. City of Skylark restored, Red Tower restored, limited atmospheric conversion active, new options unlocked.)
I was planning on showing off a Practiced Miracle at some point.
I just never expected it to be quite this soon. Or so interesting.
For a little trip behind the mechanical curtain, I rolled a d4 to see which project Vega would go to. Given her action was rolling to create a Practice Trance, and it succeeded, I then rolled a dice to see if it would trigger a Practiced Miracle, which required an 81+. As you can see, I rolled a 95.
I should probably consider using a different d100 set. This one gave the DM of a Rogue Trader game I was in once nightmares...
Okay guys... Next turn, we really need to get started on the Military actions... I'd like to put a lot of the free dice on the options that let us learn what we have available to use...
We've got the infrastructure, not let's build the sword, spear and shield...
Well, get started on it anyway, we still need to learn a bunch elsewhere...
Agreed, not counting free dice, we've got something like 10 dice to spend. And it looks like we we're getting diminishing returns in trying to get more dice; we're united with almost everyone. So aside from the urgent or important choices we could start building our military quick, lest the grumblings turn into mutiny.
Something I have my eyes set on is developing Practice Trances/Miracles. We've seen what Vega can do. Now we just need to make it a reliable method.
Yeah, I agree with that Zeigeist. My priorities for next turn are as follows, in order of priority:
1. Finish off our infrastructure construction as good as we can do it.
2. Finish learning what we can of Humanity's thoughts
3. Learn more about the Shiplords
4. Identify what we actually have in the military, and find what we have available for the military or can acquire.
Your first Cabinet meeting this year takes place far from the seat of government, from an observation room on the Virgo Orbital. Far below, you could see the faint ripple in the air that marked the edge of the atmospheric conversion field, Skylark glittering silver on the red sands like a forgotten jewel. In truth, it is unlikely that you could have pulled Vega or Adriana away from Virgo, but you wanted to see them in person. Lagless holo is good, but it is no substitute for truly being in the same room as someone.
You have Twelve (12) Action dice available with Five (5) currently locked. Unless an option states otherwise, there is no limit to the number of dice you may spend on an option.
Military
Marshal the Troops: The SDC has come a long way since its inception, the only organisation that you could truly call a professional fighting force. It's not the only one however, and though EarthGov has kept meticulous records on expenditures, the actual breakdown of forces available to you is…less than satisfactory.
[] The Solarian Defence Corps: Grown from humble origins, the SDC is the most well-known of all humanity's creations that will oppose the Shiplords. Numbering in the tens of thousands, a full accounting of their strength could not go amiss. [60%, 1 year]
[] Potentials: The products of the Awakenings are without question the most powerful weapon in the arsenal of mankind. Devices and weaponry without peer, skill applicable to the battlefield that goes beyond superhuman, and in the case of the First Awoken a promise of fire and will that the Week of Sorrows will never again touch humanity. [50%, 1 year]
[] Experimental/Auxiliary formations: There are over a score of these projects, some having apparently been steadily working away since before you left your Institute. At least you hope they've been working for all that time. Some of what's talked about in the records sounds completely insane, but fifty years ago the same was said of the theory that underlies your power. [???]
Full Inventory: There was never much order to the work of the First Awoken to begin with, and much of it was secretive at first. There are many weapons and other Practiced devices scattered across the globe known only to few. Old as they may be they are still creations of Practice, and that makes them valuable.
[] Search for weapons: The weapons of the First remain without peer, and the stories of some of the power of some of the lost devices are both chilling and incredible. With war looming, you need every piece of that power that you can find. [60%, 2 years]
[] Search for devices: Weapons were most of what the First Awoken created, but it was not all. The Elder First are said to have built many things in the first years after the awakening, all of which vanished five years later. What did they create, and why did they choose to lose it? [25%, 2 years]
Forging the Sword: The only blows humanity successfully struck against the Shiplords were made in space, but although you have returned to the stars again, little of what plies the dark is military. There was little need for it, but that's all changed now. All you have to do is work out which of the proposals you want your Minister to push.
[] The Haft: The proposal from the SDC is well made, a new line of warships reinforced by Practice to expand their limited space presence. Individually they'll still be much weaker than Shiplord vessels, but quantity has a quality of its own. And from the looks of their plan, they've been working on the tactics and logistics involved for the last three decades. [70%, 2 years]
[] The Hilt: You really didn't expect that Restorers like yourself would have an idea for the fleet, but it years out that you'd be wrong. The weapons of the Shiplords were unlike anything humanity had ever encountered, but Practice could level that playing field. Using some of the results gleaned from Project Insight, they've designed a vessel that should be able to shield others from Shiplord fire. Each one requires fine Practice, limiting their numbers, but as a shield they will be without peer. [50%, 2 years]
[] The Blade: The plan created by the First is unsurprising, but exceptionally detailed in terms of costs and time required. They also seem to have known about the other proposals before you did, which raises some interesting questions. When the Shiplords came, they came in small numbers, and the workings of Project Insight lead the First to believe that they may be able to build ships capable of matching them. Not many, but if the Week of Sorrows was anything to go by you won't need many if they can match Shiplord technology. [55%, 2 years]
Humanity's Shield: Weapons are well and good, but a solar system makes for a vast fortress given time. Here you have something to work with as well, as all of humanity's orbitals are equipped with some weaponry. There's always room for improvement however, and a new need for it too.
[] Eyes to See: You can't hit an enemy you can't see coming, so a network of sensor platforms at the edge of the heliosphere has been proposed. These should give you some early warning of the Shiplords' arrival and help you secure the system. [65%, 1 year]
[] Walls of Steel: The new orbitals across the solar system are all armed, but their construction was never designed to hold up to Shiplord firepower; only Prometheus Station coming close. That can be fixed, but it will take time. [70%, 3 years]
[] The Maw: The Shiplords came with only eight ships before, surely it would be possible to overwhelm them with firepower, and the orbitals provide far larger platforms for weaponry. It's possible that you could up-gun them further and then direct all of that firepower at the Shiplords. [50%, 2 years]
[] The Aegis: Orbitals are well and good, but Project Insight has shown that the Shiplords can be a truly spiteful people. You have some planetary defences, but nothing unified, and the planetary shield network has been stalled in the construction phase for years. If humanity is to live, you must be able to protect Earth. [50%, 3 years]
Potential Combat Doctrine: The First are an eclectic bunch, all with different styles of participating in combat, and this has only become worse as the Second and Third have come into their own. Lina has been trying to put together a common doctrine for Potentials for a while, and she's made progress. The problem is that no one has been willing to put it to the test, but it's easy enough to change that.
[] Slow and Steady Wins the Race: Take the time to formalise the doctrines that Lina has been putting together, bring in Potentials from all of the Awakenings to provide their own insights and make damned sure that everything is ready before you start working with them. [80%, 4 years]
[] Swift Caution: You'd love to take more time to make sure all of this will work, but there's a war on the horizon. Formalise the package, run it through a quick editing, then distribute and begin training rotations. [50%, 2 years]
[] Damn the Torpedoes: There is a war coming, it'll be here soon, and you need to give all of your Potentials as much time to absorb this new doctrine as you can. Lina's spent years on this, that should be enough. [30%. 1 year]
Diplomacy
Those Behind the Curtain: The government is not just you and your cabinet. There are hundreds, thousands in fact, of others who take part in the process of keeping humanity stable. Recently they have been extremely overworked, and it wouldn't be hard to arrange some social occasions to meet them and get to know the people who will be implementing your plans.
[] The World Congress: Although they've stepped down from their voting duties, the Congress is still the elected voice of the world that you now lead. With the voluntary suspension of debating policy, they now have far more time to dedicate to their constituencies then you do and are a potential gold mine of information and experience, if you can win their confidence. [45%, 1 year]
Reach to the World: You asked for help and the Circles answered. The reports they gave you would have been invaluable on their own, but they also gave you suggestions. Plans based on the knowledge they gathered, to act on what they told you.
[] Widen the Circles: The Circles were the centre of your efforts to heal humanity of the emotional wounds that the Shiplords inflicted. They've grown far beyond your greatest expectations and helped millions heal, but there's always more that could be done. They gave you some suggestions, but it'll take a lot of work. [30%, 1 year.]
[] Hearts of Humanity: The Hearts are the most experienced of all in the Circles at helping others, and have almost by accident become some of the most experienced therapists on Earth. Formalise this status by setting up a new aid organisation for them to work out of. [60%, 2 years)
[] Phoning Home: The communications network that Sol has now is far more advanced than anything it has ever had access to, but there are still many living without lagless communication. It isn't a vital project, but could be an important one. [40%, 2 years]
One World, One Heart: Kazuki has been far more personally exposed to the needs and desires of the people, and he has some suggestions for how to bring all closer together. He's quite adamant about the need for them, and although you agree you can't quite see how some of it is meant to work.
[] The Heart Remembers: Billions were taken in the Week of Sorrows, and although they are remembered it has been too long since a proper ceremony. The Third were but children at the last one, and perhaps it might help them understand the depth of loss inflicted by your enemy. [60%, 1 year]
Stewardship
The Forge: Although the Shiplords did not burn the Earth, they did destroy the vast majority of its orbital infrastructure and it took time to rebuild that without the ease of the First Secret. Much has been remade, but the humanity of the Second Secret had no great need for shipyards or war factories. If you are to create a force that can face the Shiplords, however, Earth must have them.
[X] The Old World's Bounty: That is not say that the world of your birth is without use, however. You know yourself that there are scores of old factories that could be brought back online to help support the war effort. [45%, locked 1 year]
[X] Girded in Miracle: The Potentials are capable of truly incredible works, and you know from the reports of Project Insight that these miracles will be needed. Perhaps you could organise them into a more effective construction force? [30%, locked 1 year]
[X] Reaching Heaven: Currently your entire ground-to-orbit setup is something of a mess, even with Potentials having replaced crude chemical rockets with much more efficient flight mechanisms. An old plan from before the Week of Sorrows might help fix that, although the costs make your head spin. It's called a Space Elevator. [40%, locked 2 years]
…Masters study Logistics: With the network coming back online at the start of the year, you find several competing options about how to use it.
[] Swords from Ploughshares: Although primarily civilian, parts of the network were used during the Week of Sorrows to coordinate the defence of Sol against the Shiplords. Although the defence failed, the idea has merit, and Lina strongly pushed this option. [40%, 1 turn]
[] Search Function: When the network came back online, you found several communication lines that seemed to lead nowhere. If there are secrets hiding here, it's probably a good idea to find them. [30%, 1 turn]
Healing Hands:
[X] Cities of Light: Most of humanity still lives in sprawling settlements that have grown around the Institutes, but hundreds of millions have found their way to the glittering cities that the Restorer-Focused rebuilt over the last thirty years. This is long work, and will take time to come to fruition, but moving all of Earth into Practice-built cities would have many benefits. [60%, locked 2 years, requires a Practice dice]
[] Symbols of Hope: Many of the great monuments that humanity built in the last two hundred years are only barely hanging on, victims of the single-minded focus that had to be given to other things. They're more than just the physical trappings however, and restoring them could do the world good. [50%, 1 year]
[] Many Points of Light: The habitats were built with function in mind, with much less thought given to the needs of the human soul and heart. Fixing that will be extremely complex work, but it's possible. [25%, 2 years]
Skylark Reborn: The Miracle of Skylark. First Practiced Miracle since the discovery of the Pattern, that many had believed had signalled the end of those glories. It's impossible to understate the value of Vega's Miracle as a symbol, but it does leave you in the rather interesting position of having to decide what to do with it.
[] Streetwise: Skylark was a centre of science before the Shiplords came, but it was old science, born of the Secrets that the Shiplords decreed forbidden. Much of it seems to have been changed, replaced with objects of Practice, but it might be a good idea to make sure. [25%, 1 year]
[] Return to Red Sand: It had always been your intention to return in full to Mars, and Vega's Miracle presents the perfect opportunity. It will be something of a rush job, but with the advantages that she and the other Potentials have given, it should also be possible. [50%, 2 years]
[] Uplink: Some parts of the city still remain offline or in need of replacement, particularly its communications gear. Integrating Skylark back into the net would allow you to distribute its databases, and access its systems remotely. [30%, 2 years]
Thera's Mystery: You know that Adriana is working on something on the side, she's told you as much, but even now all she will tell you about it is what she'd need to make whatever it is useable. Something that should revolutionise the design process, if she's to be believed. The fact that she's been talking with Mary about it as well is something you are glad for and at the same time slightly terrified by. What to do… (Choose one if this action is taken)
[] Minimal Support: Adriana has been working on this for a while, she can work on it by herself for a bit longer. You have more important projects.
[] Full Support: You'll give her what she needs, but nothing more until you can actually see some results. You have to be pragmatic about this, it's part of the job.
[] Overwhelming support: If Mary has continued talking to her after she explained the idea, then it has to have merit. Throw every resource you can at the project. If she needs access to the entire distributed network, she'll have it and more besides.
[Progress: 186/???]
Intrigue
Limited Bandwidth: Cannot select more than two actions.
The Spider's Web: EarthGov is a finely balanced web of competing interests, one that has been flung vastly out of balance by the discovery of the Pattern and your election as President. Your understanding of that web is rather lacking, however, and it's been strongly suggested that you fix that.
[] The Cabinet: You almost had a screaming argument with Marcus when you saw this suggestion. Almost. He knows the ins and outs of politics far better than you, and although the entire idea makes you feel a bit dirty inside…he might have a point. Maybe. [40%, 1 year]
[] Suspicious Offices: Marcus has identified the Delegates whose offices are linked to what he hopes is the final point of the movement. As they've not done anything illegal yet, he is limited in what he can do, but an increased security oversight might allow him to catch something. [25%, 1 year]
[] Puppets on Strings: The communication links that your Security apparatus found seemed to vanish into the net, but it's never really that simple. There are always traces somewhere. No normal human could follow them, but Potentials are not entirely human. [15%, 2 years]
Know thy Enemy: The Shiplords are coming, you know that now, and if you are to be prepared you must know what they are truly capable of.
[] Visions of the Lost: There are, now that you think of it, records of the Shiplords during the battles that began the Week of Sorrows. Recorded across every spectrum that humanity knew of at that time, they could be a valuable resource that none have thought to tap. [50%, 2 years]
[] Corpses Leave Clues: The Shiplords did good work cleaning up the mess that their two ships made when they were destroyed, but several pieces evaded their clean-up. Most have settled into stable orbits now, and each is a potential gold mine of Shiplord technology. [???, 2 years]
[] Watching the Stars: When the Shiplords handed down the Directives, they said that any violation would be swiftly punished. To the suspicious minded, that would suggest that they left eyes behind. How about you go looking for them…so you can poke them out. [20% chance of more information every year]
Learning
Daughter of Secrets: you have One (1) free dice for Learning actions.
Practiced Power: The Potentials are the most powerful weapon humanity has, but it's a weapon that you still know frighteningly little about. Mary now has access to far more resources than she did before, maybe you can help her along.
[] A Gift of Blood and Soul: It's a matter of record that the Potentials came from a sacrifice of the Great Dragons humanity built to protect itself, but what does that mean? Few records of the Dragons remain, and were before out of reach even to Mary. It's quite different now. [40%, 1 year]
[] The Making of Miracles: Practice can bring forth the untapped potential of any object, limited as it is by a Potential's Focus. A lot of Practice is personal, but some is similar, and a formal foundation to work from could help many of the Third. [50%, 1 year]
[] (Special: Touching the Void Unlock) Echoes of Power: Your work with Mary in more recent years opened your eyes to the stranger sides of what Practice was capable of. With more time, and some work finding more like you, Mary thinks she can bring her theory into concrete reality. [25%, 2 years]
The Neverending Journey, Second Step: All of the scientists on Mary's list have settled into their new working and living environment now, and you can see how happy your friend is to be surrounded by those just as passionate as she is. Now that they're all integrated however, they need a direction.
[] Future Proof: Now that everyone is working together, it should be relatively simple to work the relevant pieces of knowledge that they've found over the years into general study. It would give some of the stranger theories a lot more traction, and Mary has spoken before about how the Institute curriculum needs an update. [40%, 2 years]
[] For its Own Sake: Between them, Mary's new top flight staff brought petabytes of complex theoretical work with them. You had to build an entirely new server centre just to store it all. These people are probably the only ones really capable of parsing it out into something usable, and some of what they've been working on could be revolutionary. The problem is finding it. [30% chance of unlocking a new action chain, 2 years]
The Red Tower: One of the main centres of research on Mars before the Burning, the Red Tower was also one of the primary conversion points for the atmospheric conversion system better known as Clear Skies. Fully restored and online after the Miracle of Skylark, it is a treasure trove waiting to be unlocked.
[] Clear Skies: The atmospheric conversion systems that made Mars habitable were miracles of the Second Secret, but it was swiftly confirmed that the system now in its place is not a product of bioengineering. If the device can be understood, it could be replicated, and the entire program could be started anew. [30%, 2 years, requires a Practice dice]
[] Tower of Babylon: The tower's research levels remain in lockdown, old files revealing that the Shiplord focus on Mars had suggested to some leaders that they had been after the data held within. The codes to unlock the levels are on record, but in the chaos of the Week of Sorrows there was little enough time to transfer control of Earth's network codes, let alone those of a planet razed to the ground. [40%, 1 year]
[X] Void Secrets: The Directives forbade use of the First and Second Secrets on pain of extinction, but they never said anything about learning more of the Secrets of the Void. Mary is daughter to the man who discovered the First Secret, heir to the legacy of the Void in more ways than one. None have wished to delve into this field for fear of drawing attention to Earth, but now that you know of the Pattern there is little need for caution. [40%, locked for 1 year]
[] Conceptual Chaos: For as long as you've known her Mary's mind has burst with possibilities, more than she could ever focus on by herself. These ideas have never really been limited by field, although many focus around reality physics. Now that she's a Minister, you can actually detail enough people to keep up with her endless ingenuity. [60%, 2 years]
[] Unravelling the Impossible: Trying to understand, let alone replicate, the creations of Practice would to most be a truly impossible task verging on insane. Unfortunately, someone said that in Mary's hearing. She took it as a challenge. [30%, 4 years]
[] Writing on the Soul: It's easy to say that Potentials are a result of power in an imprint on their soul. It's a lot harder to explain. There have been great strides in the theory, but it needs the distributed network to finish the final calculations in less than centuries. [40%, 2 years]
Practice Actions
You have Three (3) Practice Dice to assign to actions, with One (1) locked. Unless explicitly stated, you may not assign Practice Dice to Practice Actions.
More than a Vessel: With their success parsing out the basics of what Marcus did to himself, Vega's staff have assembled a list of options to expand the understanding of internal Focus use by Potentials.
[] The Firstborn: The Endless Connection is an anomaly, but only due to his Awakening. Many of the First have come to internalise their power in similar ways, but their Focuses do not lend themselves to such spectacular utility. Talk to those of the First Awoken like your Security Minister, then combine the data sets. [55%, 2 years]
[] Look to the Centre: There's enough in the files that the Ministry for Practice have put together for other Potentials to work with. Having more data to compare against would be nice, but taking two years to just make sure isn't on the cards. [35%, 2 years]
Project Harmony: Another section of your policy made almost entirely invalid by the Miracle of Skylark, Vega now has all the proof she needs to point to of her ability. Far more will accept her advice with an example like that behind her. Of course, you could also choose to send her to another project, although other actions taken by the Ministry will suffer.
[] Be Harmonious: Vega has an instinctive awareness of how to bring many together in a Trance, and she believes she could teach some of those with similar Focuses to sense the same things. [50%, 2 years]
[] Practical Proofs: One of the reasons that she's been having so much trouble is that she's not been able to actually show her work. Bring in some Potentials and get them to Practice with her, that should get some results. [60%, 2 years]
[] The Shape of Miracle: Vega can now be personally assigned to an action utilising a Practice Dice, and a success will automatically trigger a Practice Trance. Other actions will suffer without her oversight, however, reducing her bonus to all other Practice actions and Practice dice by half. [30%, 1 year]
Project Insight: A long running working group of Second and some Third Awakened, Project Insight is the only reason you know as much as you do about the Shiplords. They taught the world of the enemy's ways, unravelled many strengths and few weaknesses, and discovered the Pattern in time for you to prepare. Now you have a new question for them.
[] What Purpose Our Loss: The Shiplords take the same thing from all civilisations they touch, but what do they do with their tributes of blood? There are some suspicions, but the Project has never truly wanted to look that deep. Neither do you, to be honest, but you must know. [30% chance for information every year.]
[] Our Enemy, Before Us: Eight ships came before, but would eight come again? It's a simple question, but one with deeply important connotations. [40%, 1 year]
[] Achilles Heel: The Project has found several weaknesses in the Shiplords, but Phoebe has told you that they can all feel something on the edge of their consciousness when they search through those things, just out of reach. [30% chance for information every year]
[] Write-in: Give me a question you would like answered about the Shiplords, and Project Insight will try to answer it. I advise choosing sensible questions.
Personal Actions
You may select One (1) Personal action this year.
Brushing Up: You used to be able to keep up with Mary most of the time, and she's teased you on occasion about how just a little focus could help you there. On the other hand, your new State Minister has been making quiet inquiries about your singing voice, and it pays to be at your best.
[] Work with Mary: Get back into the saddle as a scientist and finally take the time to work through the theories that Mary has been trying to get you to give a proper read for the last few years.
[] Music of the Soul: Even though you're back to where you were before, there's always room to improve further. And you're starting to find a real connection between music and your ability to touch the stranger side of your Potential.
[] Make Something: You're a Potential, capable of working items into artefacts so far removed from their original form and function that they might as well be considered magic. It will take time, but the results will be worth it. [Start Practicing an object, write-in a general idea of what you want to make.]
[] Work with a Minister: Your Ministers are all experts in their fields, excellent on the job teachers for matters that you have little experience with. [Write-in which Minister. Chance to raise stats and/or gain Traits.]
[] Powerful Echoes: You've become steadily more convinced over the years that there is something deeper hiding in what Potentials can do, some ability to touch concepts and influence metaphysics in a way that is terribly hard to understand. You've reached for it before, see if you can find it again, and hold onto it this time. [Progress: 271/420]
Military
[X] The Solarian Defence Corps: Grown from humble origins, the SDC is the most well-known of all humanity's creations that will oppose the Shiplords. Numbering in the tens of thousands, a full accounting of their strength could not go amiss. [60%, 1 year]
[X] Potentials: The products of the Awakenings are without question the most powerful weapon in the arsenal of mankind. Devices and weaponry without peer, skill applicable to the battlefield that goes beyond superhuman, and in the case of the First Awoken a promise of fire and will that the Week of Sorrows will never again touch humanity. [50%, 1 year]
[X] Search for weapons: The weapons of the First remain without peer, and the stories of some of the power of some of the lost devices are both chilling and incredible. With war looming, you need every piece of that power that you can find. [60%, 2 years]
[X] Search for devices: Weapons were most of what the First Awoken created, but it was not all. The Elder First are said to have built many things in the first years after the awakening, all of which vanished five years later. What did they create, and why did they choose to lose it? [25%, 2 years]
-[X] 2 Standard Dice
Diplomacy
[X] The World Congress: Although they've stepped down from their voting duties, the Congress is still the elected voice of the world that you now lead. With the voluntary suspension of debating policy, they now have far more time to dedicate to their constituencies then you do and are a potential gold mine of information and experience, if you can win their confidence. [45%, 1 year]
Stewardship
[X] The Old World's Bounty: That is not say that the world of your birth is without use, however. You know yourself that there are scores of old factories that could be brought back online to help support the war effort. [45%, locked 1 year]
[X] Girded in Miracle: The Potentials are capable of truly incredible works, and you know from the reports of Project Insight that these miracles will be needed. Perhaps you could organise them into a more effective construction force? [30%, locked 1 year]
-[X] 1 Locked Die, 1 Standard Die
[X] Reaching Heaven: Currently your entire ground-to-orbit setup is something of a mess, even with Potentials having replaced crude chemical rockets with much more efficient flight mechanisms. An old plan from before the Week of Sorrows might help fix that, although the costs make your head spin. It's called a Space Elevator. [40%, locked 2 years]
-[X] 1 Locked Die, 1 Practice Die
[X] Cities of Light: Most of humanity still lives in sprawling settlements that have grown around the Institutes, but hundreds of millions have found their way to the glittering cities that the Restorer-Focused rebuilt over the last thirty years. This is long work, and will take time to come to fruition, but moving all of Earth into Practice-built cities would have many benefits. [60%, locked 2 years, requires a Practice dice]
-[X] 1 Locked Die, 1 Locked Practice Die
[X] Return to Red Sand: It had always been your intention to return in full to Mars, and Vega's Miracle presents the perfect opportunity. It will be something of a rush job, but with the advantages that she and the other Potentials have given, it should also be possible. [50%, 2 years]
[X] Overwhelming support: If Mary has continued talking to her after she explained the idea, then it has to have merit. Throw every resource you can at the project. If she needs access to the entire distributed network, she'll have it and more besides.
Intrigue
[X] The Cabinet: You almost had a screaming argument with Marcus when you saw this suggestion. Almost. He knows the ins and outs of politics far better than you, and although the entire idea makes you feel a bit dirty inside…he might have a point. Maybe. [40%, 1 year]
[X] Watching the Stars: When the Shiplords handed down the Directives, they said that any violation would be swiftly punished. To the suspicious minded, that would suggest that they left eyes behind. How about you go looking for them…so you can poke them out. [20% chance of more information every year]
-[X] 1 Practice Die
Learning
[X] Tower of Babylon: The tower's research levels remain in lockdown, old files revealing that the Shiplord focus on Mars had suggested to some leaders that they had been after the data held within. The codes to unlock the levels are on record, but in the chaos of the Week of Sorrows there was little enough time to transfer control of Earth's network codes, let alone those of a planet razed to the ground. [40%, 1 year]
[X] Void Secrets: The Directives forbade use of the First and Second Secrets on pain of extinction, but they never said anything about learning more of the Secrets of the Void. Mary is daughter to the man who discovered the First Secret, heir to the legacy of the Void in more ways than one. None have wished to delve into this field for fear of drawing attention to Earth, but now that you know of the Pattern there is little need for caution. [40%, locked for 1 year]
-[X] 1 Locked Die, 1 Practice Die
Practice Actions
[X] Practical Proofs: One of the reasons that she's been having so much trouble is that she's not been able to actually show her work. Bring in some Potentials and get them to Practice with her, that should get some results. [60%, 2 years]
Personal Actions
[X] Powerful Echoes: You've become steadily more convinced over the years that there is something deeper hiding in what Potentials can do, some ability to touch concepts and influence metaphysics in a way that is terribly hard to understand. You've reached for it before, see if you can find it again, and hold onto it this time. [Progress: 271/420]
I'm perfectly happy swapping them, as long as a question gets answered... one that I forgot to make... 'oops'
@Snowfire If we take the 'Watching the Stars, does that lock it in permanently? Or more importantly, if we use a Practice Die on it and it becomes locked, does that mean a Practice Die is permanently locked, or just a Standard Die?
That's the only reason they aren't reversed. Because I seriously don't want to accidently lock one of our limited supply of Practice Die on something without a specific duration.
Just found this quest, the premise looks amazing. Is it just me or is anyone else imagining this as a novel or trilogy written by Peter Hamilton, author of the Night's Dawn Trilogy?
@Snowfire With the Forging the Sword and Project Harmony options can we only make a single choice each or can we make multiple choices from each?
Greetings SV! I have lurked on this site for years but I just registered today in order to participate in this quest. I just want to say, this is a very interesting, well written setting and I hope you manage to continue it until the end. I can't wait for the invasion and to see what comes after it. Keep up the good writing and the wonderful update speed!
Anyway, I'm not sure yet how to post plans or vote, so instead I'll comment on the options I like to hopefully persuade the people who are making the plans! (Looking at you Pyro Hawk)
This is not a full plan, just some options that I like that seem to get overlooked
Military
[] Experimental/Auxiliary formations: There are over a score of these projects, some having apparently been steadily working away since before you left your Institute. At least you hope they've been working for all that time. Some of what's talked about in the records sounds completely insane, but fifty years ago the same was said of the theory that underlies your power. [???]
[] Walls of Steel: The new orbitals across the solar system are all armed, but their construction was never designed to hold up to Shiplord firepower; only Prometheus Station coming close. That can be fixed, but it will take time. [70%, 3 years]
[] The Aegis: Orbitals are well and good, but Project Insight has shown that the Shiplords can be a truly spiteful people. You have some planetary defences, but nothing unified, and the planetary shield network has been stalled in the construction phase for years. If humanity is to live, you must be able to protect Earth. [50%, 3 years]
[] Slow and Steady Wins the Race: Take the time to formalise the doctrines that Lina has been putting together, bring in Potentials from all of the Awakenings to provide their own insights and make damned sure that everything is ready before you start working with them. [80%, 4 years]
So, I think everyone can agree that this is the year to start working on military projects, but since we still have time until the invasion (8 years?), I think it would be best to start on the big, long term projects now. Static defenses are a must and experimental projects can pay off big in the long run.
I chose Slow and steady on the assumption that it would grant some extra bonuses over the quicker options. If it doesn't, then forget this option.
The one year options, like The Solarian Defence Corps and Potentials can wait until some of the long term plans get going.
Practice Actions
[] Be Harmonious: Vega has an instinctive awareness of how to bring many together in a Trance, and she believes she could teach some of those with similar Focuses to sense the same things. [50%, 2 years]
She doesn't need to prove her method anymore. we might as well move right onto the good stuff. More people who can do the trance, means more trances, means more miracles.
[] Our Enemy, Before Us: Eight ships came before, but would eight come again? It's a simple question, but one with deeply important connotations. [40%, 1 year]
This is likely one of the most important options. Its always good to know whats coming. it would suck to get blindsided because we didn't know what to prepare for.
I'm good with the other options chosen in Pyro's plan but for military and Practice, would you consider swapping anything out for one of these options?
If not I would love to hear your reasoning for some of the choices.
The Auxiliaries is something I actually had in the first draft of my plan. However I decided to remove it because I want to take that with at least two, preferably 3 or more dice, to get the best result from that. And we don't have the dice to spare this turn.
The actual ships and defences are something that's going to be started next turn.
The only reason I took the Watching the Stars option is because it's about blinding the Shiplords to our build-up. Which is something I want done before we really kick start our efforts to actually kill them, rather than just get ready to build those.
The reason I went with Practical Proofs is because now we know she can do the Miracles. Now lets figure out how, so we get the best results from trying to train more.
Basically, this turn is the last turn of figuring out what we have to work with, and building what's needed to work it. Starting next turn, we go into developing enough to survive the next Shiplord attack. Once that's been survived, we can look into other things.
Ah. Your plan make sense if I think about it in terms of another round of preparation.
However, you are also starting 5 multi-year projects while only two are finishing this year. In other words we'll have even fewer dice available next year and if you wait too long to build the defenses I'm afraid we'll have run out of time.
Also, weren't there some temporary bonuses to the number of dice that are about to run out soon?
Yeah, there's a bunch of multi-years, but this turn is the last turn before we start going 'Take a 3 year 60% Stewardship option that should give more dice, or a 3 year 50% Military Option that's looking good for helping survive the Shiplords... Military it is!'
