The Streetwalker's Guide to the Hierarchy
- Thread starter Birdsie
- Start date
Taure - The Royal Prerogative
Birdsie
Sharp Talons Cleave The Worthy
- Location
- Poland
[X] Accept
-[X] First priority is a Relic or Dwindling-boosted Mask that will allow you to determine the risk of a dwindling/burgeoning (presumably more general by nature, but this is the primary usage), and one for concealment from divination and/or spies, to mitigate the risk of a Forest counterattack. Have some prepared method to make sure you can survive the first counterattack if your method isn't specifically countered, and adjust your actions if such a counterattack occurs, maybe leaving immediately.
-[X] For any volatile relics you don't buy, Japhris can presumably use their Mana for a dwindling or burgeoning? Same for any useless ones.
-[X] Try to emphasize your noble/royal status in your public persona, but it's not the main negotiation priority.
---
The Royal Prerogative
A deer's mask seemed the obvious solution to unanticipated danger, especially given the nature of the surrounding forests. As Linneas didn't have a regular mask of his own yet and his role was already to act as Dorian's manservant and bodyguard it only seemed fitting to bestow it on him as a sort of honor of station, allowing him to increase its power over time and bolstering Dorian's royalty, as Dorian had appropriated the earbuds already for his personal use and had other masks to wear.
On Thursday evening, a representative of the Orbital Command was teleported down into Oasis to meet and finish the negotiations. Chairman Abiodun Gwarzo was an elderly man of dark complexion, sporting a salt and pepper beard, and dressed in an olive green suit with military ribbons. He affected the presence of an ex-soldier, as stern as a hawk looking down from above. But Dorian was familiar with grizzled old soldiers and those who'd left the army for politics and how to best deal with their personalities. Years of experience weren't erased overnight alongside the Webweaver, even if they might've rusted a little over a month away from Drethir.
"Your Grace," said Abiodun, sitting down in a chair of his own.
"Chairman Gwarzo," Dorian said with a nod. The Command's choice of representative wasn't a bad one. Soldiers were often traditionalists and conservatives, so Gwarzo was not only somewhat unlikely to relent, it'd also be easy to antagonize the old man. Or had they chosen him for expertise in dealing with unknown threats?
"I've received the details of the proposal," the Chairman started, pulling out a suitcase full of papers and going over them for a moment. "I'll admit, it is, if nothing else, an ambitious and bright idea. With a territorial increase rate as projected here and a massive undertaking to ferry soldiers on-site to secure it against the forest, we could have an entire fortress city done inside a month, complete with its own inoculated aquaculture. This is virtually unheard of. It brings to question what you want out of this."
He smiled, visible, as the mask only covered his upper face - leaving the mouth and frizzy brown hair in sight, making for a more human and expressive face.
"I am sure we'll figure something out."
---
His next weeks were filled with constant work, a cycle of eight-hour chunks: rest, work, free time, start over.
Lists of requested specifications came in through a computer from some clerk and Dorian crafted masks as best as he could to fulfill each of them. Linneas appeared every couple of hours to deliver food and new material, replace broken tools, and otherwise see to Dorian's needs, making the entire process more efficient. Dorian made sure to break as frequently as he could without diminishing the effectiveness of his craft; taking off the mask, relaxing a little, talking to Linneas, and eating some food each time.
Then the masks went on a cart and he never saw them again.
A number of the requested masks were innocent and didn't invite much room for contemplation as to their purpose: masks to create and manipulate the four elements, masks to detect relics and forest influence, and masks to eventually copy what they were doing to expand territory. Others made him question the righteousness of his actions, such as masks that could theoretically evolve to create fissile material or masks that seemed to specialize in mental influence.
And mental influence led to mind control.
But even that, he constructed to order, carving out sockets for deeper and darker-looking eyes, painting a hypnotic blue swirl on either cheek with the soft motion of a brush, dusting a luminescent powder over the mask so it could have a subliminal influence on those who gazed upon its countenance.
There were cases, situations he could picture, where one individual controlling another briefly to prevent evil or harm could be allowed: an officer of the peace ordering an armed suspect to stand down, a similar situation but with the officer asking a suicidal man not to leap off a building. There were situations where men were a danger to themselves or others, and control over their minds could resolve it without bloodshed. It wasn't the horizon where Dorian drew the line.
A couple of days after that came the request where he could.
A request for a mask to make masks with - another Artificer's Face.
Dorian felt strong reluctance as he stared at the screen listing its desired specifications, remembering the earlier mental influence mask, and wondering if this could be the start of something unacceptable.
Once, he'd rebelled against Drethir. He'd told himself repeatedly this was so because of its cruelty and tyranny, its gradual implementation of 'prosocial' masks that enhanced social cohesion, and which in truth did nothing more than twist the mind of their wearer towards a Fixation on certain concepts, even when the mask wasn't worn, like a Joyous Inquisitor. With a single mind control mask, the harm that a society could inflict with it was limited; a mask-crafter's mask had so much more potential to deal harm.
He considered Orbital Command's order here and came to realize he didn't feel especially culpable, much as he didn't when parlaying with the Warlord. Nothing stirred in his heart, no ounce of guilt, no shame of hypocrisy - allowing them access to a power such as this, to decide the fate of entire communities to come. Perhaps it was because on some level their society was in ruin already, much as it was with the Warlord, and he didn't consider anything he could do here much worse a fate. It could also be that the Street opened him to a new perspective of a wider world, in which fewer actions truly mattered, for its breadth was too wide for any single human to have an impact.
Or maybe, it was because he'd never cared about tyranny and simply wanted to plot foolish revenge.
Had it been so? Had Cross and Shade - his short-time comrades before the Street's abduction - died for nothing but vengeance against a man who'd prevailed anyway? Even now, the Emperor on Drethir likely grew mightier, the grip upon the populace ever tighter, creating a darker world laboring under the yoke.
And what had Dorian done in that time? He looked into the palm of his hand, where calloused skin - abraded through countless nights of craftsmanship and days of wielding a saber - peeled itself gently like an apple under the knife at his mental command, revealing raw flesh and metacarpals.
And considering mind control as a valid solution to problems, how it was justifiable in some situations if done with care and by a benevolent overlord, had Dorian strayed perhaps too close to the old man's way of thinking?
It seemed moot either way. Even if he refused to craft this, they could most likely force him, and even if not...
His consideration was suddenly interrupted. There was a whoosh of air as if something heavy rapidly entered the room through a window. Dorian stood, alert, and turned around immediately ready to fight with a monster or assassin.
He relaxed but only a little.
"Japhris, it's you," he said, aware this could be an illusion. "You've learned to teleport?"
She wore a simple laborer's uniform, her chest-length blonde hair done into an efficient ponytail. Her Arcanist's Mask was aglow with eldritch power, covered in small lambent crystals and moving, writhing leaves and vines. It'd evolved significantly since inception; an almost scary amount of development for a mask only a month old. He reconsidered and dismissed the idea of her as an illusion, the mask's presence and facetime in his mind felt all too real, its apparent development a step too bold.
In response to his question, she shook her head. "It's the mask, Your Grace!"
He frowned. There was something off about her.
'She's Fixating already, stronger than your Webweaver ever was,' offered the earbuds. 'Soon, all that'll be left is the Arcanist, as mask and girl become one.'
"Take it off," he said sternly.
She shot him a strange look, one filled with pure affront and stunned confusion, as if he'd requested that she instantly strip herself nude and kneel right there before him, or made some other truly unreasonable request. Then after a short moment of thought, she recalled reason and seemed to slowly hesitate. She wove a strand of arcane flux, a small ribbon of liquid light, and it took off the Arcanist's mask. To Dorian's horror, it was almost stuck to her face and pulled on her skin a little as it came off as if very firmly glued. Her normally flawless skin looked raw and dried out as if a razor had been carelessly run over its surface to shave off the outermost layer of the epidermis.
She didn't seem affected or aware of its attachment to her and her own attachment to the mask, blowing an unkempt hair out of the way. Then she smiled at him as if nothing were wrong. "So, what have you been up to, Dorian?"
He considered the mask itself, still in her hand, its vines curling around her wrist like a child's hand clasping her mother's.
This was, he thought, the cost of seeing her as a tool.
He affected a calm exterior and said, "Come have a look." He disabled the computer screen and then promptly invited her over to the workbench where a batch of masks awaited, one more mid-detailing before it could follow its comrades on the side. He considered her as she leaned over them with a curious expression, still holding the mask.
Consarn his stupid deprivation of lateral thinking for not realizing earlier where it could all lead if he treated her as a mere Dwindling dispenser. This was all a classic setup for Fixation. Treat a being as something, and make it always wear the identity of that something, and make it believe that something is necessary, and it'll become that something practically overnight. It should've been obvious - damnably obvious to someone who'd spent over twenty years on Drethir - but it'd not even crossed his mind.
There'd be consequences if he were to dispose of the mask, Dorian knew that much, and it was the reason he hadn't tried to do so immediately and with violent speed.
There'd be lots of consequences, a couple of which he struggled to imagine, even with serious effort. She wouldn't be able to Dwindle or Burgeon properly anymore. The Orbital Command would most likely throw a fit as a result and order her to wear the mask again, if Dorian simply took it away. Worse, after so much on here frolicking in the forest and casting magic spells, Japhris may genuinely decide she prefers this lifestyle and not enter the Street with them, and be mad if they tried to dissuade her. His mind was still in disarray from finding out, and he couldn't conjure the full image.
For now, he needed to decide whether or not the mask should be taken away from her. He knew exactly how the Fixated thought, having once experienced moderate Fixation with his quest; the patterns of the mask's identity infecting their own and vice versa. To request a Fixation victim to remove their mask was like asking a drug addict to quit. Without a therapist on-site and a long conversation, you wouldn't achieve much success in the short term; it could even devolve into violence, threats, or feelings of betrayal.
What should he do?
---
You'll need to decide what to do about Japhris.
[ ] Unmask the Arcanist - Japhris agreed to wear the Arcanist's Mask, to Dwindle the forest, to Burgeon the land, to follow your commands as ordered and to work in this manner because you'd saved her. All of this for your selfish benefit. But it doesn't mean you own her. Take the mask away.
It should be noted for reasons of planning: the solution here isn't as simple as destroying this Arcanist's Mask and making a new one. The facts of the old one's identity are still lingering inside her; make a mask too similar, and she'll Fixate on it rapidly as well, perhaps even faster than with the original.
If you want to do this, what's your approach?
-[ ] Be Straightforward - Inform her straight that she's started to Fixate on her mask, and you don't like this. Now could she please hand the mask over?.
Fair warning: all of Dorian's lifetime experiences, knowledge, and education say this method is about as likely to work as asking a very belligerent man on an intense methamphetamine high to 'calm down.' In other words, it'll likely only have the opposite effect. Still, you can try it if you'd like.
-[ ] Take Her Down - Act violently and suddenly, it's the last thing she'd expect. Choke her out and restrain her in such a manner she can't put the mask back on while doing everything you can to separate her from it. You're stronger and faster than most human beings, so you'll probably win.
There are odds she might not appreciate the method after all is said and done, though.
-[ ] Seduce Her - It'd make you a cad to do this, but you remember the earbuds mentioning she has developed a crush on you. Even with Fixation, that likely hasn't died away. If anything, it might've only intensified: why else would she visit you so randomly the moment she unlocked the ability to teleport? Her amorous secret can be used to your advantage. Take your mask off, put on your most charming face, and distract her so you can take the mask from her hand, hopefully without as much resistance.
--[ ] And use Viscerality (massively increases odds of success, astronomically increases interpersonal consequences)
-[ ] Write-in
[ ] Allow Fixation - As long as she's content with this, do you truly care?
---
You've started to develop a mild Fixation (1.1x) on the Artificer's Mask. It's not even nearly as comically bad as what's happening to Japhris, though.
After two weeks of incessant work, your time on Taure's run down to about three and a half weeks left.
An entire world's government has become aware of your royal 'nature,' earning you acknowledgment; with only a small throng of subjects, your royalty is still a minor and weedy aspect. However, even this fractional attainment grants you some amount of investable Power. Linneas has advanced to a Rank II Pawn. His attributes have increased and are now superior to yours barring agility and social parameters, not counting what you might receive from the masks you've created.
Choose a Pawn attainment for Linneas:
[ ] Able Pawn II - Increase Able Pawn's effect rating to a moderate degree. Makes Linneas a better supporter to your endeavors.
[ ] Trailblazer - A scout's duty. Increases Linneas' agility and it'll now increase to a minor degree whenever yours does, but not limitlessly. His strides and leaps carry him further, and he can carry more equipment without tiring. Enhanced senses and reflexes, sufficient to act as a danger prediction mechanism. Greater dexterity.
[ ] Basic Geomancer - Geokinesis, sufficient to form complex techniques and advance with training. Can hurl stones with the strength of bullets, create shields or walls, or envelop the self in stone armor. Less effective on metal, but can still exert a mild influence. Proximity to stone (including the Street's cobblestones) enhances attributes slowly.
[ ] Write-in - Write-ins are allowed, but as previously noted, will result in a qualitatively worse power than any of the above.
Furthermore, you're now steadily generating royal Power and accumulated a sufficient quantity to make a potential investment. You can either increase Linneas' Rank to III (slightly wasteful, as this happens automatically on its own over time), anoint a second Pawn out of someone loyal to you (Andrei or Japhris), or stockpile the Power.
[ ] Increase Linneas' Rank
[ ] Anoint Pawn
-[ ] Japhris
-[ ] Andrei
[ ] Cache Power
Team Status
Here's the current state of the masks of everyone on your team:
Linneas [The Buck] - 18 Potential, focused on concepts such as sensing danger, detecting consequences, and concealment (initially of itself, hopefully later your entire team)
Andrei [The Endurer] - 31 Potential, focused on endurance, resistance to damage, resistance to phenomena, and general attribute improvement
Japhris [The Arcanist] - severe Fixation, 65 Potential (effective 104), focused on enhancing Arcane prowess, generating mana, and apparently teleportation?
Finally, the Orbital Command has issued you a special dispensation to acquire one of the following special-grade relics. You'll receive a second one soon, and a third one upon completing your work here:
[ ] The Hammer - This simple claw hammer is more than a craftsman's tool. Properly wielded, it acts as an unparalleled tool of destruction and recreation.
A sufficient amount of repeated strikes can undo even the most curmudgeonly of matter, shattering titanium ingots into scattered shrapnel. This can be done to virtually anything and used offensively to great effect. However, if a craftsman holds a piece from a broken item over another and hammers it, as one might hammer a nail in, it can fuse these fragments with the object. This is always done per the wielder's intent and desires, completing engineering work even they couldn't do; a simpleton hammering a computer into a suit of armor will form a wrist PDA that interfaces with other technology, not distribute random circuitry under the armored plates.
This can be done successfully even with relics and other magical artifacts and was tested on a couple of your masks to good results. The worth of the ability to combine masks and their identities in such a granular fashion surely doesn't need to be stated.
[ ] The Map - This foldable paper map is weather-proof and highly tear-resistant, and repairs itself rapidly if indeed damaged. It can shift its viewed environment and contents to show a truly mind-boggling variety of information about the area you are in. Politics, climate, topography, roads, resources, species, and far, far more. It can even create new categories of information upon request if given a little time to work out the specifics of what you want; once your partnership with the Orbital Command started, it began to show the mana flows of given areas, the strength of local reality, as well as anticipated responses by the forest if Dwindlings were performed in certain zones.
Furthermore, the map's holder can mark three waypoints on the map if they visit a given location. Then, with a moment of thought after unrolling the map, it'll allow them and up to an entire platoon of passengers to teleport. This can be done three to five times a day; less if traveling with many passengers. It does not have a known range limit.
Andrei wonders if it could be used for transuniversal travel.
[ ] The Rolling Stone - An indestructible (as best as anyone could test) stone with the sapience and training of a dog, it'll follow its owner's commands if they are simple enough to understand such as 'obey,' 'stay,' 'move over there,' and so on. It is motile, capable of rolling via the production of kinetic force: this kinetic force is sufficient to launch itself towards a target at the speed of sound if ordered to do so, along with similar feats. Has a slightly 'cheerful' disposition towards personnel, eager to follow tasks. It appears to be completely immune to unnatural mental influence and untargetable with effects that are meant to affect sapients or humans.
However, its real power is the ability to negotiate with other stones, minerals, and rock formations on its owner's behalf by dancing or rolling in particular arrangements. This can grant formations of stone brief sentience similar to the relic itself, and sometimes a measure of its durability, forming small armies and calling down avalanches at a moment's notice. The earth itself can be convinced to swallow territories or to produce shelter, even to create hills or small mountains or canyons. It can also sniff out specified types of stone and is very knowledgeable about them, capable of leading its owner to rare ores or gems, such as gold or diamonds.
More relics will be available if you decide to continue your cooperation with the Orbital Command.
-[X] First priority is a Relic or Dwindling-boosted Mask that will allow you to determine the risk of a dwindling/burgeoning (presumably more general by nature, but this is the primary usage), and one for concealment from divination and/or spies, to mitigate the risk of a Forest counterattack. Have some prepared method to make sure you can survive the first counterattack if your method isn't specifically countered, and adjust your actions if such a counterattack occurs, maybe leaving immediately.
-[X] For any volatile relics you don't buy, Japhris can presumably use their Mana for a dwindling or burgeoning? Same for any useless ones.
-[X] Try to emphasize your noble/royal status in your public persona, but it's not the main negotiation priority.
---
The Royal Prerogative
A deer's mask seemed the obvious solution to unanticipated danger, especially given the nature of the surrounding forests. As Linneas didn't have a regular mask of his own yet and his role was already to act as Dorian's manservant and bodyguard it only seemed fitting to bestow it on him as a sort of honor of station, allowing him to increase its power over time and bolstering Dorian's royalty, as Dorian had appropriated the earbuds already for his personal use and had other masks to wear.
On Thursday evening, a representative of the Orbital Command was teleported down into Oasis to meet and finish the negotiations. Chairman Abiodun Gwarzo was an elderly man of dark complexion, sporting a salt and pepper beard, and dressed in an olive green suit with military ribbons. He affected the presence of an ex-soldier, as stern as a hawk looking down from above. But Dorian was familiar with grizzled old soldiers and those who'd left the army for politics and how to best deal with their personalities. Years of experience weren't erased overnight alongside the Webweaver, even if they might've rusted a little over a month away from Drethir.
"Your Grace," said Abiodun, sitting down in a chair of his own.
"Chairman Gwarzo," Dorian said with a nod. The Command's choice of representative wasn't a bad one. Soldiers were often traditionalists and conservatives, so Gwarzo was not only somewhat unlikely to relent, it'd also be easy to antagonize the old man. Or had they chosen him for expertise in dealing with unknown threats?
"I've received the details of the proposal," the Chairman started, pulling out a suitcase full of papers and going over them for a moment. "I'll admit, it is, if nothing else, an ambitious and bright idea. With a territorial increase rate as projected here and a massive undertaking to ferry soldiers on-site to secure it against the forest, we could have an entire fortress city done inside a month, complete with its own inoculated aquaculture. This is virtually unheard of. It brings to question what you want out of this."
He smiled, visible, as the mask only covered his upper face - leaving the mouth and frizzy brown hair in sight, making for a more human and expressive face.
"I am sure we'll figure something out."
---
His next weeks were filled with constant work, a cycle of eight-hour chunks: rest, work, free time, start over.
Lists of requested specifications came in through a computer from some clerk and Dorian crafted masks as best as he could to fulfill each of them. Linneas appeared every couple of hours to deliver food and new material, replace broken tools, and otherwise see to Dorian's needs, making the entire process more efficient. Dorian made sure to break as frequently as he could without diminishing the effectiveness of his craft; taking off the mask, relaxing a little, talking to Linneas, and eating some food each time.
Then the masks went on a cart and he never saw them again.
A number of the requested masks were innocent and didn't invite much room for contemplation as to their purpose: masks to create and manipulate the four elements, masks to detect relics and forest influence, and masks to eventually copy what they were doing to expand territory. Others made him question the righteousness of his actions, such as masks that could theoretically evolve to create fissile material or masks that seemed to specialize in mental influence.
And mental influence led to mind control.
But even that, he constructed to order, carving out sockets for deeper and darker-looking eyes, painting a hypnotic blue swirl on either cheek with the soft motion of a brush, dusting a luminescent powder over the mask so it could have a subliminal influence on those who gazed upon its countenance.
There were cases, situations he could picture, where one individual controlling another briefly to prevent evil or harm could be allowed: an officer of the peace ordering an armed suspect to stand down, a similar situation but with the officer asking a suicidal man not to leap off a building. There were situations where men were a danger to themselves or others, and control over their minds could resolve it without bloodshed. It wasn't the horizon where Dorian drew the line.
A couple of days after that came the request where he could.
A request for a mask to make masks with - another Artificer's Face.
Dorian felt strong reluctance as he stared at the screen listing its desired specifications, remembering the earlier mental influence mask, and wondering if this could be the start of something unacceptable.
Once, he'd rebelled against Drethir. He'd told himself repeatedly this was so because of its cruelty and tyranny, its gradual implementation of 'prosocial' masks that enhanced social cohesion, and which in truth did nothing more than twist the mind of their wearer towards a Fixation on certain concepts, even when the mask wasn't worn, like a Joyous Inquisitor. With a single mind control mask, the harm that a society could inflict with it was limited; a mask-crafter's mask had so much more potential to deal harm.
He considered Orbital Command's order here and came to realize he didn't feel especially culpable, much as he didn't when parlaying with the Warlord. Nothing stirred in his heart, no ounce of guilt, no shame of hypocrisy - allowing them access to a power such as this, to decide the fate of entire communities to come. Perhaps it was because on some level their society was in ruin already, much as it was with the Warlord, and he didn't consider anything he could do here much worse a fate. It could also be that the Street opened him to a new perspective of a wider world, in which fewer actions truly mattered, for its breadth was too wide for any single human to have an impact.
Or maybe, it was because he'd never cared about tyranny and simply wanted to plot foolish revenge.
Had it been so? Had Cross and Shade - his short-time comrades before the Street's abduction - died for nothing but vengeance against a man who'd prevailed anyway? Even now, the Emperor on Drethir likely grew mightier, the grip upon the populace ever tighter, creating a darker world laboring under the yoke.
And what had Dorian done in that time? He looked into the palm of his hand, where calloused skin - abraded through countless nights of craftsmanship and days of wielding a saber - peeled itself gently like an apple under the knife at his mental command, revealing raw flesh and metacarpals.
And considering mind control as a valid solution to problems, how it was justifiable in some situations if done with care and by a benevolent overlord, had Dorian strayed perhaps too close to the old man's way of thinking?
It seemed moot either way. Even if he refused to craft this, they could most likely force him, and even if not...
His consideration was suddenly interrupted. There was a whoosh of air as if something heavy rapidly entered the room through a window. Dorian stood, alert, and turned around immediately ready to fight with a monster or assassin.
He relaxed but only a little.
"Japhris, it's you," he said, aware this could be an illusion. "You've learned to teleport?"
She wore a simple laborer's uniform, her chest-length blonde hair done into an efficient ponytail. Her Arcanist's Mask was aglow with eldritch power, covered in small lambent crystals and moving, writhing leaves and vines. It'd evolved significantly since inception; an almost scary amount of development for a mask only a month old. He reconsidered and dismissed the idea of her as an illusion, the mask's presence and facetime in his mind felt all too real, its apparent development a step too bold.
In response to his question, she shook her head. "It's the mask, Your Grace!"
He frowned. There was something off about her.
'She's Fixating already, stronger than your Webweaver ever was,' offered the earbuds. 'Soon, all that'll be left is the Arcanist, as mask and girl become one.'
"Take it off," he said sternly.
She shot him a strange look, one filled with pure affront and stunned confusion, as if he'd requested that she instantly strip herself nude and kneel right there before him, or made some other truly unreasonable request. Then after a short moment of thought, she recalled reason and seemed to slowly hesitate. She wove a strand of arcane flux, a small ribbon of liquid light, and it took off the Arcanist's mask. To Dorian's horror, it was almost stuck to her face and pulled on her skin a little as it came off as if very firmly glued. Her normally flawless skin looked raw and dried out as if a razor had been carelessly run over its surface to shave off the outermost layer of the epidermis.
She didn't seem affected or aware of its attachment to her and her own attachment to the mask, blowing an unkempt hair out of the way. Then she smiled at him as if nothing were wrong. "So, what have you been up to, Dorian?"
He considered the mask itself, still in her hand, its vines curling around her wrist like a child's hand clasping her mother's.
This was, he thought, the cost of seeing her as a tool.
He affected a calm exterior and said, "Come have a look." He disabled the computer screen and then promptly invited her over to the workbench where a batch of masks awaited, one more mid-detailing before it could follow its comrades on the side. He considered her as she leaned over them with a curious expression, still holding the mask.
Consarn his stupid deprivation of lateral thinking for not realizing earlier where it could all lead if he treated her as a mere Dwindling dispenser. This was all a classic setup for Fixation. Treat a being as something, and make it always wear the identity of that something, and make it believe that something is necessary, and it'll become that something practically overnight. It should've been obvious - damnably obvious to someone who'd spent over twenty years on Drethir - but it'd not even crossed his mind.
There'd be consequences if he were to dispose of the mask, Dorian knew that much, and it was the reason he hadn't tried to do so immediately and with violent speed.
There'd be lots of consequences, a couple of which he struggled to imagine, even with serious effort. She wouldn't be able to Dwindle or Burgeon properly anymore. The Orbital Command would most likely throw a fit as a result and order her to wear the mask again, if Dorian simply took it away. Worse, after so much on here frolicking in the forest and casting magic spells, Japhris may genuinely decide she prefers this lifestyle and not enter the Street with them, and be mad if they tried to dissuade her. His mind was still in disarray from finding out, and he couldn't conjure the full image.
For now, he needed to decide whether or not the mask should be taken away from her. He knew exactly how the Fixated thought, having once experienced moderate Fixation with his quest; the patterns of the mask's identity infecting their own and vice versa. To request a Fixation victim to remove their mask was like asking a drug addict to quit. Without a therapist on-site and a long conversation, you wouldn't achieve much success in the short term; it could even devolve into violence, threats, or feelings of betrayal.
What should he do?
---
You'll need to decide what to do about Japhris.
[ ] Unmask the Arcanist - Japhris agreed to wear the Arcanist's Mask, to Dwindle the forest, to Burgeon the land, to follow your commands as ordered and to work in this manner because you'd saved her. All of this for your selfish benefit. But it doesn't mean you own her. Take the mask away.
It should be noted for reasons of planning: the solution here isn't as simple as destroying this Arcanist's Mask and making a new one. The facts of the old one's identity are still lingering inside her; make a mask too similar, and she'll Fixate on it rapidly as well, perhaps even faster than with the original.
If you want to do this, what's your approach?
-[ ] Be Straightforward - Inform her straight that she's started to Fixate on her mask, and you don't like this. Now could she please hand the mask over?.
Fair warning: all of Dorian's lifetime experiences, knowledge, and education say this method is about as likely to work as asking a very belligerent man on an intense methamphetamine high to 'calm down.' In other words, it'll likely only have the opposite effect. Still, you can try it if you'd like.
-[ ] Take Her Down - Act violently and suddenly, it's the last thing she'd expect. Choke her out and restrain her in such a manner she can't put the mask back on while doing everything you can to separate her from it. You're stronger and faster than most human beings, so you'll probably win.
There are odds she might not appreciate the method after all is said and done, though.
-[ ] Seduce Her - It'd make you a cad to do this, but you remember the earbuds mentioning she has developed a crush on you. Even with Fixation, that likely hasn't died away. If anything, it might've only intensified: why else would she visit you so randomly the moment she unlocked the ability to teleport? Her amorous secret can be used to your advantage. Take your mask off, put on your most charming face, and distract her so you can take the mask from her hand, hopefully without as much resistance.
--[ ] And use Viscerality (massively increases odds of success, astronomically increases interpersonal consequences)
-[ ] Write-in
[ ] Allow Fixation - As long as she's content with this, do you truly care?
---
You've started to develop a mild Fixation (1.1x) on the Artificer's Mask. It's not even nearly as comically bad as what's happening to Japhris, though.
After two weeks of incessant work, your time on Taure's run down to about three and a half weeks left.
An entire world's government has become aware of your royal 'nature,' earning you acknowledgment; with only a small throng of subjects, your royalty is still a minor and weedy aspect. However, even this fractional attainment grants you some amount of investable Power. Linneas has advanced to a Rank II Pawn. His attributes have increased and are now superior to yours barring agility and social parameters, not counting what you might receive from the masks you've created.
Choose a Pawn attainment for Linneas:
[ ] Able Pawn II - Increase Able Pawn's effect rating to a moderate degree. Makes Linneas a better supporter to your endeavors.
[ ] Trailblazer - A scout's duty. Increases Linneas' agility and it'll now increase to a minor degree whenever yours does, but not limitlessly. His strides and leaps carry him further, and he can carry more equipment without tiring. Enhanced senses and reflexes, sufficient to act as a danger prediction mechanism. Greater dexterity.
[ ] Basic Geomancer - Geokinesis, sufficient to form complex techniques and advance with training. Can hurl stones with the strength of bullets, create shields or walls, or envelop the self in stone armor. Less effective on metal, but can still exert a mild influence. Proximity to stone (including the Street's cobblestones) enhances attributes slowly.
[ ] Write-in - Write-ins are allowed, but as previously noted, will result in a qualitatively worse power than any of the above.
Furthermore, you're now steadily generating royal Power and accumulated a sufficient quantity to make a potential investment. You can either increase Linneas' Rank to III (slightly wasteful, as this happens automatically on its own over time), anoint a second Pawn out of someone loyal to you (Andrei or Japhris), or stockpile the Power.
[ ] Increase Linneas' Rank
[ ] Anoint Pawn
-[ ] Japhris
-[ ] Andrei
[ ] Cache Power
Team Status
Here's the current state of the masks of everyone on your team:
Linneas [The Buck] - 18 Potential, focused on concepts such as sensing danger, detecting consequences, and concealment (initially of itself, hopefully later your entire team)
Andrei [The Endurer] - 31 Potential, focused on endurance, resistance to damage, resistance to phenomena, and general attribute improvement
Japhris [The Arcanist] - severe Fixation, 65 Potential (effective 104), focused on enhancing Arcane prowess, generating mana, and apparently teleportation?
Finally, the Orbital Command has issued you a special dispensation to acquire one of the following special-grade relics. You'll receive a second one soon, and a third one upon completing your work here:
[ ] The Hammer - This simple claw hammer is more than a craftsman's tool. Properly wielded, it acts as an unparalleled tool of destruction and recreation.
A sufficient amount of repeated strikes can undo even the most curmudgeonly of matter, shattering titanium ingots into scattered shrapnel. This can be done to virtually anything and used offensively to great effect. However, if a craftsman holds a piece from a broken item over another and hammers it, as one might hammer a nail in, it can fuse these fragments with the object. This is always done per the wielder's intent and desires, completing engineering work even they couldn't do; a simpleton hammering a computer into a suit of armor will form a wrist PDA that interfaces with other technology, not distribute random circuitry under the armored plates.
This can be done successfully even with relics and other magical artifacts and was tested on a couple of your masks to good results. The worth of the ability to combine masks and their identities in such a granular fashion surely doesn't need to be stated.
[ ] The Map - This foldable paper map is weather-proof and highly tear-resistant, and repairs itself rapidly if indeed damaged. It can shift its viewed environment and contents to show a truly mind-boggling variety of information about the area you are in. Politics, climate, topography, roads, resources, species, and far, far more. It can even create new categories of information upon request if given a little time to work out the specifics of what you want; once your partnership with the Orbital Command started, it began to show the mana flows of given areas, the strength of local reality, as well as anticipated responses by the forest if Dwindlings were performed in certain zones.
Furthermore, the map's holder can mark three waypoints on the map if they visit a given location. Then, with a moment of thought after unrolling the map, it'll allow them and up to an entire platoon of passengers to teleport. This can be done three to five times a day; less if traveling with many passengers. It does not have a known range limit.
Andrei wonders if it could be used for transuniversal travel.
[ ] The Rolling Stone - An indestructible (as best as anyone could test) stone with the sapience and training of a dog, it'll follow its owner's commands if they are simple enough to understand such as 'obey,' 'stay,' 'move over there,' and so on. It is motile, capable of rolling via the production of kinetic force: this kinetic force is sufficient to launch itself towards a target at the speed of sound if ordered to do so, along with similar feats. Has a slightly 'cheerful' disposition towards personnel, eager to follow tasks. It appears to be completely immune to unnatural mental influence and untargetable with effects that are meant to affect sapients or humans.
However, its real power is the ability to negotiate with other stones, minerals, and rock formations on its owner's behalf by dancing or rolling in particular arrangements. This can grant formations of stone brief sentience similar to the relic itself, and sometimes a measure of its durability, forming small armies and calling down avalanches at a moment's notice. The earth itself can be convinced to swallow territories or to produce shelter, even to create hills or small mountains or canyons. It can also sniff out specified types of stone and is very knowledgeable about them, capable of leading its owner to rare ores or gems, such as gold or diamonds.
More relics will be available if you decide to continue your cooperation with the Orbital Command.
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[X] Unmask the Arcanist
-[X] Take her down
Of the given options, this seems like the best choice unless we want to chance seduction. Interpersonally, we can probably be forgiven as having done it for her own good, since she's not in her right mind. If she still wants to Fixate on this mask after she's unfixated from it, fine, but right now she's likely to regret it.
I'm not sure there isn't a better one, though. One that comes to mind is 'be straightforward and use viscerality to stop Fixation from affecting her thoughts', but I'd guess we don't have the finesse or Fixation is too interwoven.
Once we're done, I think the obvious followup is to make a Mask with the same ability but a strongly clashing identity- different Masks help prevent/undo Fixation, as I understand it. from Discord, the Arcanist is "a being in attunement with their environment but also in control of it; a sorcerer or sorceress that wields arcane might and controls the eddies of mana as surely as the water carves out the earth", so here's a first stab...
Magitech Flow Control
Made of a series of hollow metal tubes with harsh blue runes drawn on them, these tubes intersect at clear valves and switch-points. Grates and fanblades (though without motors) are placed over most of the primarily-'intake' pipes, symbolically there to genericise the Mana being controlled and its momentum, eliminating any need to account for the environment's specifics. A single primary pipe near the mouth region ends in a metal sphere which can be tightened or opened, this serving as the distinction between producing a Dwindling or a Burgeoning- a closed or tightened sphere forces the gathered Mana to fall further inwards, whereas an opened sphere allows all the gathered mana to pour outwards.
Although this Mask gives the ability to control Mana, it does so on a coarse-grained level, analogous to an endless expanse of connected pipes and fans with frequent switchpoints. It's just fine for Dwindling and Burgeoning, but its abilities cannot in themselves cast any spell with a shape more complicated than a loop or perhaps the eddy of two flows intersecting. That said, my understanding of Arcanism is that it can easily give an existing Arcanist the ideal environment for spellcasting, since a key point is whether the local magical flows are stagnant.
If this Mask's vibe agitates the forest, we can make a hippie mask and hand it to someone who'll work with Japhris's detachment.
As a partial apology for the necessity of our takedown...
[X] Anoint Pawn
-[X] Japhris
(if she wants to be anointed, that is.)
Dorian should also interact with her (and perhaps Andrei- it sounds like he's not been interacting with his companions in the free time periods, and wouldn't be interacting with Linease if not for his Pawn specialization) more afterwards. One thing that'll make this more feasible is...
[X] The Map
which is also the most useful if we're still worried about possibly needing to cut and run, but since it apparently predicts the Forest's response to dwindlings, we might not need to worry there.
(I think Dorian's worry about the Artificer's Face is misguided. A Mask that controls Earth can be easily (on the scale of a government) shifted into a Mask that creates new Masks out of earth- just have a few guys(to avoid Fixation) wear it pretty often and make use of its powers purely to create masks out of stone. That genie's out of the bottle to anyone we give any Mask at all to, if they actually care. And that's if they can't, like, grind a Mask's surface into a flatness and paint it white and overwrite it, and didn't capture any of the Facelessness used in crafting so far.
If he is worried about them, the solution is, of course, making a new Mask, with an effect along the lines of 'bind target Mask to be used in moral ways. effect spreads to nearby Masks designated by the user and to Masks made by this affected Masks'.)
-[X] Take her down
Of the given options, this seems like the best choice unless we want to chance seduction. Interpersonally, we can probably be forgiven as having done it for her own good, since she's not in her right mind. If she still wants to Fixate on this mask after she's unfixated from it, fine, but right now she's likely to regret it.
I'm not sure there isn't a better one, though. One that comes to mind is 'be straightforward and use viscerality to stop Fixation from affecting her thoughts', but I'd guess we don't have the finesse or Fixation is too interwoven.
Once we're done, I think the obvious followup is to make a Mask with the same ability but a strongly clashing identity- different Masks help prevent/undo Fixation, as I understand it. from Discord, the Arcanist is "a being in attunement with their environment but also in control of it; a sorcerer or sorceress that wields arcane might and controls the eddies of mana as surely as the water carves out the earth", so here's a first stab...
Magitech Flow Control
Made of a series of hollow metal tubes with harsh blue runes drawn on them, these tubes intersect at clear valves and switch-points. Grates and fanblades (though without motors) are placed over most of the primarily-'intake' pipes, symbolically there to genericise the Mana being controlled and its momentum, eliminating any need to account for the environment's specifics. A single primary pipe near the mouth region ends in a metal sphere which can be tightened or opened, this serving as the distinction between producing a Dwindling or a Burgeoning- a closed or tightened sphere forces the gathered Mana to fall further inwards, whereas an opened sphere allows all the gathered mana to pour outwards.
Although this Mask gives the ability to control Mana, it does so on a coarse-grained level, analogous to an endless expanse of connected pipes and fans with frequent switchpoints. It's just fine for Dwindling and Burgeoning, but its abilities cannot in themselves cast any spell with a shape more complicated than a loop or perhaps the eddy of two flows intersecting. That said, my understanding of Arcanism is that it can easily give an existing Arcanist the ideal environment for spellcasting, since a key point is whether the local magical flows are stagnant.
If this Mask's vibe agitates the forest, we can make a hippie mask and hand it to someone who'll work with Japhris's detachment.
As a partial apology for the necessity of our takedown...
[X] Anoint Pawn
-[X] Japhris
(if she wants to be anointed, that is.)
Dorian should also interact with her (and perhaps Andrei- it sounds like he's not been interacting with his companions in the free time periods, and wouldn't be interacting with Linease if not for his Pawn specialization) more afterwards. One thing that'll make this more feasible is...
[X] The Map
which is also the most useful if we're still worried about possibly needing to cut and run, but since it apparently predicts the Forest's response to dwindlings, we might not need to worry there.
(I think Dorian's worry about the Artificer's Face is misguided. A Mask that controls Earth can be easily (on the scale of a government) shifted into a Mask that creates new Masks out of earth- just have a few guys(to avoid Fixation) wear it pretty often and make use of its powers purely to create masks out of stone. That genie's out of the bottle to anyone we give any Mask at all to, if they actually care. And that's if they can't, like, grind a Mask's surface into a flatness and paint it white and overwrite it, and didn't capture any of the Facelessness used in crafting so far.
If he is worried about them, the solution is, of course, making a new Mask, with an effect along the lines of 'bind target Mask to be used in moral ways. effect spreads to nearby Masks designated by the user and to Masks made by this affected Masks'.)
[X] Unmask the Arcanist
-[X] Seduce Her
[X] Able Pawn II
[X] Anoint Pawn
-[X] Japhris
[X] The Map
If we want to be cynical about this, we could let her retain the mask and then use Pawn to ensure her loyalty, but at that point we are going off the deep end. Which would be interesting, Dorian becoming what he hated the most.
Anointing Japhris as Pawn might let us solve this in a better way. Ideally we would like her to retain high potential Mask with lower Fixation, and correct Pawn power should help.
Seduction is funny and probably most likely to work. Relic choice - all are good but map simplifies things the most, so lets go with that.
-[X] Seduce Her
[X] Able Pawn II
[X] Anoint Pawn
-[X] Japhris
[X] The Map
If we want to be cynical about this, we could let her retain the mask and then use Pawn to ensure her loyalty, but at that point we are going off the deep end. Which would be interesting, Dorian becoming what he hated the most.
Anointing Japhris as Pawn might let us solve this in a better way. Ideally we would like her to retain high potential Mask with lower Fixation, and correct Pawn power should help.
Seduction is funny and probably most likely to work. Relic choice - all are good but map simplifies things the most, so lets go with that.
We could hammer something into Arcanist, I suppose, as an obvious solution coming from the latest bunch of shinies.
Combine it, with, idk, the crocodile eater or garbage collector or any of the masks that would interfere with her ability to synch perfectly and eagerly with the Arcanist.
Combine it, with, idk, the crocodile eater or garbage collector or any of the masks that would interfere with her ability to synch perfectly and eagerly with the Arcanist.
Birdsie
Sharp Talons Cleave The Worthy
- Location
- Poland
The more perceptive reader might've noticed that in a vast majority of cases, naturally occurring relics are manmade items (indeed, this is noted by the characters at one point) - simply infused with forest mana. Therefore, you may question and feel confusion as to how a mundane stone appears to have become a relic.
To this I answer: the Rolling Stones were always man's best friend.
To this I answer: the Rolling Stones were always man's best friend.
[X] Allow Fixation
[X] Able Pawn II
[X] Cache Power
[X] The Rolling Stone
My (dubious) reasoning for these choices: I wanna see what happens when she goes full fixation. Pawn 2 is just always useful. Saving up to get Andrei a better role than Pawn is the goal, so cache it must be. And I want our Rolling Stone to talk with the Street.
[X] Able Pawn II
[X] Cache Power
[X] The Rolling Stone
My (dubious) reasoning for these choices: I wanna see what happens when she goes full fixation. Pawn 2 is just always useful. Saving up to get Andrei a better role than Pawn is the goal, so cache it must be. And I want our Rolling Stone to talk with the Street.
[X] Unmask the Arcanist
-[X] Have Japhris exhaust herself performing a Dwindling to boost Icarelian's Gamaliel Enforcement, then
-[X] Use Gamaliel Contamination to do something
[X] Able Pawn
[X] Anoint Pawn
-[X] Japhris
[X] The Map
Pretty barebones plan, but methinks Contamination could do something about the issue - giving the mask its own body, directly reducing Fixation levels, that sort of thing.
-[X] Have Japhris exhaust herself performing a Dwindling to boost Icarelian's Gamaliel Enforcement, then
-[X] Use Gamaliel Contamination to do something
[X] Able Pawn
[X] Anoint Pawn
-[X] Japhris
[X] The Map
Pretty barebones plan, but methinks Contamination could do something about the issue - giving the mask its own body, directly reducing Fixation levels, that sort of thing.
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He didn't know she was Fixating until she teleported over, and notes he should've realized sooner that this might happen; presumably his letting her fixate this far was by accident.
Considering the effective potential of the mask is 104, higher than what we could get in chargen with final fixation, dwindling to exhaustion (if it is even possible anymore) is likely going to provoke an extreme response from the forest
Can't we eventually just upgrade Pawns though?
Its a matter of responsibility. We were the one who knew and understood the dangers of Fixation, so it was up to us to make sure that something like this doesn't occur. Jephris was supposed to be made aware of the dangers and steps taken that this doesn't happen and we should've paid attention. Honestly, fact that we just didn't see for a week is inexcusable on its own, what if she was abducted and experimented on?
But yeah imagine if we have negative outcome from kingship for some reason and Linneas was like "oh yeah negative thing always occurs if you do that, I forgot about it LOL". Like bro, come on.
That's what the Map is for.
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The story is pretty clear that Dorian thinks this is a stupid mistake he shouldn't have made!
That he really shouldn't have let the Fixation rise doesn't make it any less likely that the Fixation is at 1.5 or whatnot, since we already know he acted in error and let it go further than he would've endorsed.
That he really shouldn't have let the Fixation rise doesn't make it any less likely that the Fixation is at 1.5 or whatnot, since we already know he acted in error and let it go further than he would've endorsed.
Good idea- we could shape her powers to provide resistance to Fixation, somehow.
Well, the map is probably going to go full red and then we're going to have to explain to the government why using 30 nukes is necessary
heh, that actually sounds so convenient that it almost seems like an intentional Chekhov's gun
(or maybe not, I had a false memory that we tried to stick the pin into a mask, and it's also been given away)
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what happens if we hammer together Arcanist and Mask of Japrhis? 
yknow, that sounds hilarious
[X] When all you have is a Hammer
-[X] Unmask the Arcanist
--[X] Seduce Her
--[X] After Disabling Japrhis, create Mask of Japrhis and hammer together that Mask with the Arcanist
-[X] Able Pawn II
-[X] Anoint Pawn
--[X] Japhris
-[X] The Hammer
Some plans need to happen because they are good. Some need to happen because they are funny.
yknow, that sounds hilarious
[X] When all you have is a Hammer
-[X] Unmask the Arcanist
--[X] Seduce Her
--[X] After Disabling Japrhis, create Mask of Japrhis and hammer together that Mask with the Arcanist
-[X] Able Pawn II
-[X] Anoint Pawn
--[X] Japhris
-[X] The Hammer
Some plans need to happen because they are good. Some need to happen because they are funny.
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Actually, after gaslighting myself upon further consideration this is actually much better than I thought. We were "warned" about Mask of Self, but honestly the tale we got is that Masks worked perfectly until the dude died, which is sure, whatever. More importantly since this is not a pure Mask of I don't think we would get those issues anyway.
So we retain Japhris' personality, she can now Fully Fixate basically instantly for lot of power, we get other two relic choices and all goes well.
Or it blows up in our faces. That can happen too. Very wide range of possibilities, but I think there is a decent chance it works out the way we want it too, and rewards will be nice.
So we retain Japhris' personality, she can now Fully Fixate basically instantly for lot of power, we get other two relic choices and all goes well.
Or it blows up in our faces. That can happen too. Very wide range of possibilities, but I think there is a decent chance it works out the way we want it too, and rewards will be nice.
Before I vote, @Birdsie would Dorian find this idea viable?
Rihaku
The Internet
Map sounds like it would be extremely useful logistically, but is quite bad for pacing in the context of a quest (forces the GM to create enormous amounts of detail on-demand, as there's no reason Dorian wouldn't spam its use whenever he needs info; this would also slow the rate at which decision points become action, since we'd always want to check the map if possible - and if not possible, we're getting no value from it).
It's unlikely we can Mask-craft our way out of the Japhris issue, considering that Dorian is master mask-crafter and hasn't even got a remotely viable idea how to resolve Fixation within that paradigm. However, we have access to other paradigms. A full solution is perhaps too optimistic but partial ones could be feasible.
[X] Plan A
-The Hammer
-Able Pawn II
-Anoint Japhris as Pawn
-Pawn Ability: Indomitable Self - Drawing from her elvish nature as an anchor of reality, allows her to resist degradation of self from all sources, and regenerate selfhood when compromised. Mostly operates on the mental and spiritual levels, though it does grant her somewhat enhanced resilience and a moderate healing factor. As this ability is not very potent without Fixation to worry about, it should punch well above its weight within the Chess system. Consider Japhris to be one step less Fixated than her Mask would impose, whenever doing so would be convenient for (the real) Japhris. For example, she could benefit from Severe Fixation while suffering only the consequences of Moderate.
-If Indomitable Self is too strong, the best alternative that Dorian can think of which does something similar. For example: Intuitive Exploiter - the Pawn is exceptionally capable of utilizing the benefits of magics and technologies while mitigating the consequences of their overuse. Arcanism costs less mana, Blood magic takes less blood, Mask Fixation erodes less personality, etc. Magnitude of the effect to be determined by GM.
-If Dorian judges the Pawn ability not to be sufficient mitigation, Take Out Japhris (or simply destroy the Mask with the Hammer) and work together with Linneas and Andrei to brainstorm a combination of Fusion Masks (via the Hammer) that would let Japhris remain as much of herself as possible while retaining a good degree of the Arcanist's benefits. For example, perhaps a Japhris Mask could be combined with the Arcanist Mask with the Hammer in such a way as to retain Japhris' personality and the Arcanist's powers seamlessly - the Hammer does state it fuses according to the wielder's intention, after all. We shouldn't casually surrender the power of the Arcanist as it currently comprises >80% of our fighting strength in a serious confrontation: one Potential >100 Mask is worth dozens if not hundreds of Potential 50s in its area of expertise.
[X] Plan B
-Rolling Stone
-Basic Geomancer
-Anoint Japhris as Pawn
-Pawn Ability: Same as Plan A
-If Dorian judges the Pawn ability not to be sufficient mitigation, Take Out Japhris (should be trivial with the Stone's help), then work with Linneas, Musurov etc to modify the Arcanist's mask into something that will ensure her loyalty and compliance (for example, the Court Mage, whose identity is indispensably tied to serving her King) for now. This Plan focuses on maximixing immediate power so as to defend against Street-related threats and seize compounding advantages in the next worlds. With future magics, it should be possible to bring her identity back even from Final Fixation - this is a temporary measure to maximize the short-term power curve. A ruthless move, but it seems in-character for Dorian as written this update.
It's unlikely we can Mask-craft our way out of the Japhris issue, considering that Dorian is master mask-crafter and hasn't even got a remotely viable idea how to resolve Fixation within that paradigm. However, we have access to other paradigms. A full solution is perhaps too optimistic but partial ones could be feasible.
[X] Plan A
-The Hammer
-Able Pawn II
-Anoint Japhris as Pawn
-Pawn Ability: Indomitable Self - Drawing from her elvish nature as an anchor of reality, allows her to resist degradation of self from all sources, and regenerate selfhood when compromised. Mostly operates on the mental and spiritual levels, though it does grant her somewhat enhanced resilience and a moderate healing factor. As this ability is not very potent without Fixation to worry about, it should punch well above its weight within the Chess system. Consider Japhris to be one step less Fixated than her Mask would impose, whenever doing so would be convenient for (the real) Japhris. For example, she could benefit from Severe Fixation while suffering only the consequences of Moderate.
-If Indomitable Self is too strong, the best alternative that Dorian can think of which does something similar. For example: Intuitive Exploiter - the Pawn is exceptionally capable of utilizing the benefits of magics and technologies while mitigating the consequences of their overuse. Arcanism costs less mana, Blood magic takes less blood, Mask Fixation erodes less personality, etc. Magnitude of the effect to be determined by GM.
-If Dorian judges the Pawn ability not to be sufficient mitigation, Take Out Japhris (or simply destroy the Mask with the Hammer) and work together with Linneas and Andrei to brainstorm a combination of Fusion Masks (via the Hammer) that would let Japhris remain as much of herself as possible while retaining a good degree of the Arcanist's benefits. For example, perhaps a Japhris Mask could be combined with the Arcanist Mask with the Hammer in such a way as to retain Japhris' personality and the Arcanist's powers seamlessly - the Hammer does state it fuses according to the wielder's intention, after all. We shouldn't casually surrender the power of the Arcanist as it currently comprises >80% of our fighting strength in a serious confrontation: one Potential >100 Mask is worth dozens if not hundreds of Potential 50s in its area of expertise.
[X] Plan B
-Rolling Stone
-Basic Geomancer
-Anoint Japhris as Pawn
-Pawn Ability: Same as Plan A
-If Dorian judges the Pawn ability not to be sufficient mitigation, Take Out Japhris (should be trivial with the Stone's help), then work with Linneas, Musurov etc to modify the Arcanist's mask into something that will ensure her loyalty and compliance (for example, the Court Mage, whose identity is indispensably tied to serving her King) for now. This Plan focuses on maximixing immediate power so as to defend against Street-related threats and seize compounding advantages in the next worlds. With future magics, it should be possible to bring her identity back even from Final Fixation - this is a temporary measure to maximize the short-term power curve. A ruthless move, but it seems in-character for Dorian as written this update.
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Birdsie
Sharp Talons Cleave The Worthy
- Location
- Poland
Sure, should be workable!