[X] Plan Firebrand Pacification Style
Verdict Heart (Princess the Hopeful Quest)
- Thread starter Pangolin
- Start date
- Location
- Here & There
[X] Plan: Xena Warrior Mender
[x] Fast Reflexes
[x] Small Framed
[X] Safe Place 1 (1 / 2)
[x] Javelot
-[X] Chakram
[X] Iaijutsu Kensai
[X] Aria
[X] Legno
[x] Hopeful Hierophant
[x] Fast Reflexes
[x] Small Framed
[X] Safe Place 1 (1 / 2)
[x] Javelot
-[X] Chakram
[X] Iaijutsu Kensai
[X] Aria
[X] Legno
[x] Hopeful Hierophant
Dark Lord Potato
Aspiring OverLord from Canada
- Location
- Ottawa, Ontario
[x] Plan Warm Hands, White Coat
Was hoping to get a build with some Legno and the Iajitsu Kensai Merit, but this is still the closest plan to what I want.
Was hoping to get a build with some Legno and the Iajitsu Kensai Merit, but this is still the closest plan to what I want.
[X] Plan: Xena Warrior Mender
[x] Fast Reflexes
[x] Small Framed
[X] Safe Place 1 (1 / 2)
[x] Javelot
-[X] Chakram
[X] Iaijutsu Kensai
[X] Aria
[X] Legno
[x] Hopeful Hierophant
[x] Fast Reflexes
[x] Small Framed
[X] Safe Place 1 (1 / 2)
[x] Javelot
-[X] Chakram
[X] Iaijutsu Kensai
[X] Aria
[X] Legno
[x] Hopeful Hierophant
Update 0.1: Reunite Unseen
Pangolin
yes chef
Update 0.1
Reunite Unseen
Reunite Unseen
The sun sets behind moody clouds and over the city, as a shutting door and a closing blind to the room of a child. In the dark the imagination of the young comes to life, for better or worse.
Pitter patter, pitter patter.
She smiles, feet dangling from atop the Shard of Glass piercing the sky above the Thames and the concrete-glass sprawl around it. Little dots of paired lights stall in giant lines, little honks of reaching her ears. The lines of cars and marching feet people on the pavements gave the city a writing appearance akin the beat of a heart and the stilted flow of blood.
The sun has set, and the people move.
The last time she was in a city as big as London was a long time ago, from her perspective. It is not something she misses, but it is something she finds entertainment in. The City of London holds a unique place in her world, and seeing it live in such a manner, no different from any animal, serves as a lesson to her.
This place has seen change.
Her silent companion breathes out into the rain-heavy air through a ferocious maw, the warmth visible on the air. It lurches over her, its body of night and bone trying to shield her from the open clouds, an arm held out and then crossing over her head.
Her eyes remain firmly fixated on the city beneath her.
This must be what a star feels like.
"You can't stop the rain, you know?" she asks the creature, raising her hand to rest atop its own, an sensation coming from the contact. Natural, angular armor covers the flesh beneath -- if there even is any.
It doesn't care about the rain. It just reacts to her and her will, a near-mindless beast with only the semblance of human form, an outline hidden in grisly armor and a bestial mouth and non-existant eyes.
"Haaaah…" it says in response, tilting its head to look at her, a hint of curiosity in its senseless state.
"You can't even fly, you're not going to punch the sky," she affectionately retorts, wagging a finger at it. "Just relax. The rain's not hurting anybody. It's your first time in it, right? Just enjoy it, live in the moment, maaan," she says in her best impression of the hip young ones, despite being a mere girl herself.
The creature draws away slowly after a few moments of what appears to be serious thought. It finally yields to her, spreading its arms out and standing at full height, towering over her by more than just a few heads, a nonetheless agile looking figure despite that.
It gazes up at the sky, the rain colliding against its hardened body and the jagged shapes it consists of. Its mouth opens slowly, and a panting bay echos out into the skies.
It basks in the rain for the first time in its seemingly eternal life.
She smiles once more.
"Good boy," she says, completely and utterly soaked through without her monstrous barrier.
Patter patter. Patter patter. Bare feet gently step through puddles behind her, emerging from the metallic staircase leading up to the Shards peak.
"I hate to say it, but it almost looks like it's learning," the newcomer tuts. She looks back to meet the triumvirate of eyes that drift to her.
She at least made some effort to try and fit in with the times, but he…
Exposing your torso to show off your golden tattoos isn't exactly fitting in. Nor is the third eye upon his forehead, brimming angrily with the power of Father and similarly gold. The pigmentation of their condition, a sort of pale dark -- a deep grey -- that does not naturally occur in humans was not a quality he made any effort to hide beneath any magic or craft. It contrasts against the bedhead of sandy blond hair that juts up and out in weird, uncombed angles due to his neglect.
It's not hard to use a brush! He knows how to use one! He just doesn't, for some ungodly reason!
He is a sore thumb. There's a reason they have a hierarchy.
"He is learning, thank you very much. Remember when we found him?!"
"Unfortunately," he sighs, shaking his head as he wades through the heavy rain, unnoticing of it.
"Compare then to now, and he's a whole different beast. He's under my control for starters," she points out with some pride. Not as much as he could otherwise display by just waking up on any given morning, but it was something.
The young man looks up at the creature, evidently somewhat uncomfortable at its presence. The creature, for its part, was tolerant of him. "... Control, of course. If that is what we will call the Buenos Aires incident…--"
"Under. My. Control." She snaps her fingers with each pause, the creature snapping its head to her and looking about, on guard from the non-verbal command, letting out a huffing sound.
He sighs again, shrugging at the display. "Whatever. This is a stupid way to start this whole thing of ours. I had this great image in my head; Us, looking over the city and talking about deep and relevant things, wind blowing past us and unfazed… and not talking about this thing and how much of a 'good boy' he is," The alien-looking young man said, thumbing to the thing in question.
"Then say something meaningful, oh supposed cool one. You've got to give me something to work with!" She gestures dismissively, turning her nose up at her other companion.
He tuts. He steps forward to be beside her, hands moving to the pockets of his strangely normal pants. Of all the things he remembers to put on, it's the regular pinstripe pants.
"It's happening. Boss Man's given the go-ahead," he says, lingo ever modern and with the times. The air of amusement fades. "I've spent years working my ass off, unthawing big angry idiots, and I don't even get time to take a vacation and acclimate. Typical though, I suppose. That's the kind of man he is," he gripes.
"The ideal type to work for, for now. He spent a long time getting this city ready, you know!" she points out in a pleasant manner.
"Easy for you. What have you been doing these past years?" he says, looking down at her, third eye burning bright in the night, the golden flames of its iris flickering furiously in the wind and rain. His task has never been easy, but neither has hers.
"Sleeping. Dreaming. The more important task, of course. Do remember where we stand." the girls retorts, her lax gaze turning unnervingly intense as their eyes lock, wide and full of ancient animosity.
Although they are more likely to call it sibling banter.
"I remember. Sleeping, tch. Little Sloth."
The creature snapps to life after moments of stillness, suddenly very close to the young man, leaning into his personal space with a snarl. He didn't budge, sneering at it.
She pulls her fingers into a fist. Unseen tethers move. The creature pulls back in a stilted manner, an unwilling marionette.
None of that now.
"I'll get to work then, if it saves me having to hear you whine for another minute," she says with a relenting sigh. They both as much could see that it is not a true surrender, but a backhanded one. She is not the sort to simply roll over for him, after all. There is a hierarchy in place, after all.
"Glad to hear it," he grumbles, turning on his bare heal and stuffing his hands in his pockets. "We'll talk later, pipsqueak."
"Don't get lost, meathead!"
She chuckles, a hand coming to her lips. He plays the messenger for now, informing her that it was time to move. A role he chafes in, for sure. That small bit of amusement is enough to inspire her, and when she is inspired she can reach into those undying dark dreams of hers --
-- And pull from them a fraction her true herself.
The creature moves first, darting off the top of the Shard into the unknown -- down towards the city below. Where they are heading, she did not know nor particularly care. It is something she is going to improvise on in the next few moments.
She slips off the edge. She fell through the radiant lights of the Shards gallery, passing the thousands upon thousands of glass panes. The shadow cast, unspeakable.
And even still it smiles.
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- Pronouns
- He/Him
[x] Plan Warm Hands, White Coat
-[X] Trained Observer
-[X] Hardy
-[X] Peacemaker
-[X] Levinbolt
--[X] Crossbow
-[X] Royal Tongue
-[X] Aria
-[X] Fuoco
-[X] Shadow Surgeon
Because I need Shadow Surgeon in my life.
-[X] Trained Observer
-[X] Hardy
-[X] Peacemaker
-[X] Levinbolt
--[X] Crossbow
-[X] Royal Tongue
-[X] Aria
-[X] Fuoco
-[X] Shadow Surgeon
Because I need Shadow Surgeon in my life.
Pangolin
yes chef
Calling that vote to a close a few minutes early, as it seems pretty decisive at this point. She is Anne, a tiny Princess forged in the heat of hospital.
I'll slap her character sheet so far onto the Character Matrix post later. Going out to watch Captain Mahvel first.
I'll slap her character sheet so far onto the Character Matrix post later. Going out to watch Captain Mahvel first.
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DeepWaters
No one will be the wiser.
- Location
- Land of Spiders and Shipping Charts
I was confused too, but I think it's supposed to be like an interlude of some sort? I'd say that it's not the best idea to have something so enigmatically impenetrable so early on, when we have zero context to put it in, but I'm probably missing something given that I know so little about P:tH.
- Location
- Illinois
- Pronouns
- Ze/Zer/Zem
I know a little bit about it. The wierd looking dude was likely another Noble who had a really strange transformed self. The boss man was most likely the Noble in charge of the Nakama/Campaign. He's probably been around the longest/has the most experience. As for what the wierd beast was, unless it's a particularly mutated Darkened, I have actually no idea. Maybe something from a crossover, but if the author was going to do that, I'd expect that they would label it in the thread title.
DeepWaters
No one will be the wiser.
- Location
- Land of Spiders and Shipping Charts
I admit I was grasping for the right word at the time, but I know what a cold open is. Don't think it worked here; it provoked far more confusion and frustration from me than intrigue and anticipation. At best, I didn't really dwell on it much because I couldn't get very much out of it. That's at least partially a personal problem, though, given I have zero prior familiarity and little prior investment in the conflict they're setting up. /me shrugs.
- Location
- PA
posting to say hi! and to ensure I carry out my personal vow of following this quest...
EDIT: Okay, so I've missed character creation. Probably just as well given I'm not familiar with the setting.
We're some sort of...Pint-sized healer/rouge type? Hrm. That'll be interesting to see...
EDIT: Okay, so I've missed character creation. Probably just as well given I'm not familiar with the setting.
We're some sort of...Pint-sized healer/rouge type? Hrm. That'll be interesting to see...
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- Location
- Illinois
- Pronouns
- Ze/Zer/Zem
For all of the people not familiar with the setting: Princess: the Hopeful
Given that we have access to the Javelot, I believe we are using the Dreams version (there are mechanical differences)
Also, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the New World of Darkness as a whole: God Machine Rules Supplement. (While the GMC rules supplement is free, the core rulebook, Chronicles of Darkness, is not)
Given that we have access to the Javelot, I believe we are using the Dreams version (there are mechanical differences)
Also, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the New World of Darkness as a whole: God Machine Rules Supplement. (While the GMC rules supplement is free, the core rulebook, Chronicles of Darkness, is not)
1: New Year, Incredibly New Me
Pangolin
yes chef
1: New Year, Incredibly New Me
January 04 2019.
You are Anne Josephine, a freshly certified magical girl and healer, currently in the middle of a gap year which you haven't been doing much with until recently, and you're about to start a new day.
The empty service tunnels of the London underground made for a unceasingly quiet yet strangely calming trek. When you first made your way to the abandoned station you have been calling your 'base', the walkway at the side of the unused tracks was coated in dust, aside from the tracks of critters, and there had been more stuff just laying around the service tunnels.
Now it is clearer, both due to your frequent trips there over the past few weeks and the efforts of… what you can only assume to be your neighbor? Maybe an invisible gremlin of some kind? Whatever it is, it has since came to the conclusion that your frequent visits necessitate some dusting and cleaning on its part.
Part of you wants to be a bit concerned, but the slacker in you is just glad you won't have to do it yourself. Thanks, tunnel gremlin.
You enter onto the platform of the abandoned station, lights buzzing quietly in the back of your senses, a dusty smell in the air. Luckily, there's no urine smell anymore. You've got to count your blessings, no matter how small, and this little hideaway had its number of them. An out of service train rests at the other end of the platform, white in colour with red accents, dim emergency lights on as it continues to siphon power even while unused. Unmoving escalators lead up to station actual, which has nothing in it other than a bunch of early 00s posters and advertisements that have worn from age, creating a sort of nostalgic, back to the past feel about the whole place. From there, it leads out into a somewhat central location without being too obvious in its placement -- likely the reason why it was closed in the first place.
It needs a lot of work before you can actually call it a base. As it stands, it's just an out of the way place that nobody else as claimed yet. But… you're not sure what the place needs to make it yours. You'd think on it.
Moving closer to the escalator, you dropped your red sports bag onto the ground and took a deep breath, shaking off your wrists and then your legs. You begin to bounce on the spot, limbering up. Were anyone to see you, they'd think you some sort of runner taking a strange route, given how you wore your old Physical Ed clothes whenever you decided to transform.
It makes it easier in case you need to make a break for it, and it's easy to make up a story about being a young runner caught in any strange business.
Your eyes shut as you bounce.
The Transformation comes naturally. It's just a matter of finding that feeling, the one that's unlike any other.
The gold owl-shaped earring pulses, its tiny green gem eyes alight with that very same feeling, a comforting warmth that crawls outward.
How else to describe it...?
A gale rushes through the platform, sending stay posters through the air, coalescing around you. The warmth from the earring reaches a crescendo, and radiant arcs of energy spark from the earing and around your body, hugging you in the feeling and a gold static light.
Showtime.
Light white fabrics emerge from the storm that surround you, enveloping your body and outright replacing the mundane clothes. The chiton is short, only going to just above your knees, but still airy and ethereal in appearance with slight glints of light reflecting off points. The energy clumps together at your chest, forging from it golden emblazoned chest armor depicting lightning around the edges, similar pieces covering your shins and forearms. Beneath the skirt of the chiton is another skirt, an armored one. Behind you, your hair manages to weave itself into a dense mid-back braid.
You draw your hand across your face, the light following, adding the finishing touches in the form of a mask hugging your upper-face in an owl-like fashion, the cover of the nose crown over as a downwards beak would. A laurel forms at the back of your head, sprouting around and connecting with the mask. Your eyes open, verdant irises surrounded by a the warm glow of their limbal rings, a circular horizon of a setting sun.
Your throw your hand down, another resting on your hip as you stare forward, the feeling now resonating from your chest through your entire body. The wind comes to a sudden halt, and the lightshow ends with a crack
That's right. It feels a bit hopeful.
It's only then you spot the pair of cat-like eyes staring at you behind the shadows of a comically large deer stalker hat and the collar of a similarly large coat.
The pipe held up to the curtain of face-covering shadows blew out bubbles.
Your confident smirk quivers momentarily.
"Not the flourish I would have gone for, but alas. Have you considered a spin? I bet that'd look wonderful." the other Princess says in a proper yet dry sounding voice, the gurgle of forming bubbles following soon after.
"...Thanks. I'll keep that in mind. How many rotations, you reckon? One? Two?" you shoot back, placing your other hand on your hips too, smirk holding strong.
"Actually -- instead of Swan Lake, give me Cats. The choreographer for that died recently, you see. En memoriam and all that," the goofily dressed Princess corrects herself, tapping her fake pipe against a hidden cheek.
You blink at her.
Then you strike a cat pose. It feels ridiculous but if it can make her laugh, then you win.
"Like this?"
"Eugh, awful. I hate cats," she says immediately, getting a snort out of you. You drop the pose with a disappointed shake of your head. No laughter out of her today -- like milking a rock.
"Of course you would say that. For real though, how long have you been there?"
"All of a few seconds, actually. I tried to get your attention while by sliding down the escalator, but I misjudged and slipped down here. Luckily, you were quite preoccupied with your Transformation. So only one of us has the embarrassment of being seen to be doing something lacklustre today."
Somehow, she manages to sound pleased with herself even while speaking in a clinical tone.
"That's me every day, buddy. I embrace my garbage. No shame no gain." The best way for you to endure Specs' brand of humor is to roll with it, same as any other.
"We shall make something out of your garbage yet, young padawan. That aside, the agenda for today..." The taller-by-virtue-of-her-giant-hat magical girl reaches into her absurdly large cloak of a coat and procures an entire folding desk somehow hidden within the confines of it. She sets it up with a flick, and then starts taking out some paperwork. Printouts and cleanly formatted reports.
"Is it weird that I always feel like I'm about to fall asleep whenever you do this? It's like you're about to help me with my homework."
"I work better with paper," she says simply, layering out the relevant items. "I've got some work for you, should you wish to undertake it. Naturally, I cannot force you by and form of authority, but I can politely request it of you," she says, picking her words carefully.
As members of the Spades, they're not really allowed to give orders as an authority figure would, but Specs held an undeniable position of authority over you and a lot of the Nobility of London. Not a leader, but someone largely respected for her contributions to the wider community as a sort of watchdog against the Outer Dark.
"And I can't really turn down someone in need of help, can I?" you say with a wide grin, puffing your chest out. You didn't say no to many things, and that's a point of pride. "What've you got for me, Specs?"
The Sherlock caricature pushes a particular print off forward, followed by a page of the report. The print off is an image, one you can't quite make out. It looks like a construction site, but… you can see odd marks on the floor, like intentional clawing into particular shapes.
"Between this and a police report detailing an odd incident of 'loitering' between several individuals, there may be some activity of the nefarious kind at work. If it's our direct enemy, I cannot say for certain, but given it happens to be located in Bloomsbury…" the Seeker pauses, taking another puff of her bubble pipe. "And that's fairly close to your first encounter with our enemy, it would not be unreasonable to consider a possible connection."
Ah. Your first actual fight.
You swallow, but despite yourself you continue to grin. "I'm not opposed to finishing the job on the ugly twig that tried to hunt me down. Don't think I'd be much good alone, though. I barely beat the guy."
Fighting is a terrifying thing, let alone fighting monsters. But things like the Darkspawn exist, and that's a fact you're trying to force yourself to accept. If they exist, then you've got to stop them -- or at the very least help.
Specs raises a hand. "I'm not expecting you to hunt it down. If I did, I would arrange help," she reassures in her own way, reading your own state with the greatest of ease. Even if you did not present unease at the thought, she spotted it. "Rather, I believe this is part of an unfortunate pattern which started in December. It's one which has increased tenfold in the time since, spiking notably two nights ago on the 2nd of January. It was raining a lot that night, you remember?"
You nod, recalling how you actually went home early after helping out Specs with another job involving someone in the hospital, one you're still working on actually. You got utterly soaked. "It tends to rain a lot around this time of year, but I remember, yeah."
"Twelve potential related sightings to creatures of the Dark and possible collaborators. I narrowed that down from a lot more than just twelve reports. That's the most Central London has had in five years."
You raise your eyebrow. "You'd think it'd be on the news."
"There were one-hundred and thirty eight known homicides in London last year. Anything short of a mauling won't get the time of day. And given the rate of things... "
"You think we're due for one," you finish arms folding across your chest, lips pressing together in thought.
"Something to that effect. I'm working on trying to find a reason, but… it's difficult," Specs paused, her golden feline eyes focused on the paperwork. The humor fades somewhat, replaced by an honest seriousness. "The reason I have been putting you to work is because we just don't have enough of our numbers -- Nobility -- in Central London itself. The other boroughs are covered, and those present here are more often than not the senior sort who came about in the eighties and nineties, preoccupied with other matters. And asking other groups and individuals to commute in isn't an option. We're not alone in our struggle."
"If things are getting worse, then we need to rise to the occasion with what we've got."
Specs bubbled away on her kiddy pipe.
You reach out and pat her shoulder. She glances at you.
"Sounds like you need a vacation," you tease with titter.
"Delegation is hard work, it's true. I want you to meet up with Burning Heartsink tonight, if you'd be so kind. I'll send you a time over the phone, but I'm expecting eleven, top of the British Museum. "
"...What kind of name--"
Specs comes in before you can even finish asking. "Heatsink. Heartsink. He uses a light-based gun of some description. He's alright, just don't ask him about the name. Besides, it's not like yours is much better. We don't judge around here, Starlight Nightingale. Your aesthetic doesn't even match your name. It's an owl. A bloody owl. Not a nightingale."
You raise your hands, firmly defeated. "It just came to me, I swear."
"It happens to all of us. We just think of it, and it works." She waves off that particular point of conversation, blowing a few bubbles into your face. "Until then, do as you will. Now, I must go and delegate more work. Such a hard job I have."
One last jab for the road. "Don't burn out, Virtue Under-Lens."
"Virtue In-Lens, thank you," she parries, just like a pro.
♠️
You have half a the rest of the day to yourself after some practice with your Transformed self. You will…
[ ] Spend time at the hospital before meeting up with Burning Heartsink. The prior bit of work Specs left with you still needs some attention, and a patient who needs care.
[ ] Bite the bullet and meet the Boy in the Church. Strange but knowledgeable, you nonetheless don't really know where you stand with him. But if anyone is going to know anything, it's him.
[ ] Call your dad and see if you can have lunch with him, maybe. Between volunteering and your adventures at night, you only see him briefly when you're home. If he's on lunch (or awake, depending on his shift), then you can both meet up.
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Mother Nyx
Mother of Elpis
- Location
- The Kei Klub
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Ohhh. These are good vote choices Pangolin. I actually feel really conflicted.
[X] Call your dad and see if you can have lunch with him, maybe. Between volunteering and your adventures at night, you only see him briefly when you're home. If he's on lunch (or awake, depending on his shift), then you can both meet up.
[X] Call your dad and see if you can have lunch with him, maybe. Between volunteering and your adventures at night, you only see him briefly when you're home. If he's on lunch (or awake, depending on his shift), then you can both meet up.
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- Location
- Illinois
- Pronouns
- Ze/Zer/Zem
I'm loathe to leave a job unfinished.
[X] Spend time at the hospital before meeting up with Burning Heartsink. The prior bit of work Specs left with you still needs some attention, and a patient who needs care.
Do we have a Mandate, or is the hospital work we do an at will sort of thing? Also, how are we doing on Wisps/will this be something we need to keep track of?
[X] Spend time at the hospital before meeting up with Burning Heartsink. The prior bit of work Specs left with you still needs some attention, and a patient who needs care.
Do we have a Mandate, or is the hospital work we do an at will sort of thing? Also, how are we doing on Wisps/will this be something we need to keep track of?
- Location
- Here & There
[X] Call your dad and see if you can have lunch with him, maybe. Between volunteering and your adventures at night, you only see him briefly when you're home. If he's on lunch (or awake, depending on his shift), then you can both meet up.
- Location
- St. Petersburg
Oh, God, I did not expect us to be that tiny.
Well, at least we'd be hard to aim at!That sounds like a premise for a new entry in the Metro franchise. Now with magical girls!
[x] Bite the bullet and meet the Boy in the Church. Strange but knowledgeable, you nonetheless don't really know where you stand with him. But if anyone is going to know anything, it's him.
Color me intrigued.
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