Besides the fact that it will probably be more energy consuming, I don´t think that we will have the luxury of having a forest nearby everytime we want to kill a lot of enemies at once. *Hints again at the vampire wannabe incident*
We do need conventional weaponry if only for the fact that we won't have a forest or plain available to us all the time.
That being said, I now get how we become a classical villain. We get Ara Ara~'d so much it drives us insane and we start purging humanity from the Earth.
Besides the fact that it will probably be more energy consuming, I don´t think that we will have the luxury of having a forest nearby everytime we want to kill a lot of enemies at once. *Hints again at the vampire wannabe incident*
Why would we not carry any pre-prepared seeds? Why would be in an area totally devoid of any nature for us to make use of? Also even if we did have another vampire wannabe incident it might be worth remembering that we were still able to summon a ton of dangerous roots that more or less insta killed whatever we used them on and this happened while we were practically beginners. Another problem is that we would have to make pre-prepared arrows when we can just carry other stuff instead. Like a firearm! Then we can leave the more esoteric stuff to our chlorokinesis.
You mean the literal master level chlorokinesis we have needs more control to do something like this? It makes more sense for us to need to practice accuracy rather than control.
You mean the literal master level chlorokinesis we have needs more control to do something like this? It makes more sense for us to need to practice accuracy rather than control.
You mean the literal master level chlorokinesis we have needs more control to do something like this? It makes more sense for us to need to practice accuracy rather than control.
I´m pretty sure our control lies more in scouting living beings in a forest, trapping and growing fast. I don´t recall us doing something like commanding a tree to use it´s branches as projectiles.
It would probably depend on the shape of the arrow. If it has specially designed fins we might be able to make small adjustments to the trajectory in mid-air. Though over all I would recommend learning archery for that over trying to compensate for our poor skill with small techniques. This is an area where archery wins out over firearm since due to it relatively simple design we can imitate it a lot easier with our chlorokinesis.
I´m pretty sure our control lies more in scouting living beings in a forest, trapping and growing fast. I don´t recall us doing something like commanding a tree to use it´s branches as projectiles.
Mostly because we have never even tried to do so so far. Every time we have tried something so far we have been able to do custom actions we come up with. An easy example would be the gags we made, they were good enough that the Aphrodite campers could not make a sound, that is some good quality gags and not metaphorically sticking a sock in their mouthes.
Why would we not carry any pre-prepared seeds? Why would be in an area totally devoid of any nature for us to make use of? Also even if we did have another vampire wannabe incident it might be worth remembering that we were still able to summon a ton of dangerous roots that more or less insta killed whatever we used them on and this happened while we were practically beginners. Another problem is that we would have to make pre-prepared arrows when we can just carry other stuff instead. Like a firearm! Then we can leave the more esoteric stuff to our chlorokinesis.
We already carry seeds with us so I didn´t see a point in mentioning it.
"Why would be in an area totally devoid of any nature for us to make use of?" Lot´s of reasons actually, like being lured to that place, being in a quest, being (probably) abducted, a field trip at highschool, etc. Point is, we won´t be at the top of our game all the time, and remember that- yes, we did summon a crap ton of roots that time- we also almost passed out because of that stunt if it wasn´t for Blossom. Begginers or not, it would suck if that happened again, which is why I suggested a plan that will be cost efficient.
The firearm is not a bad idea, but hiding it with us at all times will be difficult (not as much like a bow and arrows). And I did vote at the Tool options so that in the future we can make those easely.
It would probably depend on the shape of the arrow. If it has specially designed fins we might be able to make small adjustments to the trajectory in mid-air. Though over all I would recommend learning archery for that over trying to compensate for our poor skill with small techniques. This is an area where archery wins out over firearm since due to it relatively simple design we can imitate it a lot easier with our chlorokinesis.
Mostly because we have never even tried to do so so far. Every time we have tried something so far we have been able to do custom actions we come up with. An easy example would be the gags we made, they were good enough that the Aphrodite campers could not make a sound, that is some good quality gags and not metaphorically sticking a sock in their mouthes.
That is like saying that a prop spear would be a good monster hunting weapon just because a small child could wield it. Sure, low-poundage bows will be viable for someone our age, but it would do jack shit against actually dangerous monsters since it will have short range and low impact. Why not learn to use a firearm? They are way better in almost every way other than stealth and they are actually possible for a child to wield while being a proper threat. Or we can use our magic powers that are minimally affected by our age compared to everything else.
"Why would be in an area totally devoid of any nature for us to make use of?" Lot´s of reasons actually, like being lured to that place, being in a quest, being (probably) abducted, a field trip at highschool, etc. Point is, we won´t be at the top of our game all the time, and remember that- yes, we did summon a crap ton of roots that time- we also almost passed out because of that stunt if it wasn´t for Blossom. Begginers or not, it would suck if that happened again, which is why I suggested a plan that will be cost efficient.
The crux of my problem is that it is not actually more efficient since we would still have to expend energy to use bows. As mentioned before good bows are nothing to scoff at, but they also need a strong user. Which, we are not. Another thing to take into consideration is the time investment to learn to use the bow. How much more can we learn to do with our powers by the time we are passable with the bow? Though to be fair I am actually being really critical of you due to your arguments and not due to what you are arguing for. As mentioned before there are valuable skills for us to learn by learning archery, chief of which is aiming which will be good if we want to make imitations of bows with out powers.
The firearm is not a bad idea, but hiding it with us at all times will be difficult (not as much like a bow and arrows). And I did vote at the Tool options so that in the future we can make those easely.
I personally don't really see the problem with carrying a firearm most places compared to bows and arrows because unless you are at an archery range or in the woods people will acknowledge that they are lethal weapons. To be able to carry either a firearm or a bow in public places we would have to get some kind of magic to conceal them from the public until we need to use them.
I don't really get what you mean by this. What I was trying to convey was that we have never tried to make any kind of tools (like a bow and arrow) so saying that we need better control over our chlorokinesis to make them is not something I will buy before we try it.
I don't think I have seen that discussion, but I really doubt that they are not effective against monsters since we do actually see regular firearms being effective against giants. This is not even getting into the ones that use celestial bronze which seem to kill monster even easier than regular guns kill humans. Though ammo concerns are very much a thing, especially since I don't think most Demi-gods have the patience to pick up their basically indestructible bullets made of celestial bronze after the fight is done. Which would make ammo retention really bad for most Demi-gods.
The crux of my problem is that it is not actually more efficient since we would still have to expend energy to use bows. As mentioned before good bows are nothing to scoff at, but they also need a strong user. Which, we are not. Another thing to take into consideration is the time investment to learn to use the bow. How much more can we learn to do with our powers by the time we are passable with the bow? Though to be fair I am actually being really critical of you due to your arguments and not due to what you are arguing for. As mentioned before there are valuable skills for us to learn by learning archery, chief of which is aiming which will be good if we want to make imitations of bows with out powers.
I personally don't really see the problem with carrying a firearm most places compared to bows and arrows because unless you are at an archery range or in the woods people will acknowledge that they are lethal weapons. To be able to carry either a firearm or a bow in public places we would have to get some kind of magic to conceal them from the public until we need to use them.
I don't really get what you mean by this. What I was trying to convey was that we have never tried to make any kind of tools (like a bow and arrow) so saying that we need better control over our chlorokinesis to make them is not something I will buy before we try it.
I don't think I have seen that discussion, but I really doubt that they are not effective against monsters since we do actually see regular firearms being effective against giants. This is not even getting into the ones that use celestial bronze which seem to kill monster even easier than regular guns kill humans. Though ammo concerns are very much a thing, especially since I don't think most Demi-gods have the patience to pick up their basically indestructible bullets made of celestial bronze after the fight is done. Which would make ammo retention really bad for most Demi-gods.
1-Yes, we will use energy to create bows and arrows most of the time we will fight, but compared to controlling a forest or going Hashirama style like some have suggested I´m pretty sure the cost to create a bow is little to nothing.
We may take a while to be good with a bow indeed but we are already at apprentice level because of the few times we learned to use it at the camp while we would have to learn how to use and maintain a gun from scratch. Creating though will be another matter.
2-We use a bag-which is really sloppy I admit- or we get good enough at creating them with the seeds we carry. We will have to start somewhere anyway.
3-Again, we all have to start somewhere.
4-Guns may be effective with some monsters, I agree, but we would still need to get celestial bronze-which is kinda rare-and we aren´t currently at the half-blood camp to ask for some. Besides, one of the future advantages the arrows we could create will hold is that we could embue them with concepts making them versatile as hell.
[X][Training] Join a Martial Arts Dojo of some kind.
-[X][Training] Krav Maga
[X][Training] Have your dad teach you how to survive on your own. Not just in the wilderness, but in cities too.
[X][Training] Your dad knows how to set traps for game, you just need to figure out how to make them work on monsters.
[X][Training] Explore the city via Parkour.
[X][Concept] You went for simpler concepts, that you felt you could achieve easily. (pick 2)
-[X][Concept] You combined your own version of the concept of durability with Willow's.
-[X][Concept] The Concept of nutrition. You won't need to find too many edible plants if you ever need to forage for food.
[X][Derivative] Focus on Both (3 to Each)
[X][Training] Have your dad teach you how to survive on your own. Not just in the wilderness, but in cities too.
[X][Training] Your dad knows how to set traps for game, you just need to figure out how to make them work on monsters.
[X][Training] You should probably learn some first-aid skills at some point.
[X][Training] Practice your artistic skills.
[X][Concept] You went for simpler concepts, that you felt you could achieve easily. (pick 2)
-[X][Concept] You combined your own version of the concept of durability with Willow's.
-[X][Concept] The Concept of size. Make plants bigger without needing to make them grow.
[X][Derivative] You focus on manipulating more plants, over a wider area (6 EXP Points to Macro-Chlorokinesis)
[X][Training] Train Macro-Chlorokinesis in the parks #4
I don't think I have seen that discussion, but I really doubt that they are not effective against monsters since we do actually see regular firearms being effective against giants. This is not even getting into the ones that use celestial bronze which seem to kill monster even easier than regular guns kill humans. Though ammo concerns are very much a thing, especially since I don't think most Demi-gods have the patience to pick up their basically indestructible bullets made of celestial bronze after the fight is done. Which would make ammo retention
Fighting monsters with anything but a mythic metal is handicapping yourself. The average monster gets dusted by a solid hit with a celestial bronze weapon. Normal weapons have some effect but are never shown to kill*.
If you use celestial bronze bullets it can work, but there's obviously a reason more demigods don't use them unless our GM rules that Canon is stupid and we aren't taking cues from it**. I've always been of the option that it's the ammo concern, and the fact that anything bullets can accomplish a demigod can get good enough at archery to do too***. There might also be factors like demigods not being naturally talented at the skill thereby needing to pick it up like a normal person and the Mist not concealing the fact that it's a gun, but those are just my head-canon.
*Whether they can actually kill or not is up to our GM. Canon contradicts itself in places.
**It's a sad fact that for many fandoms you must the establish which parts of canon will be respected if you try to make a coherent and internally consistent world out of things. It can be followed closely or thrown out the window, but clear communication of it is important.
***Yes the physics shouldn't work like that, but physics don't seem to apply to anything strong enough.
There any chance that Sam might be able to use the Concept of Growth on himself? While I'm sure it wouldn't be as dramatic as if he was affecting plants, I imagine it might be a nasty surprise for anyone who expects Sam to be a squishy Wizard-type.
[X][Concept] You went for simpler concepts, that you felt you could achieve easily. (pick 2)
-[X][Concept] The Concept of nutrition. You won't need to find too many edible plants if you ever need to forage for food.
-[X][Concept] The Concept of size. Make plants bigger without needing to make them grow.
[X][Derivative] You focus on your fine control, changing the plants biologically (6 EXP Points to Plant Modification)
[X][Training] Train Plant Modification.
[X][Training] Focus on the Concept of Growth
[X][Training] Have your dad teach you how to survive on your own. Not just in the wilderness, but in cities too.
[X][Training] Your dad knows how to set traps for game, you just need to figure out how to make them work on monsters.
[X][Event] Someone or something is following you.
[X][Event] Bloom.
[X][Concept] You went for simpler concepts, that you felt you could achieve easily. (pick 2)
-[X][Concept] You combined your own version of the concept of durability with Willow's.
-[X][Concept] The Concept of tools. Your plants will form tools more readily and easily.
[X][Training] Your dad knows how to set traps for game, you just need to figure out how to make them work on monsters.
[X][Derivative] You focus on your fine control, changing the plants biologically (6 EXP Points to Plant Modification)
[X][Training] Train Plant Modification.
[X][Event] Meeting up with Pear
[X][Event] Bloom.
Also, to the whole "we'll die if we go to the Old World", I think it's pretty presumptuous to assume we'll have a choice in whether we go there.
Don't forget, we're currently under divine, "we might just kill you to be sure", probation. They think we're the prophecy child, and as far as we know that won't change until a Big Three child shows up.
Demeter hasn't given us any uber special protection, and if she has, that can only protect us in so many ways.
If we get a quest that takes us to Greece, then it's a wrap.
[x][Training] Your dad knows how to set traps for game, you just need to figure out how to make them work on monsters. [x][Training] Practice with your War-scythe on your own. No. of Votes: 1
[36][Concept] You went for simpler concepts, that you felt you could achieve easily. (pick 2)
-[33][Concept] You combined your own version of the concept of durability with Willow's.
-[21][Concept] The Concept of suppression. It certainly won't suppress anything significant, but it might make your opponent weaker
[23][Derivative] You focus on manipulating more plants, over a wider area (6 EXP Points to Macro-Chlorokinesis)
[25][Training] Focus on the Concept of Growth
[23][Training] Train Macro-Chlorokinesis in the parks
[17][Training] Train Macro-Chlorokinesis in the parks #2
[14][Training] Focus on the Concept of Growth #2
[27][Event] Meeting up with Pear
[26][Event] Bloom.
On the way back from camp, you told your dad a… partially censored version of what happened at camp. You definitely didn't tell him about the monster attacks or meeting Hestia, because those are the sorts of things that would just make him worry needlessly. No matter how much either of you wished, he currently had no way to protect you in those situations, so it was up to you to learn how to protect yourself.
What you did tell him about were all the friends you made, including all your half-sisters.
"So you're telling me that at least half of your friends are trees?"
"They're dryads, dad!" you say, face starting to burn, "They're nature spirits. They might be plants, but they are very human."
"When you were younger, you refused to be around anybody but me and your plants, so I suppose I should have expected that when I told you to go and make some friends, you would befriend plants."
"Dad!"
He mumbles something that sounds suspiciously like "Still got it."
It had only been two months, but you missed your dad.
Despite wanting to refute his claims about you being anti-social, the first thing you did when you got home was to check the various plants growing around your house. They hadn't grown as much as you had expected they would, but you supposed that was to be expected since you'd been absent.
There was one abnormality though, the number of wildflowers growing in your backyard was abnormally high.
"Dad, did you plant more flowers out here?" you call back inside.
"No, why would you say-" he cuts himself off as he steps outside and notices that the amount of wildflowers growing in your yard is improbably high. Technically, you suppose that it could happen through sheer dumb luck and coincidence, but you feel that as a demigod, you shouldn't put much stock in coincidence. What made it even odder was that it was autumn, meaning that the plants should all be preparing for the winter, since these flowers were perennial.
"I'd noticed that they started growing more, but I didn't really realize how many there were."
That he noticed them at all is a point in favor of it being a mundane coincidence. If you wanted to be really paranoid, then you'd say the mist prevented him from noticing how fast the wildflowers grew. You decided to adopt a wait and see approach for now. As far as you could tell, there wasn't anything magical or extraordinary about the wildflowers other than their sudden appearance, and you liked to think your plant sense was pretty good.
Still, you couldn't afford to be arrogant since your dad was more vulnerable than you, so you kept your plant senses on some amount of alert while you were at home.
Of course, being at home also meant school. After a fun and exciting time at Camp Half-Blood, you just weren't ready to go back to the monotony of school. Despite knowing that your education was important, at least to a certain degree, you couldn't help but feel that the whole thing was so trivial. That feeling was especially strong whenever you thought about the events of that attack.
Even without that, the dreaded half-blood learning-disabilities-slash-instincts started rearing their head. After a couple of months of being able to indulge your urge to just walk about outside whenever you wanted, being stuck inside of a school building for the majority of the day was just grating, and you struggled to pay attention to even the bare minimum you needed to ace all your classes. Additionally, high school English reached the point where your dyslexia reared its ugly head.
You had a lot of experience with English, so even seeing words that were seemingly misspelled didn't make you unable to read the texts, it was simply that the need to correct and extrapolate the words impaired your reading speed significantly. That frustrated you, which in turn played off your ADHD to make it difficult for you to concentrate long enough to finish tasks. It was a vicious cycle, and you could see how many half-bloods would fall prey to it.
Still, you refused to let your difficulties stop you from living up to the prodigy name you had made for yourself by starting high school half a decade earlier than you were supposed to.
As you continued to excel, the whispers started among the faculty, wondering whether you'd speed through high school as you had your previous education. It came to a head when the principal of Syosset High School sat you and your dad down and talked to you about the possibility of you graduating early. You knew you could do it, but did you want to? It would eat into the time you had to prepare for being a demigod and being hunted by monsters.
[][Early Graduation] Complete High School in 4 Years (4 Training Actions per Semester)
[][Early Graduation] Complete High School in 3 Years (3 Training Actions per Semester)
[][Early Graduation] Complete High School in 2 Years (2 Training Actions per Semester)
As the school year wore on, you found increasingly more inexplicable flowers among your own plants. They never seemed malicious, the plants themselves carried a feeling of mischievousness more than maliciousness, but it still put you on edge.
Each time you'd return home from school, there would be yet more flowers scattered in the backyard or about the house. Your only saving grace was that they never put any in your room. You knew that getting into your room from a place already inside your house was trivial, but emotions don't always follow logic.
After the first few times your dad didn't notice, you simply stopped telling him. He wouldn't really be able to help, and you didn't want him to worry. You were pretty sure someone was trying to play a prank on you, and judging by the method, it was probably some sort of nature spirit. After all, a monster who could get in your home without your notice would likely have killed you already. The thought was sobering, but it helped you realize that whoever was doing this likely wasn't trying to harm you, at least not immediately.
You'd tried looking into the meaning each set of flowers had, but it seemed as if they had no rhyme or reason. At least, not one you could understand. Flower language wasn't exactly an exact science, so if whoever it was was trying to encode messages to you, you were sorely failing at decoding them.
Right around the Autumn Solstice, you finally make your return to Hither Hills State Park and its massive wooded reserve.
As you approach the tree-line, you see several curious faces poke out of it to look at you. Neither Pear nor Pear's mother is among them.
"Dad, I'm gonna go talk with the dryads."
He follows your gaze, likely seeing nothing but an ordinary forest. "Alright, Sam, have fun." You're only a little surprised that he didn't opt for another 'friends with plants' jibe.
As you approach the dryads, you note that their typically green, leaf-patterned dresses were now in vibrant orange colors.
"Come on," one of them says, "Pear wants to see you before she goes to sleep!"
You suppose that explains your unasked question about what non-evergreen dryads do during the winter. It makes sense, though you're glad that you managed to catch Pear before she went to sleep.
You make your way to that same clearing where Pear's and Pear's mother's trees reside. The two are waiting for you, Pear looking impatient, while her mother looks serenely off into the middle distance.
"Hey Pear, I'm back," you say nonchalantly.
Pear walks over and picks you up, only to find that you're now tall enough that it's awkward for her to hold you. Success!
"You got bigger," she says, pouting.
"I did, I'm growing up, just like you."
She puffs out her cheeks, "Grow up slower!" she demands. Her mother seems to find this greatly amusing. She puts you down and then pulls you into a tight hug. "Missed you," she mumbles before pulling away.
"Sit," she tells you, and you, along with the rest of the dryads sit in a big circle in the clearing.
You spend the rest of the breezy autumn day regaling the dryads with your stories of camp while they giggle and ask questions about it. Pear was slightly jealous of your camaraderie with the dryad of Camp Half-Blood, declaring that she "saw you first," and therefore you were hers.
After she said that, her mother eyed you with a calculating gaze that made you want to either flee or shrink into the ground. 'Don't look at me like that!' you thought. 'There must be some sort of age- No, dryads age much slower than humans, but still!'
Eventually, the party came to a close because several of the non-evergreen trees, Pear included, needed to sleep for the winter.
When you got home that day, you were surprised to find a lack of additional flowers planted somewhere in your house.
When you entered your room, you learned that it was because the flowers hadn't been planted. Sitting innocently on your bed was a bouquet, of white carnations and white camellias if you weren't mistaken. You approached cautiously, but it appeared that the only thing aside from the flowers and cloth wrapping them up, there was only a note. It was short, only two lines and a signature.
It read:
"Hope you liked my little presents.
See you soon,
-P."
Which of course meant that there was only one person it could be. Who was associated with flowers and might be interested in you? There weren't many options, and the initial was all the confirmation you needed. Now you just needed to figure out what that last line meant.
You have gained 10 EXP points in Macro-Chlorokinesis and 6 EXP Points in the Concept of Growth.
You have made progress in the concept of Growth, either learning a new concept or making progress in a more complex one.
[][Concept] You went for a simpler concept, that you felt you could achieve easily. (pick 1)
-[][Concept] The Concept of nutrition. You won't need to find too many edible plants if you ever need to forage for food.
-[][Concept] The Concept of size. Make plants bigger without needing to make them grow.
-[][Concept] The Concept of tools. Your plants will form tools more readily and easily.
-[][Concept] The Concept of elasticity. Make your plants stretchy.
[][Concept] You attempted something more advanced (Gain ½ Progress towards a concept)
-[][Concept] The Concept of electricity. Hey, eels can do it, so why not plants?
-[][Concept] The Concept of sound. Maybe you can use them to trick people or perform ventriloquy.
-[][Concept] The Concept of adaptation. Your plant will be able to survive in any environment.
-[][Concept] The Concept of time, you're not quite sure what that will do, but it will certainly be interesting.
Number of winning choices will depend on Early Graduation vote: Remember that if you pick the same thing multiple times, to add #(number) to the end of the duplicate, like so:
[Y][Training] Focus on the Concept of Growth
[Y][Training] Focus on the Concept of Growth #2
This is for your next semester of school.
[][Training] Join a Martial Arts Dojo of some kind.
-[][Training] Karate
-[][Training] Taekwondo
-[][Training] Judo
-[][Training] Jujutsu
-[][Training] Krav Maga
[][Training] Train Macro-Chlorokinesis in the parks
[][Training] Train Plant Modification.
[][Training] Read up on Greek Legends
[][Training] Join a sports team (Athleticism is important after all)
-[][Training] Soccer
-[][Training] Football
-[][Training] Write-in.
[][Training] Focus on the Concept of Growth
[][Training] Have your dad teach you how to survive on your own. Not just in the wilderness, but in cities too.
[][Training] Your dad knows how to shoot a gun, maybe you should start taking gun safety courses so you can have one as well.
[][Training] They almost certainly have Archery lessons for kids your age. You should work on your archery
[][Training] Your dad knows how to set traps for game, you just need to figure out how to make them work on monsters.
[][Training] You should probably learn some first-aid skills at some point.
[][Training] Practice with your War-scythe on your own.
[][Training] Join a Rock-climbing group to practice climbing.
[][Training] Practice your artistic skills.
[][Training] Write-in.
Pick 2 Events
[][Event] Trying to make friends.
[][Event] Someone or something is following you.
[][Event] Sam's 10th Birthday Party
[][Event] Career Paths
ΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦ
Votes for the next chapter: