Xander [Quest], Thread Ten: You Blame Navi For This

Cytokinesis said:
We're 3+'s ahead on pure combat prowess. We gained a lot from the tournament.
I'd missed that.
Cytokinesis said:
Still, if we keep going on adventures like this we're going to be quite near the top in pure skill by the time we get to the tournament. Some of the other contestants may have good training, but we have good training and epic adventure that their teachers would never let them get involved with this young on Alex's side.
The thing is, we don't have good training by the standards we're talking about. We have one good teacher for a few hours a week, as we spend most of our time at school or at home. The ninja children, for example, live and breathe it full time. Medaka's school is part of a program to create super-humans
Cytokinesis said:
The very top tier (Altria, Medaka, Son Goku) is still going to be a challenge and warrant magic use, but the middle rankers should be within our capability (as they were during this tournament too).
Ayane would have had a better than even chance if we hadn't used magic against her in my judgement. I think Kahlua could have totally kicked our ass if she'd taken the tournament at all seriously and not worn a dress, and next time she's going to have been properly training for a rematch and won't go down so easily.
 
[X]Remain where you are
-[x]Ask Briar what she means about her mom being petty
--[x] Cycle through all your senses, magical, spiritual and mundane, to examine the dome more closely.
---[x]If insufficient data, THEN use a Spell of Divination while Briar watches your back.

Honestly I think we should go into item crafting for Larry. Sure he can't cast a spell but that doesn't mean he can't use it. He's got some aerosoft practice right? Who says magically enhanced firearms can't be practical. I for one would like a Sniper acting as Overwatch.
 
Alratan said:
There's also the question of opportunity cost. Power isn't linear in this setting, it seems. The same effort applied to augmenting Amy or Cordelia's ability to learn their own supernatural abilities may produce a greater over all return.
I don't see why we can't help everyone at once - it's just some % of mana to put up a comprehensive divination setup for our friends, and we can do it on a quiet day together with Lu-sensei, Amy watching us while Cordy and Larry watches Lu-sensei.
To be honest, he's not going to be able to keep up. We need to give him something to try to prevent him becoming collateral damage, but he's not going to be suitable for the front lines.

I think the best role for him could be as the one that manages to grow up and live a normal life, and escape from the war. It's Larry who'll act as our bridge to normality. He'll effectively be our Xander.
Let's please just test out if we can figure out a way to help him.
I don't want him to become our Xander, I remember some of the shit that guy went through (remember that priest? Do not want him to take out Larry's eye), which I don't want our friend to suffer through.
As soon as we work out how to create mana potions/batteries her big limitation, which is her small fuel tank will disappear, and limiting her to supplying Larry will be a waste of her skills. She'd probably be better off making magic items to enhance her own or Cordelia's abilities, or honing her skill and stockpiling mana.
I meant more that Amy'll be the one responsible for long-duration magical buffs, in our group.
Not that she'd be focusing on Larry specifically.
What summer party? This summer we're doing the Familiar Binding in England, I think.
Been mentioned multiple times in previous threads - there's been talk, on and off, about having a gathering of all our friends during summer.
4 years without meeting face to face is a very long time, for 8 year olds.
Ambrose is magically handling her mail, and Altria has a futuristic magi-tech mobile phone. I rather suspect they're either in on the secret or they can't intercept it.
Pretty sure they're away of it, yes.
That's possible, but feels rather risky.
How is asking the Three if they'd want us to start something here a bad move...?
I think it'd be received well, show that we're willing to not go down the same route Ganondorf did.
Alratan said:
The thing is, we don't have good training by the standards we're talking about. We have one good teacher for a few hours a week, as we spend most of our time at school or at home. The ninja children, for example, live and breathe it full time. Medaka's school is part of a program to create super-humans
Basic reason we managed to keep up with all of this was that we cheated outrageously, agreed.
But we've reached the point where our training with Lu-sensei will be massively more effective, considering we've got divination spells and massively improved ki use (and we're lining up potential magic trainers).
Ayane would have had a better than even chance if we hadn't used magic against her in my judgement. I think Kahlua could have totally kicked our ass if she'd taken the tournament at all seriously and not worn a dress, and next time she's going to have been properly training for a rematch and won't go down so easily.
We might not end up fighting Kahlua, next time - I for one want to go with the weapon division next time.
 
Krain said:
I don't see why we can't help everyone at once - it's just some % of mana to put up a comprehensive divination setup for our friends, and we can do it on a quiet day together with Lu-sensei, Amy watching us while Cordy and Larry watches Lu-sensei.


Let's please just test out if we can figure out a way to help him.
I don't want him to become our Xander, I remember some of the shit that guy went through (remember that priest? Do not want him to take out Larry's eye), which I don't want our friend to suffer through.


I meant more that Amy'll be the one responsible for long-duration magical buffs, in our group.
Not that she'd be focusing on Larry specifically.


Been mentioned multiple times in previous threads - there's been talk, on and off, about having a gathering of all our friends during summer.
4 years without meeting face to face is a very long time, for 8 year olds.


Pretty sure they're away of it, yes.


How is asking the Three if they'd want us to start something here a bad move...?
I think it'd be received well, show that we're willing to not go down the same route Ganondorf did.


Basic reason we managed to keep up with all of this was that we cheated outrageously, agreed.
But we've reached the point where our training with Lu-sensei will be massively more effective, considering we've got divination spells and massively improved ki use (and we're lining up potential magic trainers).


We might not end up fighting Kahlua, next time - I for one want to go with the weapon division next time.
don't forget our ridiculous bevy of super senses.

Seriously Spiritual sight, Ki Sight and Magical sight? Along side a more general 'sense' for each of them. given the way they allow us to learn from people so extensively by simple observation allowing us to jury rig techniques that should require extensive training to pull off I think we are very likely to keep pace with the others at this point just by observing them in battle :p

That is ignoring the real part of our power which is hyper competence in magic, we aren't just very skilled for an 8 year in magic. We are prodigy so far into the extreme end of the bell curve that normal prodigies would look like a drooling retard in comparison.
 
Able to cough up 6th level spells at eight years old? 7th if he takes his sweet time?

I doubt there are that many grown adults on Buffyverse. Everybody else doesn't look like a bunch of drooling idiots because this world is also packed full of super prodigies like Alex.
 
Guys, you do realise this is a Zelda puzzle, right? It's almost certainly going to involve filling the bowls, likely in some symbolically meaningful way.

[x] Float down from the trees and go closer.
- [x] Investigate one of the bowl-bearing statues.
 
GamingGeek said:
((I believe I've said before that I'm a believer that the PTB are actually the bad guys who managed to get control of this world and only let the heroes win just enough so that noone else takes over))
I'm ashamed to say that it's one of the few good points that PL had on his fanfics crossing over with Buffy.

Then again, sometimes the crazy psychopath have a point.
 
On the other hand, we've bet a surprising number of young prodigies or potential prodigies that have had seals applied to them, even if we did everything possible to avoid finding out about one of them.
 
ryuan said:
I'm ashamed to say that it's one of the few good points that PL had on his fanfics crossing over with Buffy.

Then again, sometimes the crazy psychopath have a point.
There are many other authors who explained the whole better than PL. Like Dogbertcarroll.
 
Alratan said:
On the other hand, we've bet a surprising number of young prodigies or potential prodigies that have had seals applied to them, even if we did everything possible to avoid finding out about one of them.
Which one of them? We helped Tatsuki, Ranma unfortunatelly went away too fast, who else is left?

Somebody from sunndale?


Enohthree said:
There are many other authors who explained the whole better than PL. Like Dogbertcarroll.
Can I get a link to clean my soul?
 
SuperSonicSound said:
don't forget our ridiculous bevy of super senses.

Seriously Spiritual sight, Ki Sight and Magical sight? Along side a more general 'sense' for each of them. given the way they allow us to learn from people so extensively by simple observation allowing us to jury rig techniques that should require extensive training to pull off I think we are very likely to keep pace with the others at this point just by observing them in battle :p
Yep, we're the perfect student; we are really good at absorbing all kinds of info.
That is ignoring the real part of our power which is hyper competence in magic, we aren't just very skilled for an 8 year in magic. We are prodigy so far into the extreme end of the bell curve that normal prodigies would look like a drooling retard in comparison.
This whole generation is filled with prodigies that would make 'normal' prodigies look like idiots.
When you have a group consisting of Medaka, Goku, Altria and us, there's going to be some raised eyebrows about just what global event happened when these kids were conceived (we're covering at least 3 different continents here, so it's not a Japan-exclusive thing).

(And this isn't counting Reincarnation Club)
GamingGeek said:
Or else something out there kills off the super-prodigies before they can make a difference to the world.

The 'Powers that Be' don't like their balance disrupted after all. It should tell you all you need to know about them. Balance means Good can't win. If they were the good guys they would have no issue with the heroes winning.
Thankfully, unlike Angel we're not really reliant on the PTB (although I find it doubtful that something is killing off super-prodigies - there's Beryl and Lyra around still and say what you will about Beryl, she's not exactly out for world domination, by the looks of things)... there is no real reason we ever need to heed their wishes.
 
tenchifew said:
Ichio is also bound, although he also was in canon if I remember correctly.
And regarding super prodigies: I think Alex has a realistic chance to cast his first meteor swarm before age ten. Ninth level spells at the age of nine... This would be... interesting?
His focus is summoning, so instead of meteor swarm, which is frankly shit, he will be opening GATES.
 
I'm not so sure we will be hitting B rank or higher in general magic any time soon. I mean we've used an awful lot of magic over the preceeding how ever many threads and we've not seen a + to our general magic.

Hell our general physical and social prowesses are higher.

I think 6th or 7th level magic when using rituals is really all we will get for a good while, not that I'm complaining thats still fantastical amounts of power. Ideally I'd like us to boost up our mediation and mana regen sub skills so we can recover our magic much more rapidly.
 
ryuan said:
Did we noticed she had all her spiritual power sealed away or something? Besides, she will be fine by herself.
No, we did our best not to find out.

Kagome would have been fine by herself. Lots of other people would have been hurt or killed. We've now also butterflied things signficiantly by proving that Spiritual Powers and magic are certainly real - in the original time line, she started off using her powers unknowingly. This could have all sorts of impacts, for good or ill.

What's important is that now we've changed things, we can't just blithely assume that things will work out. We opened her eyes to the 'real' world of the supernatural. We have a responsibility to give her the best foudation we can to face it. Part of that is doing the spirutual health check require to find out and tell her that she has an evil artifact hidden inside her soul that contains a spirit that is sealing away her powers. It's simply the right thing to do.

We owe her anyway. She gave us the spiritual reagent we needed and asked for nothing in return. The least we can do is scan her, work out what potential she has for power and give her a basic introduction/point her in the direction of trustworthy teachers. I think it's irresponsible to tell a child "magic exists" and leave them to run around on their own without any more guidance anyway.

More pragmatically, with appropriate training, she'd make an amazingly useful member of the Justice League some people want to found. She's potentially spectacularly powerful, based on her Past Life's feats.
earth-destroyer said:
Mind backing that claim up.
From the wiki:

Spiritual Powers & Abilities: Kagome can pass through barriers, spells, and illusions, and can also sense evil auras and be unaffected by them. Kikyō also once showed her how to fuse jewel shards together through prayer. It is also revealed that her innate spiritual powers and abilities are to an enormously great extent, but have been sealed by Magatsuhi, the evil will of the Shikon Jewel. When Magatsuhi was destroyed by Sesshōmaru's Tenseiga, her innate spiritual powers and abilities were released to their full potential, enabling her to gain complete access to much, much stronger powers and abilities she had never knew she possessed. She can also create a lavender-colored dome out of her spiritual powers which protects her and destroys enemies. Note that Kagome's spiritual powers are pale glowing purple in color though sometimes it is purplish-pink and pale glowing blue on some occasions.​
 
Alratan said:
To be honest, he's not going to be able to keep up. We need to give him something to try to prevent him becoming collateral damage, but he's not going to be suitable for the front lines.
Please don't dismiss Larry. We have yet to text him for magical potential.
 
Nightblade said:
Please don't dismiss Larry. We have yet to text him for magical potential.
For some reason from the hints given I think Larry Grandmother was a Hunter with her amazing stories. If this is the case Cordy will be the Ki adept of our little group, Amy the magic girl, and Larry will be the Swiss army knife weapon user of guns, knives, and exploiting weaknesses.
 
GhostKing 666 said:
Yeah we have. Him and Cordy, they are both zilch in the magic department without years of training. And even then they won't be able to do more then some minor tricks.
They still shouldn't flat out dismiss Larry. Guy could be a weaponry expert.
 
[X]Remain where you are
-[x]Ask Briar what she means about her mom being petty
--[x] Cycle through all your senses, magical, spiritual and mundane, to examine the dome more closely.
---[x]If insufficient data, THEN use a Spell of Divination while Briar watches your back.
 
[x] Plan Wand Bagon.

"What do you mean by 'petty,' Briar?" you ask.

"Oh, this." She waves in the direction of the dome. "Like dumping us in another dimension full of monsters to fetch a bunch of useless junk as some kind of character test wasn't bad enough, she goes ahead and locks the damn doors, too." Briar sighs. "And from the look of things, it's one of those Hylian puzzle-locks. She KNOWS I hate those things."

For some unfathomable reason, the phrase "Hylian puzzle-locks" sends a chill of foreboding down your spine. Shivering, you do your best to ignore the sensation.

"Not fond of interactive puzzles, I take it?"

"No. Mainly because the guys who make them have absolutely no consideration for anybody smaller than the average Hylian kid, if they think ahead even that far. If you're lucky, they weren't completely thorough about sealing all the little entryways to a chamber, or time and the elements have opened up a few holes, or maybe, MAYBE there are exploitable flaws in the warding magic - but otherwise, nobody my size has a hope in hell of getting past doors like this."

As Briar grumbles, that chill grows to a sense of despair - if you had to put it into words, they would be, "Oh god, why?" - as well as a heated impulse to just blow the door open. You have to shake your head to clear the feelings. Seriously, what the heck is with you all of a sudden?

Putting that question aside for now, you focus on the dome, bringing your senses to bear.

Ki Sight doesn't reveal anything beyond the vague, not-quite-life-force of the plants clinging to the dome and the grass growing around it, but when you shift to the pure spiritual spectrum, you start to learn things. The dome is solid enough that it blocks your augmented vision, but the carved slab of stone acting as its door isn't quite as thick, and from beyond it, you gain a sense of either one Guardian-level entity or several weaker ones - stronger than the Poes and most of the animal-spirits you've seen out here. The energies in question are in motion, which combined with your limited field of view makes it difficult to say anything more.

Gained Spiritual Sight D+

As for Mage Sight... whew. The dome is warded, a simple but powerful abjuration that looks like it would stop any form of cross-dimensional movement cold, and be similarly resistant to attempts to dispel its protection. A separate enchantment covers the door, inactive elements of transformation forming a pattern that gives you the feeling of an empty keyhole. This spell links the door to the two bowls that flank it, and a third magic connects those bowls to the ring of statues. The overall impression you get is that by doing something to the outer ring of bowls, you'll cause a reaction in one or both of the bowls on the archway, and that getting both of them to react will in turn open the door. Exactly what you're supposed to do, however, remains unclear.

You're tempted to cast a Spell of Divination, but really, you could probably get an idea of how to handle the bowls just by going down and looking at them more closely.

What do you do?

[ ] Stick with the plan, and cast Divination.
[ ] Go down and investigate the bowls directly.
[ ] Screw the puzzle; cast whatever spell is required to open that door, NOW.
LanguagAe said:
Off topic a bit but are their dice deciding how successful our actions are going to be.
OOC: No. I look at Alex's ranks to get an idea of how well he can pursue the course of action selected by the winning vote, and then let my muse out.
 
[X] Go down and investigate the bowls directly.
Mental Prowess: D. You have very good mental capabilities for someone of your age. You're near the top of your classes, have no problem with books written for the under-13 audience (when you care to read), and are a fair hand at solving all sorts of puzzles. Take that, Link!
Lets do this thing! We'll prove to ourselves that we're superior to Ganondorf by successfully beating a puzzle test!
 
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