Turn 15
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Time passes, and the shadow on the sundial moves...
???: 43 All is quiet, all is calm.
After your conversation with Donovan, you still can't forget his strange behavior and his uncharacteristic empathic displays during the conversation. There's also one, no, two other things that bother you: the cults in town, which are not that important, and Mellone's orientation.
You vaguely recall seeing him in the cafeteria with cheerleaders several times, but on the other hand, all the known members of his cult are sports guys of school-age... In light of recent revelations, the question arises: should you fear for your rear, or is it just paranoia?
In any case, as a result of the many revelations of the past week, a vast canvas of possibilities stretches in front of you, limited only by your ability to allocate your priorities. Your stock of occult texts is about to run out and needs to be replenished. Hands are itching to try out the tools to create empowered items. Bargaining with the Cult of Heart promises new opportunities, and the Wood are ready to reveal their secrets under the light of the Lantern...
* * *
Brockton Bay's sparse greenery tries to represent the awakening of nature. There's a distinct breath of spring in the air, even through the pervasive smog. At times it begins to drizzle a nasty cold rain, common to the nasty New England coastal climate. King Vader is still here, trying to get some rest before another business trip (or maybe find his way to the Wood).He won't be here long. (-1 mind action per turn for study, +1 funds in pocket every 2nd study week)
You have three body actions (B), four mind actions (M), and four passion actions (P). You have 38 funds at your disposal (all available savings).
Influences:
- Visible Vitality - Heartbeats like thunder! (+15 to body rolls) 3 Lv.
- Visible Enlightenment - Enlightenment is so close! In a little while, even the uninitiated will be able to feel the light of my mind! (+15 to the Study rolls. May lose 1 or 2 steps or, in critical failure, turn into a Fascination) 3 Lv.
- Trembling Airs - The toes tap. All is brisk and all is well. [The influence of the second level: obvious to the susceptible, instantly recognized by the knowledgeable.] (Power 2) - 2D6 to the lowest action roll, whose principle is the same as the principle of influence. Can be used in some rituals to summon underlings. It works from the next turn.
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Turn 15 Results
When you have completed the things planned for today, you put the diary aside. With all this new Knowledge and the hum of thousands of little wings settling in your head again, it is not hard to forget about the event that has long been circled in the desk calendar. The Creation of the Cult.
But a cult with only one member is nothing more than an exotic fad. You have to choose a follower. And you will identify the right person among the available candidates when you put on the right vestments and prepare the right ceremony.
It's almost time.
* * *
Influences:
- Visible Vitality - Heartbeats like thunder! (+15 to body rolls) 3 Lv.
- Visible Enlightenment - Enlightenment is so close! In a little while, even the uninitiated will be able to feel the light of my mind! (+15 to the Study rolls. May lose 1 or 2 steps or, in critical failure, turn into a Fascination) 3 Lv.
- Trembling Airs - The toes tap. All is brisk and all is well. [The influence of the second level: obvious to the susceptible, instantly recognized by the knowledgeable.] (Power 2) - 2D6 to the lowest action roll, whose principle is the same as the principle of influence. Can be used in some rituals to summon underlings. It works from the next turn.
Work:
[X] (B) This body is my 3.
Requires 2 passes, chance of success 60%. (On completion of +1 body action, increased vitality)
Required: 40. Roll: 45 + 10 (Decreasing Growth Burst.) + 15 (Visible Vitality) + 10 (Gym Pass) + 5 (Natural Development) + 7 (2d6 (2, 5) Words that Walk) = 92 Pass.
Since you have mastered the Knowledge of the Heart, exercise is surprisingly easy, and progress can be seen with the naked eye. It's still far from peak form, but your muscles will be the envy of more than just people your age. Plus, the growth spurt and abundant nutrition combined with grueling exercise seem to have spurred your body to stretch upward. You weren't short before, but if you keep this up, you might make the volleyball team, or even lead it, given all that muscle mass.
[X] (B) Mastering the Edge. How to Make a Fist. Now that you're almost certainly not going to break your neck in a fall, Mr. Fisher (aka Martin) is going to start teaching you martial arts. More specifically, methods on how to inflict exactly the right amount of damage on your opponent and avoid his attempts to do the same
Requires 6 passes, a 60% chance of success. (On completion will receive a trait combat statistics, + open access to the next stage, +variable)
Required: 40. Roll: 84 + 5 (Stronger Physique) + 15 (Visible Vitality) + 3 (2d6 (1, 2 Words that Walk) = 107 Artificial Creed!
Once the very basics have been deemed satisfactory by your mentor, the real training begins. Although, in fact, these are also the basics but a bit more advanced, and have some relation to the art of inflicting injuries of varying degrees of severity on one's fellow man.
After everyone laughed at your attempt at a fighting stance (which Martin, who laughed the loudest, asked you to demonstrate), the instructor began to poke your body into different poses. As it turned out, these are the stances you will have to take when you continue to perform techniques. In the meantime, you have to learn how to move from one to the other so that you don't get your own feet entangled. Step by step.
Received: ??? 1/3. (Roll of difficulty definition 2d6+1: 1.1.)
Body Trait: Huge - It didn't happen overnight, but over time and with persistent physical development you began to rise above most people. This has some advantages. (+5 to rolls in Aggressive Negotiations, some changes in social interactions. From a certain stage of body/martial arts development - bonuses to direct confrontation).
[X] (M) The Ascension of the Foundation. You have several people who can help with your goal of Ascension. But first, you need to create something that will bring you together. A society, an order, a cult. Requires 1 pass, 100%/70%/30% chance of success. (When selected, triggers a sub-vote to select the aspect to which the cult will be dedicated and the first follower. Choices are limited to aspects of which you have Knowledge. Once decided, you cannot change your decision).
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Interlude "The Way to Greatness"
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[X] (P) The creation of art.
It takes 1 pass, and the chances of success are 80%/60%/40%/20%/5%
Required: 20/40/60/80/95. Roll: 16 x 1.5 (Emotional Fountain) + 10 (Wild Imagination) + 5 (Painter) + 5 (Good Paint Set) = 44 Pass.
This time you get a strange idea: You draw a picture that is a reflection in the mirror hanging on the wall of the opposite wall with a plant in a pot and a picture hanging above it. No, that painting is no longer a mirror, which is a reflection of another painting above the potted flower, which is a reflection of... In short, it's not recursion. Although you were tempted to draw something like this, it's probably too complicated for now.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
The idea of recursion and more creative use of mirrors was written down in the diary and postponed until better times. The current work, however, waited for the paint to dry and went to a familiar store, where it passed into the hands of the elderly owner in exchange for a good sum of money. Unfortunately, all of it was immediately spent (with a small surcharge) on a new set of paints, as yours was almost out of some important colors. Well, you didn't need those pocket money that badly.
Received: 3 funds. Spent on new paint set 1d4: 4 funds. Total: -1 unit of funds from the current inventory.
Dream:
[X] (P) There is a Home in the Wood. Now I know the way to the Forest, which surrounds the walls of the Abode with a black ball of roots (though the Abode has no walls). With enough strength of emotion, I will be able to walk again on the road to the Forest. Now that my path through the tangle of branches can be illuminated by the mighty Knowledge of the Lampade, it won't be difficult to pass any further. It takes 1 pass, with an 80% chance of success.
Required: 20. Roll: 5 x 1.5 (Emotional Fountain) + 5 (Initiate) + 16 (3d6 (6, 6, 4) Unmerciful Mantra) + 10 (Exuberant Imagination) = 39 Pass.
There is a House in the woods. I know something about this House. Is it enough to approach its light? Only an attempt will provide the answer.
The house is surrounded by the Limits, shrouded in mists and trails. This rock bears the name of the Temple of the Wheel: it is as tall as any other high-rise, and it is all mottled with patches of black lichen and painted eyes. I walk around it and see the White Door. Its edges are outlined by the light of the House
I approach the White Door. I touch it, feel its coldness, and see it swing open. The door opens and my mouth closes, shrinks, and hides under the fresh skin as if it were an ugly defect. The blue light of the Abode surrounds me...
Now I know the way that leads through the borders to the White Door. However, many dead men gather on this road. To escape the piercing cold of dead flesh, I will need an enduring body.
Received: The Way: The White Door. I dreamt of the White Door, also called the Bone Door and the White Gate. When I pass through it, my voice remains outside the House.
Study:
[X] (M) School attendance.
Lately, classes have been flowing like water under a bridge. You hardly pay any attention to them, concentrating on other things, awakening from your thoughts only when it's time to answer questions or do group assignments. Usually, the teachers barely touch you, convinced of your deep knowledge of their subject, and Sparky takes care of most of the communication activity.
At least in general classes, this is usually the case, and when he's not around, one or two random people join you. Sometimes you look at them closely, trying to discern useful traits that would define them as candidates for recruitment but usually, this interaction ends up in nothing. Lately, you've found yourself quite often in the same study group as a girl named Taylor... Abert? Hebert? Herbert?
A few months ago she used to keep you and Sparky company quite often on group assignments, but she hasn't been around for a while. Come to think of it, it probably has something to do with your change in status. But, in that case, why is she here again?
[X] (M) Books are immortal memory.
- The Craft of the Forge - An article written by the Predecessor for a certain Mme Bechet (probably a pseudonym). Contains encrypted secret knowledge. Requires 1 pass, 60%/5% chance of success.
Required: 40/95. Roll: 14 + 10 ( Notable Scholarship) + 15 ( Visible Enlightenment) + 10 (3d6 (2, 3, 5) Unmerciful Mantra) + 8 (5d6 (2, 1, 1, 2, 2) Silver Quill) = 57 Pass.
In the course of working on a manuscript, you expect some ciphers, subtexts, allegories, or other methods of distorting information that is peculiar to occultists. What a surprise, then, when the article rather briefly and succinctly describes several clear postulates that, on some reflection, acquire the distinct structure of full-fledged Knowledge. And not just any simple knowledge, but the Knowledge of the Forge, as powerful as (until recently) the strongest of your Knowledge of the Moth aspect!
One is tempted to ask: What power did the Predecessor possess if he so easily parted with such Knowledge? And more importantly, where did he go? Such as he was not in the habit of going quietly into the night. Something must have remained.
Obtained: Knowledge of the Forge - A Shaping Chant. The proper words must be employed when the Change comes. [Use this in a Rite with a Knock influence and a Bone Flute - or other resources of equal power - to summon a Caligine.] (Knowledge 3, Power 6)
[X] (M) What does this key unlock? The mysterious stencil found in the final volume of Therese Galmier's work is the key. The only question is what doors it opens. You're bound to find out! Requires 1 pass, 70% chance of success. (Probably contains something curious.)
Required: 30. Roll: 93 + 10 (Notable Scholarship) + 15 (Visible Enlightenment) + 3 (3d6 (1, 1, 1) Unmerciful Mantra) = 121 Crit!
Well, it was a lot easier than you thought: after all, there weren't many handwritten books among the items, or rather only one - a Diary. A short search revealed a few pages that, when stenciled over, produced meaningful text through the slits. Some of these text fragments had already attracted your attention earlier with non-standard word order, extra gaps, and other suspicious evidence of hiding a second layer of information.
When you immediately began to decipher and write it out in your diary, you found out that the diary hides something like a Bestiary of summons in addition to the general information. In the pages that previously mentioned general information about the servants of the Hours, you now found the requirements for the aspects of their summons. It was rather clever to hide the numbers among the references to other pages or paragraph numbers from other books.
Also, at the very end was a peculiar footnote on the method of opening the box, which you had almost forgotten about. According to the note, the Third Rank Knock Knowledge, or his Sixth Level Influence, will help you open it without damaging its contents.
Received: The research of the Predecessor's Diary is complete. It seems that all its secrets have been discovered and revealed to the light, so now it can be used for something else.
It is now clear what to do with the box. When Knowledge or Influence of the desired rank appears, the corresponding action will appear.
[X] (B) Knowledge of the Craft, Principles of the Forge. It will take more than one secret knowledge to make complex items. A high-level craft cannot do without knowledge of metalworking. Of course, you can always leave your craft to people who have their hands in the right place... When you have them among your followers. In the meantime, all you have to do is learn the skill yourself. Requires 6 passes, a 50% chance of success. (The crafting point will improve on completion.)
Required: 50. Roll: 16 + 5 (Strong Body) + 15 (Visible Enlightenment) + 7 (2d6 (4, 3) Ardent Orison) + 11 (2d6 (5, 6) Trembling Airs) = 54 Pass!
The Internet, as usual, easily provided general information on the requested topic, but went silent when I tried to go deeper into the subject. However, some general information about tools, processes, and technology was obtained. The most useful information went into a separate diary, which already carried records of other types of crafts:
All the variety of techniques for manufacturing products using forging technology boils down to several main groups of operations of the technological process. These operations are separating, connecting, as well as forming, and finishing.
Cutting, chopping, as well as cutting, and broaching, are among the separating blacksmithing operations. Although, chisels and blacksmith's axes are now often replaced by cutting machines (grinders with a cutting wheel).
Connecting forging operations are performed by forging, electric or another welding.
The shaping operations include work on shrinking, broaching and drawing, piercing, bending, and twisting.
Finishing operations should be considered notching pattern, smoothing, stuffing relief, and texture.
The process of manufacturing any part begins with separating operations, by which the initial metal is divided into certain measured blanks or its parts...
Some spreads even get their bookmarks, so you're already starting to think about putting together content.
[X] (P) To listen to the rustling of wings in the night. "We hear these words as the breath turns black on the glass, as the fog cools our skin, as the trees make their way through the snow." It's time to learn more about the Wood. Requires 1 pass, 60% chance of success. (Two Moth Knowledge fragments will reverse into one - the more powerful "3D6 => 4D6")
Required: 40. Roll: 84 x 1.5 (Emotional Fountain) + 10 (Wild Imagination) + 15 ( Visible Enlightenment) = 151 Krit!
Moth - the principle of change, whimsy, madness, secrecy, nature and the Wood. It is associated with hairdressers and the loss of unnecessary things. It is hard to comprehend while in your right mind, but fortunately, some texts can help set the mood...
How weary of the heat of the day I am,
The night is short and hot,
The candle weeps softly,
Dropping white tears.
The midnight sighs of the flame,
The darkness breathes and sneaks,
She brings a moth,
The heart hears its flight,
And closer and closer to the light he flies, rebellious,
With its faint glass wing
He flutters above the fire,
Passionate, and bold, and gentle.
I wait... How near the possibility of salvation:
I will stand and close the window.
There, on earth, where it is dark,
I'm waiting for him to live.
I hesitate, I hesitate... You're longing for the light
You can't wait for the dawn...
No, don't be deprived of the raptures of suffering.
In the light burn...
I think I now have a better command of the knowledge of the Wood, which we call by their aspect, the Moth. Namely, about one of the Hours, whose name sometimes glimpses between the lines of Knowledge when the text takes on a special meaning. Velvet.
Received: Moldywarp Admonitions: Moldywarp keeps her crowns in the moss and her feet in the dirt and the trees locked jaw-tight. Moldywarp has these warnings for you. (Knowledge 4, Power 8)
Influence Buzzing in your Brain. (Power 2) will take effect next turn.
Conversation:
[X] (P) Interesting rumors.
Required: 35/??. Roll: 73 x 1.5 (Emotional Fountain) + 10 (Wild Imagination) + 4 (+ 3d6 (2, 1, 1) Ecdysiast's Parable) = 124 Crit!
When you paid attention to Taylor's renewed presence in your surroundings, some features peculiar to her became noticeable as well.
For example, the Queen School gang of three popular girls and their large entourage, for whatever reason, chose her as their favorite punching bag.
And, it would seem, an ordinary situation, several popular girls against one unpopular girl but the circumstances of this confrontation are, to put it mildly, unusual. For example, even though the victim of bullying does not resist and does not respond (which is no longer typical for a teenager her age), the intensity of the conflict does not subside but only grows. It is as if, for some reason, it is not just a proof of power on the part of the Trio, but something personal.
A brief observation of an interesting situation reveals that the main mastermind behind the cruel pranks and sabotage is Emma Barnes, a redheaded model who suspiciously knows a lot about Taylor's past. This could carry interesting possibilities, one way or another. Sounds like you've got a couple of candidates to recruit.
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