Turn 21
* * *
"Time passes, the shadow on the sundial moves..."
Souvenirs (Requires 95): 32 Nothing.
Faction Interest (???) (Requires 35): 57 Nothing.
Decreasing Growth Burst (Requires ??? and ??? or ???): 63 => Trait reduced to Fading Growth Burst (+ 5 to body enhancement exercise rolls, lasts 10 turns).
Desire for Action (Requires 20): 34 Nothing yet.
Despite the ongoing conflict in the city, which would much more appropriately be called a gang war if it weren't for the involvement of state and community-supported organizations like the PRT, Protectorate, and New Wave, your little "hobby club" is doing quite well.
Your personal affairs are generally favorable as well. Of course, if you don't take into account some rather frustrating failures last week... Maybe you should pick up the pace. After all, Forge is a principle closely associated with passion; there's a reason its Highs are called none other than the Furious!
Lately, your once cozy room is beginning to feel cramped and musty, and as you know, what's outside is inside. Stagnation leads only to ruin, for Ascension is a race against time. Slow down and you grow old, stop and you die.
A little forcing of events should do you good, especially now that your body isn't in danger of snapping in half with every sneeze. Learning the Limits of Mansus, acquiring new Knowledge and ingredients from suspicious places, and even a small victorious battle or practice in artifact creation, can all be the next step on the path to Greatness and Immortality.
It's time to act.
* * *
It's a hot summer, and even though you no longer feel the warmth that once enveloped you during this period, it is still capable of delighting you with opportunities. It's the season for slim shirts and short skirts.
You have four body actions (B), four mind actions (M), and four passion actions (P). Cultists can now perform two actions from the special section. You have 36 funds at your disposal (all available accumulation).
Influences:
- Visible Vitality - Heartbeats like thunder! (+15 to body rolls) 3 Lv.
* * *
Turn 21 Results
* * *
"Time passes, the shadow on the sundial moves..."
Influences:
- Visible Vitality - Heartbeats like thunder! (+15 to body rolls) 3 Lv.
* * *
Work:
[X] (B) This body is my 4. All of these rites and rituals are rather traumatic acts, not to mention sacrifices. Yes, and some knowledge, as well as much more than some practices, hurts the one who learns and performs them. You've already accomplished a lot, but on the scale of ubiquitous parahuman powers, it's just nothing. Exercise will benefit your health and fitness, and a good gym will help with that. Requires 4 passes, 50% chance of success. (On completion, +1 body action, vitality boost).
Required: 50. Roll: 34 + 5 (Fading Growth Burst) + 25 (Gym Pass, Natural Growth, Training Plan) + 15 (Visible Vitality ) + 4 (2d6 (1, 3) Words That Walks) = 83 Pass.
Working out at the gym has long since become as mundane a part of life as eating or sleeping, and you could navigate the layout of the machines with your eyes closed. This routine becomes even a bit boring, even though it produces tangible results. Perhaps you should consider options to speed up the process? Definitely not steroids, but maybe there are more esoteric options...
[X] (B) Mastering the Edge. Body and Blade. Mr. Fisher (aka Martin) has decided that you are ready to move on to the next stage of training. The club above the training room doesn't have color-coded belts to indicate rank but on the other hand, working with a short-bladed weapon on vulnerable points of the human body is also not taught formally anywhere else. Nine passes are required, with a 55% chance of success. (On completion will improve the trait combat statistics, + open access to the next stage ?, +? (variable))
Required: 45. Roll: 77 + 10 (Hardened Body) + 10 (Hardened Physique) + 15 (Visible Vitality) + 7 (2д6 (6, 1) Words that Walk) = 109 Artificial Crit!
At the next class, the discussion of battle wounds and, later, the scars they left behind came as a matter of course for unknown reasons. Throughout the evening, visitors recounted their and their acquaintances' battles, their terrible wounds, and the inevitability of the end. When the stories came to an end, the hanging silence was palpable. That day, everyone went away in silence, immersed in their own thoughts.
You thought about the fact that those who have ascended are able to escape the end. Maybe for a while, maybe forever.
Received:
- A Chilly Atmosphere. A peculiar chill lingers in my rooms.[Second-order influence: obvious to the susceptible, instantly recognized by the knowledgeable. Can be used in some rituals for summoning underlings. It decays to Dread.] (Power 2)
[X] (B) Sparring on the Edge. Not long after creating your first artifact, you had an idea of how you could experience the saturation of its Edge influence to unleash the full potential of this peculiar weapon. To do so, all you have to do is offer the regulars on the upper floor of the hall to place small bets on their victory from a series of sparring matches, as an added motivation to compete... Requires 1 pass and 1 unit of funds (bet), odds of success 70/30%.
Required: 30/70. Roll: 49 + 10 (Hardened Physique) + 15 (Visible Vitality) + 10 (2д6 (5, 5) Words that Walk) = 84 Pass.
There's only one visitor so far who's interested in a small wager. He is a wiry man in his thirties, about half a head shorter than you, who is a rare guest in the gym, as far as you know. It seems that one of the regulars called him Philip, but you're not sure if it's a name or a nickname. You've never spoken before, but of all the people here, he's the only one who immediately decided to take you up on your challenge.
"Well, since you want your ass kicked so badly, kid, who am I to turn down extra bucks?" Philip smirks. "Just don't complain about the tweaked face later, okay?"
"Don't brag before your time. Haven't you heard that beginner's luck is good?" You answer aloof, recalling the Chilliarch's lesson as the circle of spectators gathers around you.
"Not this time, buddy!" The opponent's grinning
"A reminder of the rules," Martin, who had volunteered to be referee, raised his voice, drowning out the visitors' cries of anticipation, "Maiming and lethal techniques are prohibited, the fight goes up to three rounds, a knockout or a forfeit. The round ends with the surrender of one of the fighters, a technical defeat, or my decision. The fight will begin on the signal... Go!"
Greg King Vader
Body - 4, 3 boxes HP (30/30)
Combat Skill ( Basic). When fighting, you roll 1d5 for each Body point (not 1d3 as without the trait).
Chiliarch's Lesson (Knowledge 2: adds 2d6 to combat rolls. Almost any use of knowledge less than or equal to the third rank is not obvious to the uninitiated.)
Philip
Body - 4, 3 boxes HP (30/30)
Combat Skill (???). When fighting, roll 1d5+1 for each Body point.
Fight.
Round 1.1
Your opponent starts the fight with a sharp approach, trying to get into a clinch and negate your advantage in height and limb length. He partially succeeds, but the blow to the temple, which would most likely have knocked you out, is tangential, only catching your cheekbone.
Round 1.2
You circle around each other like predatory beasts of prey, each trying to find a weakness in the movements of the other to seize the decisive advantage.
Round 1.3
Finally, taking advantage of your arm length advantage, you manage to partially bypass Philip's defense and land a straight punch to the body. Unfortunately, he manages to save the solar plexus, where the punch was originally aimed, by framing his ribs.
Round 1.4
You manage to build on your success, while Philip covers his head and upper body, a hole appears in his defense, which you duck to take advantage of. A hard hit to the stomach sends your opponent to the floor, and Martin announces the end of the round.
Greg wins the first round.
Round 2.1
It looks like Philip is still not fully recovered from the last round's defeat. He visibly guarded his stomach and ribs. That doesn't save him from a kick to the shin, which makes it noticeably harder for him to keep his balance.
Round 2.2.
Maybe it's just a trick, but the shrunken opponent doesn't even think about attacking, leaving the initiative to you. You decide to seize the opportunity, and with a cohesive movement, you force your opponent to dislodge his defense and deliver an upward blow to the chin. Philip falls like a stone's throw, and, barely trying to get up, settles on the mat.
K.O. Round 2 ends with Greg's uncontested victory.
The fight is over.
After the fight, when the majority of those who wanted to congratulate you dispersed, Martin very satisfied with something appeared as if from nothing handing you a bundle of bills.
"Your share of the sweepstakes, kid. As your mentor, I couldn't afford to bet on Philip, though I wanted to." He looked at you thoughtfully and continued. "With a little more technique, you could make good money on the bets! Not here, of course, but in... but that's not important at the moment."
Received:
- 13 (4, 5, 4) =>10 Funds (sweepstakes) + 1 Fund (your bet).
[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: 65 х 1,5 (Emotional Fountain) + 10 (Wild Imagination) + 5 (Painter) + 5 (Good Paint Set) = 118 Pass!
This time the coming of inspiration caught you over the Predecessor's article on Glory, the centerpiece of the Lantern's aspect. From the sketchbook, a sheet of crude images of the eye appeared as if by itself, and an open tin of Refulgin took center stage among the paints. You painted until all you saw turned to light, and continued painting afterward. May Glory unmerciful, but you couldn't help but see: It came from Glory.
Received:
(Masterpiece of Lantern): The Door in the Eye Artifact Painting (Lantern 8) - A painting painted with mystical pigment created by occult methods on a sketch nearly a century old. Must be kept in a secret (and sacred) place away from the eyes of the uninitiated. Knowledge of its existence will in itself raise unnecessary questions.
An Intensity of Radiance. Light dews the skin and suffuses the air. [Sixth-order influence: Significant resonance or correspondence. Can be used in some rituals to summon underlings] (Power 6)
Dream:
[X] (M) Way to the Deer Door. I know the road that leads through the borders to the White Door. If my desire is strong enough, perhaps I can find my way through the labyrinths of the confines of the Deer Door, described in the writings of Illopoli. It also mentions a certain guardian that sets riddles, like a sphinx. Requires 1 pass, 50% chance of success (no modifiers).
Required: 50. Roll: 47 Fail?
I slip into other dreams...
Locations of the White Foor, except the door itself. Is the bonus reduced? Yes.
The dream path from the White Door led you to a mottled tent the size of a small house. Its colors have faded with time, but the structure itself has not lost its imposing appearance, towering above the endless plain of the wasteland beyond the Bone Gate.
At the entrance to the tent, you were met by a short, slender woman with glasses and the hair of a stereotypical librarian. The only thing that revealed her belonging to this place and not to the reality outside of the dream were her curious eyes, glowing with the light of Glory, that squinted at you from behind the glass.
"That's very interesting. I don't get many visitors lately."
How can she speak? After all, those who have passed through the White Door have no voice! Unless she... Use other ways?
"Those who have ascended have their own ways, Aspiring. I have not passed through the White Door, so I can speak in this place. Unlike those ignorant people in the office that replaced the obsolete Suppression Bureau, who sometimes try to get things out of me. As if I would forgive what they did and help the bloodhounds!"
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You talk to Teresa for a while longer about the Bureau and the authorities. She doesn't reveal any terrible secrets, but she helps you understand the big picture. As you suggested, they are after those who have taken to studying the secrets of Mansus in earnest, or who are trying to ascend. Your companion suggests that the earthly rulers are getting on their throats with immortal and overly knowledgeable occultists. Perhaps the eating habits of some of them that thin out the human herd have something to do with it, or the ability to get the secrets of those in power directly from their dreams...
Study:
[X] (M) Books are immortal memory.
- The Secret of the Lantern - An article written by the Predecessor for a certain Doctor Ibn al-Adim (probably a pseudonym). Contains encrypted secret knowledge. Requires 1 pass, 80%/60% chance of success.
Required: 20/40. Roll: 58 + 10 (Notable Scholarship) + 5 ( Occult Theorist) + 12 ( 3d6 (2, 4, 6) Unmerciful Mantra) = 85 Pass!
Recorded in bouncing and wriggling handwriting are the Predecessor's reflections on the ways of the Undivided Sun and its fragments already generated by the Hours. Particular emphasis is placed on the incredible power of the Sun-In-Zenith, so great that even in its totality, the multitude of the lesser of the Hours cannot compare with it.
Near the middle of the text, the Predecessor's thought gradually shifts from a discussion of why the Light is unmerciful to a discussion of the "Unmerciful Mantras," each of which gives a different perspective on the Glory. Lost among the piles of papers was Dr. Ibn al-Adim's nearly faded business card, made of thick brown paper, the back of which bore a return address in elegant curlicues and strange handwriting. The crimson color of the ink has not faded to this day, and if you should happen to be in this Khali one day, you might be able to see if there is anything of interest there...
Received:
- Unmerciful Mantra: 'Mercy', saith the Watchman, 'is found only in shadow.' (Knowledge 3, Power 6)
- Return address: the coastal town of Khali.
[X] (M) Shortcut. In another mad rush of Enlightenment, you somehow made it home from school earlier than theoretically possible.
Moreover, overnight you created a strange map of the city, nearly four square meters in area, covered entirely with strange markings. Perhaps this strange moving process can be repeated if I can make sense of my notes. Two passes are required, 50% chance of success
Required: 50. Roll: 13 + 10 ( Notable Scholarship) + 5 (Initiate) + 17 ( 3d6 (5, 6, 6) Unmerciful Mantra) = 45 Fail!
Three failures in a row bring consequences.
Event roll... Injury (minor, creature/anomaly encounter/unusual from disorientation) from 75, Fixation from 50, Out in the wrong place (town) from 25 (further roll), Lost (out in a lacuna from 15/other story from 10/the world from 1): 7
s;ocgmlzkhcndfvghgл эчдвшаподрг
While exploring an unknown spatial (or even space-time) anomaly, something went wrong and you came out in a strange place you never expected to find yourself in...
What happened will follow separately after an additional vote.
[X] (P) Oratorial Courses: A Flaming Approach. You've watched politicians talk nonsense on TV many times and everyone believes them, just because they're charismatic. You will learn to do the same, and to hell with abstruse reasoning! Four passes are required, 30% chance of success.
Required: 70. Roll: 36 x 1.5 (Emotional Fountain) + 10 (Wild Imagination) = 64 Fail...
You managed to collect materials on the oratory of some value to follow, but due to certain circumstances, their study had to be postponed until better times.
Received:
- Simplification of the next roll (+20 to the result)
[X] (B) Mastering of the Craft, Principles of the Forge. It will take more than arcane knowledge alone to make complex items. In a high-level craft, one cannot do without knowledge of metalworking. Of course, you can always leave crafts 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 1 pass, 55% chance of success. (The point of crafting will improve upon completion.)
Required: 50. Roll: 57 + 5 (Hardened Physique) + 11 (3d6 (5, 1, 5) Shaping Chant) = 73 Pass.
The final blow of the hammer gives the workpiece its proper shape, after which the forged piece is sent into a basin of water, raising a cloud of white steam. Taking the next one out of the brazier, which serves as a makeshift crucible, you examine it for visible defects, and if none are found, you place it on a dented corner of a metal table.
The sound of metal ringing once again echoes through the barely lit garage, whose only window is half-occupied by a chimney from the exhaust hood. It is only by putting theory into practice that one can fully achieve true craftsmanship, and though you are far from it yet, the metalworking skill is already sufficient for making many things previously inaccessible.
Received:
- Flame Creation (work with metal as well as any material with saturation up to 8th order)
After gaining more powerful knowledge of the Forge, the next improvement will be possible...
[X] (P) Follow the rhythm. "There are lessons to be learned by the anatomist, the dancer, and the shaman." It's time to learn more about the rhythm of the Unceasing Knowledge. Requires 1 pass, 60% chance of success. (Two fragments of Knowledge of the Heart will turn into one - a more powerful "2D6 => 3D6")
Required: 40. Roll: 7 x 0.5 (Emotional Fountain) + 10 (Wild Imagination) = 13 Fail!
Misfortune. Incident roll: 75 (Minor: +5 to the difficulty of the next roll for this option)
It seems that the Winter influence that has been weighing on you since the memorable discussion at the gym has prevented you from understanding the mysteries of the Heart... You are not sure what is wrong, but your heart is beating slower now than it did at the beginning of the week. The thermometer stubbornly shows thirty degrees Celsius, but your hands and feet are freezing. Maybe next time.
Conversation:
[X] (P) Conversation with Mr. Fisher. After all the time you've spent training, it might be time to learn more about this very entertaining man. He's unlikely to be turned into a follower (though who knows...), but even so, he can be quite useful in many ways. Requires 1 pass, 50% chance of success.
Required: 50. Roll: 50 x 1.5 (Emotional Fountain) + 10 (Wild Imagination) = 85 Success.
"I didn't know you were into arms making. You look more like someone who uses arms than someone who makes them." Martin looked a little surprised, looking at you over the top of the hunting knife whose sharpening he'd checked a minute earlier.
"That too. Actually, I just like creating something beautiful and useful with my own hands. Weapons fit into both categories if they're made with heart..." You looked around at the other items in the small arms store, which didn't seem to contain anything remarkable at first glance. "By the way, I wouldn't advise you to buy this junk. The alloy is too brittle."
With a puzzled blink, your mentor turned his gaze back to the knife and tried to bend it holding it by the end of the blade. When the excessively hard metal didn't budge a millimeter he grimaced, muttering to himself. "Almost cast iron, indeed. Hmmm."
"You know, you reminded me of some interesting guys from New Bedford. Pistons and sharpeners, I think. They'll do anything. Literally. A friend of mine recently ordered a three-edged bayonet from them and is very happy with it. And it is probably the least strange thing in their catalog. How about a battle-ax with a built-in revolver?"
"Now that's interesting." You couldn't help but think that these people could hardly have anything to do with the Forge or the Edge, making such a trade. "Tell me more."
High Success: 68
Received:
- Contact with the Armsmiths (a seemingly mediocre (no) group of craftsmen engaged in crafting weapons and unconventional modding)
Travel:
[X] (M) Visit the Rorri Bookstore. A mysterious bookstore opens its doors to anyone who can find it. For a modest fee, you can find volumes and folios that hold hints and clues to secret knowledge. The ancient shopkeeper seems to be no ordinary person (or, for that matter, no ordinary occultist), and it would be nice to discuss a few things with him, but alas, you don't even know his name. Requires 1 pass, 70%/?% chance of success.
Required: 30/??. Roll: 86 + 10 (Notable Scholarism) + 15 (3d6 (4, 5, 6) Unmerciful Mantra) = 111 Artificial Crit! Passage ??? order.
This time, as you crossed the threshold of the bookstore, the usually phlegmatic owner, who in previous visits had barely glanced at you, raised his gray eyebrows in surprise, staring you straight in the eye over his glasses.
"Curious, young man, very curious... It's rare case meet initiates these days who follow the path of art. After all, it's not the most common tradition."
"Excuse me, but how do you...?"
"No, no, young man, you shouldn't ask questions you don't want to know the answer to. And you don't want to, believe me. Besides, we've suddenly got a much more interesting subject to discuss! Where are my manners, though, we haven't been properly introduced. Call me Mr. Mirror..."
Your new acquaintance, Mr. Mirror, has made an interesting offer: he is willing to give you one of his mirrors, namely the Mirror of Confusion, in exchange for a favor in the near future. He does not disclose what it will be.
As you ponder the unexpected offer, you wander between the shelves until you come across a small stack of three books with someone else's notes sticking out of them. It could be very useful, but here's the price...
Roll 1dn (where n = value of Mind): 1d4 = 3
- A True and Complete Accounting of the Asclepian Mysteries of the Roots of the Reproduced by one 'Rylee Grese' from - supposedly - a much older text. A translation from Greek, but the original text is attached. - 6 Funds.
- The Rose of Hypatia. Marked with the tripled sign of the arcane-contemplative order known as The Sisterhood of the Knot. In Greek. Written in Greek, with notes in the margins with translations of rare words. - 4 Funds.
- On Matthias and the Amethyst Imago: Pursuit. The diagrams and illustrations, even across the centuries, are elegant, hypnotic, and occasionally erotic. Written in Aramaic, with a thin notebook with partial translation in the front flyleaf. - 9 Funds.
Cult Affairs:
[X] (Sparky, Grail) Ascension. Kneeling as a neophyte, your follower will rise as an adept. You will personally take his oath. (Thanks to Masterpiece Forge, ascension from neophyte to adept is possible at no cost.) Requires 1 pass, 99% chance of success
[X] (Taylor, Secret Histories) Ascension. Kneeling as a neophyte your follower will rise as an adept. You will personally take her oath. (Thanks to Masterpiece Forge, ascension from neophyte to adept is possible at no cost.) Requires 1 pass, 99% chance of success.
The recitative of prayers and vows echoes in the barely furnished warehouse. The sacred picture seems alive as your followers gaze at it through the quivering air of the crucible, filling the air with the smells of incense and red-hot metal. As you kneel as a new convert, each of the two followers will rise as an adept. You will personally accept their oaths.
"I am dying. I am born again. I burn my skin with fire and let them recognize me by these marks. I give myself to the flames, and I swear that I will accept any rebirth without a shadow of fear."
Received:
- Sparky, Adept (Grail 5). Sparky's movements are like a dance. If you watch too long, it begins to seem like the kind of dance that two people usually do. His smile and gestures are full of unspoken promises.
- Taylor Hebert, Adept (Secret Stories 5). Most of the time Taylor is immersed in deep thoughtfulness. Her visions speak to her, telling her things that haven't happened and things that won't happen. A couple of times you notice that she goes off somewhere and comes back from the opposite direction...
* * *
In your search for the mapped passageways, you turn down a poorly lit alley in the south of the business district. If you understand the time notes correctly, this is the one through which you can exit to somewhere in the dock area now, if you do it right, of course.
Just in case, you brought a travel kit, assembled from whatever was in the house since your parents' youth. A canvas backpack, a sleeping bag, provisions and water for a couple of days, a roll of rope with wedges, a notebook with your notes, and a Fang of the Deep in a belt sheath. Most of this junk is, in your humble opinion, an obvious overkill, but Linda insisted that you carry it with you on your scouting trips. Supposedly just in case you got stuck in some gang's territory and had to wait for the back door to open, or until you could get away.
Nonsense, most paths don't have a back way, they only lead where they lead, not in the opposite direction. At least you managed to fight off the tent and the ice axe, or there would have been no stealth at all.
At the appointed time, the damp brick of the alley behind the trash garbage cans began to fall in on itself, revealing a long gut of a passage in the distance, interspersed with fragments of the same alley of varying degrees of light. You don't hesitate to adjust the strap of your backpack and turn into the passageway making sure no one follows you.
After a while, a mist begins to drift beneath your feet, thick enough that you can barely see your own boots. Thinking this is a favorable sign that you're approaching the sea, you speed up. But you soon realize that this was a mistake. Some unevenness under your feet makes you lose your balance and grab the wall. But there is no wall at hand, and your body flies through the loose support. After a few moments, the impact of your head on some hard surface knocks you unconscious.
When you wake up, the first things that greet your awakening are the familiar stench of the damp carpet and the lighting, too bright after the shock you've suffered. Your eyes are double vision, you are very dizzy, and every one of these symptoms clearly hints at a concussion.
Rising to your feet, avoiding the help of the treacherous walls, you look around as much as you can in this state. Your tongue, as it often is with you, is faster than your consciousness.
"It seems I already was here..."
* * *