Turn 3
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You run out of the house, adjusting your backpack as you go. In the past few weeks, you've become unused to the school routine, but you're in no danger of being late. After one short but tedious ride, a dirty yellow school bus with rust marks under the peeling paint drops you and several other students off at the gate.
Behind the perpetually open gate, miraculously not burrowed into the ground, small groups of teenagers are dragged into the bowels of the old school building as if to be slaughtered. The Nazis and Asians look at each other threateningly, keeping an impressive distance. A few twitchy guys and girls look around, probably looking for familiar dealers. But most people just walk forward without looking around.
The Edge is close here. You can sense that smell. The smell of opportunity.
* * *
The vacations are over, and you have to go back to school. In Winslow High's case, it's a snake pit of fodder from various gangs, informal of all kinds, generally aggressive, and in some places intimidated, teenagers in the prime of puberty.
According to unofficial statistics, one in two has a knife, knuckles, or other means of harming his fellow man in his pocket. (-1 Mind action per turn for the sake of study, +1 Fund every 2nd school week)
You have one action of the Body (B), two actions of the Mind (M), and two actions of the Passion (P). You have 16 Funds at your disposal (all available savings).
Influences:
- Vitality - The drums in your ears. You Can Work Better. (Bonus to Body rolls)
- Bright Enlightenment - Enlightenment is near! The light of the mind is getting brighter and brighter! (Bonus to Study rolls. If you fail, it can turn into a Fascination.)
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Turn 3 Results
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You recall catching Sparky's strange look on your face a couple of times during lunch. Maybe he noticed something different: you talk less, hold your head up, and probably look better in general. Is he guessing something, or does he just think you've lost your mind? After all, you've yet to talk to him about the games and shows you intended to explore over the vacations...
Anyway, it doesn't matter now. You won't see him for at least a couple of weeks unless he decides to come to visit you or asks you to drop off your homework. On the other hand, you've got plenty of time for other projects, like deciphering records containing arcane knowledge. Which is more relevant than ever in light of the new revelations.
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Influences:
- Vitality - The drums in your ears. You Can Work Better. (+ 5 to Body rolls)
- Bright Insight - Enlightenment is near! The light of the mind is getting brighter and brighter! (Bonus to Study rolls. If you fail, it can turn into a Fascination.)
Work:
[X] (B) This body is mine. All 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 need a much sturdier and stronger body so that you don't have to go to the emergency room after every vein you open. Physical exercise should do you good, and the dumbbells dug out from under the rubble in your room are already helping in no small way. Requires 3 passes, 80% chance of success. (On completion, +1 body action, increased vitality.)
Required: 20. Roll: 2 + 10 (Decreasing Growth Burs) + 5 (Vitality) = 17 Failure!
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
You cried out as your mother's voice suddenly rang out behind you, and the dumbbell fell out of your sweaty palm, landing right on your foot. As you whimper, clutching at the injured limb, a terrified Linda bustles around. After a while, she finally pulls herself together and takes you to the emergency room, where the injured limb is examined by a medic.
Fortunately, the X-ray showed no fractures or cracks, but it was still a bad bruise. If you had dropped the dumbbell a second earlier or later, the impact would have been strong enough to cause a fracture. You'll have to spend the next week or two at home in the company of a crutch, because moving around outside with an injured leg is uncomfortable, to say the least. You really hope that Linda will get past your judgmental look: No, seriously, who breaks into a teenager's room like that without knocking?!
( Received Injury effect: -20 to body rolls until healed. Journey's actions are blocked until healed due to the nature of the injury)
Study:
[X] (M) Class attendance. As a minor U.S. citizen, you are obligated to receive a general education. The state doesn't need savages. Well, more than there already are. Repeatable action, 80% chance of success.
Required: 20. Roll: 16 + 10 (Bright Insight ) +31(61/2 - Additional Roll from the "Words have Knowledge" Crit) = 57 Passed!
You turn in your homework assignments for the vacations, and you barely start to get back into your school routine when you have to leave school again, this time because of an injury. Not that you like Winslow High that much, but you have to say goodbye to some opportunities for now.
[X] (P) Admiration for art. Your drawing skills have dulled considerably, and at the best of times, they didn't exactly shine. But you can fix that! The Internet is full of films about famous art galleries with the works of great artists of the past and online tutorials on many kinds of art! With a goal in mind, you can greatly improve your skills.
Requires 2 passes, 70% chance of success. (On completion of +1 feeling action, increase in creativity)
Required: 30. Roll: 48x 0.5 (Emotional Fountain) + 10 ( Bright Insight) = 34 Passed!
Once again you delve into the maze of online galleries with world-famous works of art. This time, you try to look for something in the paintings that would indicate a connection with Mansus. Some of them resonate with you, but you are not so sure: the principle in them is probably too weak. The only way to tell for sure is to see them in person, which is unlikely to be possible under current circumstances.
At the end of the week, having put your injured leg on the stool, you move on to more specific requests, namely, military themes. After all, where else but in war does the Edge principle manifest itself most vividly? A few tabs later you are lucky enough to stumble upon a real masterpiece: a painting called "The Apotheosis of War. Just looking at the photograph, you feel sharp and cold, despite the bright sunlight illuminating the desolate landscape depicted in the work of art.
According to the article, the original painting was destroyed by the nuclear bombing of Moscow during the Behemoth attack, but you feel it still exists, somewhere out there. Such things don't disappear without a trace.
[X] (M) There is knowledge in words. A mind is a useful tool. Especially when the path to greatness involves comprehending secret knowledge. To better understand them, assemble them into a single mosaic, decipher them, and perhaps to find new ones, one should keep this tool sharply honed. School textbooks will do for starters. Requires 1 pass, 70% chance of success. (On completion +1 mind action, increase in erudition)
Required: 30. Roll: 91+ 10 (Bright Insight) = 101 Artificial Crit!
Already at the end of the week, lying in your own bed, you finish studying the printouts from the forum you found earlier regarding this year's subjects. Doing some of the examples has been a pain in the ass but in the end, it's just a matter of diligence and perseverance. You are absolutely certain that you are currently surpassing most of your peers in all your chosen academic subjects!
It will be nice to feel like the smartest person in the room when you go back to school. Although, when it comes out, you won't be able to escape the glory of being a nerd. Perhaps you should learn a couple of dozen quotes from famous scientists and thinkers of the past to saturate your speech with abstruse sayings.
(Welcome to the League of Nerds! Gained trait: Scholarship +1 mind action each turn, +5 to mind rolls except mind development action. Unlocked new actions. The second step action will be available from the next turn).
Conversation:
[X] (P) Interesting rumors. Going back to school, you can't help but wonder how many potential followers are within its inhospitable walls. And, of course, it never hurts to know what kind of relationship the factions are arriving in right now. Listen to the chatter here, ask a few leading questions there... there's a chance to learn something interesting. Requires 1 pass, chance of success 60%/???%.
Required: 40/??. Roll: 97x 1.5 (Emotional Fountain) = 146 Artificial Crit!
When you tried to extract something useful from the gossip circulating in the school, you didn't even count on such luck! You were curious about the weirdness of the captain of the football team, who was being gossiped about near the bathroom by the cheerleaders, and you learned something really important: In addition to a strict selection process that excludes any gang member from joining the team, all joining members undergo some kind of special training. And because of it, the newcomers rapidly build muscle mass, even if they have never been particularly big.
Best of all, all members of the football team get a sketchy heart-shaped tattoo soon after joining! And even off the football field, they obey their leader, Captain Donovan Meollan, who is also the biggest and most muscular of them all. You bet your liver that these guys are cultists of the Restless Heart! And all this time they've been literally right under your nose, just to reach out!
You never expected in your life to stumble upon a God-knows-how-many-active cult of Principle with secret knowledge, and most importantly, where, in Winslow! This shithole is capable of surprises...
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