Events in different locations are not necessarily happening concurrently.Nix: Tension at HomeComforting Aura: Reassure the boy. Tell him that if he sticks to his mother, and if he convinces his mother to believe in me, then I will protect them.
The boy leaves his room. His mother is waiting in the kitchen, near a box of silverware. A single candle is burning low on the table, casting shadows on the walls.
"John, go back inside. Your father's late again, and you know that means-"
"I'm not afraid anymore, mother. Nix said he's going to protect us. We just need to believe in him."
She looks at him and shakes her head. She understands his need to feel protected, but now is hardly the time to indulge the boy in his childish fantasies. "John, I've told you before, Nix isn't..."
The front doorknob turns.
Spirit Evolution - You may choose one of the following new abilities:
Unseen Fangs: You can increase the chance for a target to be wounded by sharp objects that they can't see.
Calming Aura: Your presence creates a powerful sense of calm, reducing the likelihood of conflict in your presence.
Shove: You can impart a small force on physical objects.
Comforting Aura: Your presence brings a sense of safety, instilling confidence in believers.
Poultrygeist, Grue, and Aximodus: Triple Trouble at Charlie's ChickensWait until Charlie the farmer gets closer to the coop, then shove the musket in his hands! I will also evolve the ability to possess chickens
Charlie loses control of his musket! He stumbles and the gun's muzzle traces a wild arc across the yard.
I move to the Farmer's house.
Teeth gnash. Tongues writhe. Eyes seek. Shadows extend.
The Grue hungers.
Move to the farmer's house.
Scene elements:
The
gunpowder in the gun (no safety mechanisms)
An oil lantern providing light (outside)
A candle providing light (inside)
Some metal pots that can be used for bizarre and improbable ballistics
A window
A bunch of
chickens (with
sharp beaks and claws) running around the yard in panic
A small latch holding the fence closed
A bunch of
loose, rusty nails sticking out of the doorframe
Charlie (outside)
Charlie's wife (inside,
marital status: strained)
Shove: You can impart a small force on physical objects.
Possess Chicken: You may directly control the behavior of a single chicken, or vaguely influence the behavior of several.
Chicken Affinity: Your influence increases around chickens, but decreases away from chickens.
Unseen Fangs: You can increase the chance for a target to be wounded by sharp objects that they can't see.
Fear Aura: Your presence creates a sense of terror, making believers panic at the slightest sound and increasing the chance of injury.
Darkness Affinity: Your influence increases in the dark, but weakens in the light.
Strife Sense: You passively gain a bit of knowledge about the future as pertains to creating and encouraging conflict.
Strife Aura: Your presence increases egoism and anger, increasing the likelihood of conflict.
Inflame: You may cause flames to increase in strength and increase the likelihood of objects catching fire.
(Each can use one ability)
(If someone attempts to make the gun go off, they may choose to try and time it so the shot hits one of the scene elements. This is not guaranteed to work as intended.)
No one: Decisions, decisionsOctavian heads to the shipyard to find passage to Svartwald. Unfortunately, not many ships head out that way, and the next one won't be leaving for many weeks. Fortunately, he has enough gold to hire his own ship, and still have enough left over for hiring additional mercenaries or guards.
There are two ships leaving the harbor within a day. Both cost 30 gold to hire.
Captain Cardinal: A wild captain with a love for adventure on the high seas. Seems a little bit crazy, as does his crew, who all wear bright red. He also seems interested in meeting Sinocard and may be willing to consider accompanying Octavian to the castle, perhaps for a small cut of the reward, eh?
Captain Lazulo: A more straight-laced captain. Probably more reliable than Cardinal, but has no interest in going ashore.
In addition, there are some mercenaries who are offering their services. Octavian has
20 gold remaining.
Rhodes: A gruff, muscular mercenary with a wild beard, scored with the scars of many battles. He wields an improbably heavy sword in one hand and a makeshift, inaccurate-looking firearm in the other but wears only the barest minimum armor.
Hiring price: 15Gilmore: A tall soldier armed with a sword and shield. A few strands of blond hair are visible beneath his helmet. He seems more trustworthy than Rhodes, though perhaps not as experienced.
Hiring price: 15Bruin: A hefty outdoorsman with plenty of experience navigating dangerous forests, which are quite common around Donderberg.
Hiring price: 10Sky: A spiritual counselor associated with the Order of the Unbroken Light.
Hiring price: 5Gorman: A gangly natural historian with an emphasis on the study of monster lore and weaknesses.
Hiring price: 10Lady Rosa: A young woman in an expensive-looking dress. Wait, she's not for hire - she's also looking for passage to Svartwald, and is willing to
add 20 gold for taking her along.
Octavian turns his coin over in his hand, considering his options.
Knowledge Influx:
Rhodes is the best fighter, but his hot temper may be a liability.
Sky may be able to keep Rhodes under control.
Rosa will probably be a load, but the extra coin may be worth it.
Mental Influence: When a believer wavers on the edge of a choice, you can directly influence their decisions.
Money Sense: You passively gain a bit of knowledge about the future as pertains to business deals.
Bound Form (Coin): Your presence is currently bound to a particular coin. This increases your influence, but renders you unable to move independently.
Draoi: In the ForestTree affinity upgrade (Could I have it like a toggle? I could have active Bound Form and be within my tree, or have Tree affinity active and move freely around)
Perhaps the lone traveler hears a few whispers and as she looks around the woods her gaze repeatedly sets on a specific tree, she is oddly drawn to it. It looks very peaceful beneath the tree.
Even if you choose to remain bound to a tree, you will still be able to "project" your spirit outside it once you gain a little more belief. However, you must at some point choose whether you want to become a spirit of this particular tree, or a spirit of trees in general.
Spirits bound to physical objects or areas tend to be more powerful and gain followers more quickly, since people have a concrete object to associate the spirit with and/or worship. However, their influence diminishes the further they get from their point of focus.
For now, you may remain undecided.
The traveler closes her eyes and relaxes her mind. Yes...there is clearly some kind of benevolent presence in this place. She approaches a tree and leans a hand against it. Although she does not wish to linger longer than she needs, she is tired, and it does seem as though this is the safest place in the forest. She will continue on to the village tomorrow.
"
Spirit of this place, guard me as I rest."
She falls asleep.
A few hours later, the sound of quiet footsteps can be heard.
A figure clad in black approaches the tree.Gained (1) believer!
Spirit Evolution - You may choose one of the following new abilities:
Triproots: You may cause roots to shift slightly and trip up people walking nearby.
Whispering Wind: You may create indistinct ghostly whispers at specific locations from the sound of the wind in the branches.
Magic Aura: You may boost the magical aptitude of those in your presence.
Calming Aura: Your presence creates a powerful sense of calm, reducing the likelihood of conflict in your presence.
Tree Affinity: Your influence increases among trees, but decreases away from trees.
Badel: Off to SchoolWell, if this all the informetion I have I use Attention and draw Kevin mind to the Great Academy recruitment paper, specificly on the words Great, Magic and a fancy image of the place.
Two months have passed since Kevin first decided to apply to the Great Academy of Chromatic Magic.
His application letter has been accepted, and he has received his ticket. Apparently new students reach the Academy by train. The train, as it turns out, is completely ordinary, steam-powered, and its platform is in plain sight. You aren't sure why you thought it would be otherwise.
On the train, you can hear two girls arguing in a nearby seat.
"Oh, I'm picking Magenta for sure. What is even the point of going to a magic school if you're not even going to learn proper spells?""Well, you can study how to commune with the spirits that surround us and control our world."
"Ha, 'communing' with spirits? Don't make me laugh. If you knew anything about spirits you'd know that any of them with even the slightest bit of power would eat you alive as soon as look at you. No, the only way of dealing with spirits is to bind them in a summoning circle and force them to do your bidding.""Well, the Greens say otherwise. And just because something doesn't involve blowing stuff up with fireballs or turning someone inside-out with a curse doesn't mean it's not 'proper' magic. Healing's a pretty important task for mages, you know."
"There are Magenta healers!""There are Magenta surgeons. There's a big difference between that and healing. Even a Red can burn out an infection by yelling at it enough."
"Oh, spare me your semantics. Besides, what's a Green going to do when confronted with some enormous writhing Eldrich? Besides inviting it over for tea and crumpets and the souls of the innocent.""Summon up an even bigger Eldrich."
"Oh, by the Unbroken Light...you're hopeless. Well, at least we can agree that the Blues are the stupidest of the Six Schools."
"Pretty sure they're the opposite of that."
"You know what I mean!"A boy sitting across from Kevin makes a small
huff noise. He's reading one of the school's textbooks:
Introduction to the Six Schools. Kevin has the same book in his bag, but hasn't given it any thought.
Actually, Kevin is oblivious to the entire exchange. He is drawing something in his notebook. It looks like some kind of dragon.
You gain a new ability when Kevin is holding his pen:
Butterfingers.
Attention: You can draw a believer's attention toward a particular location or item.
Butterfingers: The pen becomes slippery, causing it to fall out of someone's hands.
Danger Sense: You passively gain a bit of knowledge about the future as it pertains to danger.